Description

SMS EDMEN BATTLE CRUISER

FULLY BUILT AND READY TO DISPLAY MUSEUM QUALITY SHIP MODEL

Dimension Approx.: 35.5″L x 7"W x 15.5″H
The model is 100% hand built by artisans from scratch
Base and name plate included.
The model is already built, NOT a model ship kit
Handcrafted from scratch using finest woods & metal fittings

SMS Emden was a small German light cruiser that rose to extraordinary fame during the early months of World War I. Built in 1908 and stationed with the East Asia Squadron in Qingdao, she spent her early career patrolling the Pacific and Chinese waters, weathering storms, quelling uprisings, and representing German power abroad. In 1913, command passed to Karl von Müller, a disciplined yet daring officer whose leadership would define the ship’s legend. When war broke out in 1914, Emden quickly captured a Russian steamer and converted it into the auxiliary raider Cormoran, then separated from Admiral von Spee’s squadron to begin an independent campaign across the Indian Ocean.

For nearly two months, Emden became a ghostly menace to Allied shipping. She slipped into the Bay of Bengal undetected, capturing or sinking merchant ships with precision and maintaining a strict code of chivalry toward crews. Her boldest stroke came at Madras, where Müller sailed directly into the illuminated harbor at night and shelled the oil tanks, sending flames into the sky and shaking British prestige in the region. Soon after, she struck again at Penang, disguising herself with a dummy funnel and sinking the Russian cruiser Zhemchug at anchor before destroying the French destroyer Mousquet. These attacks forced the Allies to halt convoys and divert major warships to hunt her down.

The end came at the Cocos Islands. While Müller sent a landing party ashore to destroy the wireless station, the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney—faster and more heavily armed—raced to the scene. Emden fought fiercely, firing rapidly and scoring early hits, but Sydney’s heavier guns soon shattered her steering, rangefinders, and gun crews. With the ship burning and unable to continue the fight, Müller drove Emden onto the reef of North Keeling Island to save his surviving crew. Out of 376 men, 133 were killed. The landing party, stranded ashore, escaped aboard a small schooner and eventually made an epic journey back to Germany.