The Australian War Memorial Collection. Test site
Steam whistle/siren from German Cruiser "Emden". The whistle is bronze, 80cm in length, and 10cm in diameter, and is of the 'organ' type, with mouths cut into the sides.
This whistle was originally mounted on the foremost funnel of the Imperial German light cruiser SMS Emden.
On 9th November 1914 a shore party of nearly 50 men from the Emden landed on Direction Island in the Cocos Keeling islands, to destroy the radio station and cut the submarine cables between Australia and Colombo and Mauritius and Batavia.
Faced by the large numbers of armed men, the station's civilian operators offered no resistance, but one of the operators managed to get an emergency radio message out, reporting the presence of the Emden. This signal was picked up by the RAN's cruiser HMAS Sydney, which detached itself from a nearby convoy and very soon appeared to investigate.
The Emden was caught unawares and Captain Von Müller immediately recalled his landing party with a blast of this steam whistle.
In the ensuing engagement the German cruiser was relentlessly shelled by the Sydney's superior firepower. After receiving more than one hundred hits, Von Muller beached his stricken vessel on North Keeling Island.
The Emden's siren was salvaged and taken back to Australia. The Department of the Navy gave the whistle to the Australian War Museum in 1919. It appears to have later been given to General Sir John Monash as a 'trophy'. Monash was the founding chairman of the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, charged with providing the state with an electricity supply. Under Monash’s leadership, a power station, briquette factory and a model town were built at Yallourn. As an expression of his involvement in the project and his attachment to the developing town of Yallourn, Monash arranged for the steam whistle to be used as a siren at the Yallourn power station siren, sounding the shifts of the working day at the plant. The siren was decommissioned in the 1970s.
Circular iron medallion. The obverse features the words 'FREGATTENKAPITAN VON MULLER' around the edges with a relief portrait of the captain in the centre. The reverse depicts in relief a picture of
Coat of arms from the bow of SMS Emden. The shield-shaped coat of arms of the City of Emden is manufactured in three sections, two vertical joins being visible. 24 holes approximately 4 cm in diameter
Brass Steering Wheel with wooden spokes from SMS Emden. SMS Emden was a German cruiser which was launched in 1908. At the start of the First World War, she was a member of the German East Asiatic Sq
Standard Pattern 1895 brown naval leather belt with adjustable brass buckle. The buckle bears 'GOTT MIT UNS' motto, surrounding the Hessian crown symbol. The original owner has written in black ink on
105 mm naval cartridge case. Half the case wall is missing and the headstamps have worn off. This shell was recovered from the surf in the vicinity of the wreck of SMS Emden in 1974. It is of the sa
English (from German) translation of an account of the Sydney - Emden encounter by a German Officer, Franz Joseph, Prince of Hohenzollern. The account is published in the book 'Emden : my experiences