The bombardment of Madras was an engagement of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, at

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

(now Chennai),

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The bombardment was initiated by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

light cruiser ''Emden'' at the outset of the war in 1914. With

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Karl von Müller Karl Friedrich Max von Müller (16 June 1873 – 11 March 1923) was a German naval officer who was the captain of a commerce raider, the light cruiser SMS ''Emden'' during the First World War. Early life and career The son of a colonel in t ...

in command, on the night of 22 September 1914, SMS ''Emden'' quietly approached the city of

on the southeastern coast of the

Indian peninsula The Indian subcontinent is a physiographical region in Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian Ocean from the Himalayas. Geopolitically, it includes the countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India ...

. As he later wrote, "I had this shelling in view simply as a demonstration to arouse interest among the Indian population, to disturb English commerce, to diminish English prestige." After entering the Madras harbour area, Müller illuminated six large oil tanks belonging to the

Burmah Oil Company The Burmah Oil Company was a leading British oil company which was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. In 1966, Castrol was acquired by Burmah, which was renamed "Burmah-Castrol". BP Amoco (now BP) purchased the company in 2000. History ...

with his

searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...

s, then fired at a range of 3,000 yards. After ten minutes of firing, ''Emden'' had hit five of the tanks and destroyed 346,000 gallons of fuel, and the cruiser then successfully retreated. Soon the word Emden entered the Tamil dictionary and was used to describe someone powerful, frightening and with an wicked intent. Emden Plaque Madras

Footnotes

References and external links

* *''The Last Corsair: The Story of The Emden'' by

Dan van der Vat Daniel Francis Jeroen van der Vat (28 October 1939 – 9 May 2019) was a journalist, writer and military historian, with a focus on naval history. Born in Alkmaar, North Holland, Van der Vat grew up in the German- occupied Netherlands. He attended ...

, 1984. *''The Last Gentleman of War. The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden'' by R. K. Lochner, Naval Institute Press:. 1988. *''The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True WWI Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew'' by Edwin Palmer Hoyt, Globe Pequot Press, 2001 *
''Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of the Emden During World War I'' by John M. Taylor''New York Times'': "German Cruiser Emden Destroyed", November 11, 1914 a PDF of ''NYT'' report on ''Emden'' sinking along with some praise for its captain.''New York Times'': "Captain of Emden Killed?", a PDF of a ''NYT'' article dated April 13, 1921
*
Cruisers EMDEN, Frigates EMDEN - 5 warships named EMDEN until today

*[https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/how-german-cruiser-emden-struck-terror-in-the-heart-of-the-british-empire-and-became-a-tamil-word/article30881258.ece How German cruiser ‘Emden’ struck terror in the heart of the British Empire, and became a Tamil word. The Hindu. February 23, 2020.]

(paper) *Hoehling, A. A. '' Lonely Command a Documentary'' Thomas Yoseloff, Inc., 1957. *Hoyt, Edwin P. ''The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True World War I Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew''. The Lyons Press, 2001. . *Hohenzollern, Franz Joseph, Prince of ''Emden: My Experiences in S.M.S. Emden''. New York: G. Howard Watt, 1928. *Lochner, R. K. ''Last Gentleman-Of-War: Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden'' Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1988. . *McClement, Fred. ''Guns in paradise''. Paper Jacks, 1979. . *Mücke, Hellmuth von. ''The Emden-Ayesha Adventure: German Raiders in the South Seas and Beyond, 1914''. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000. . *Schmalenbach, Paul ''German Raiders: A History of Auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy, 1895-1945''. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1979. . *Van der Vat, Dan. ''Gentlemen of War: The Amazing Story of Captain Karl von Müller and the SMS Emden''. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. 1984. *Walter, John ''The Kaiser's Pirates: German Surface Raiders in World War One''. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1994. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Madras, Bombardment of Naval battles of World War I involving Germany India in World War I Burmah-Castrol Conflicts in 1914 September 1914 events

Footnotes

References and external links

Further reading