Bombardment of Madras
Part of theAsian and Pacific theatre of World War I
Oil tanks on fire in the harbour following the bombardment of Madras by SMSEmden
Date 22 September 1914 Location Madras,Madras Presidency,India Result German victory
Belligerents
India	Germany
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Karl von Müller
Strength
Unknown	Light cruiserEmden
Casualties and losses
1 steamer sunk 5 killed 26 wounded	None

Thebombardment of Madras was an engagement of theFirst World War, atMadras (now Chennai),British India. The bombardment was initiated by theGermanlight cruiserEmden at the outset of the war in 1914.^[1]

WithCaptainKarl von Müller in command, on the night of 22 September 1914, SMSEmden quietly approached the city ofMadras on the southeastern coast of theIndian peninsula. 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 theMadras harbour area, Müller illuminated six largeoil tanks belonging to theBurmah Oil Company with hissearchlights, 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.^[2]

Soon the word Emden entered the Tamil dictionary and was used to describe someone powerful, frightening and with a wicked intent.^[3]

• Keegan, John (October 2004).Intelligence in War (1 ed.). New York: Vintage Books.ISBN 0-375-70046-3.
• The Last Corsair: The Story of The Emden byDan van der Vat, 1984.ISBN 0-586-06265-3
• The Last Gentleman of War. The Raider Exploits of the Cruiser Emden by R. K. Lochner,Naval Institute Press:. 1988.ISBN 0-87021-015-7
• The Last Cruise of the Emden: The Amazing True WWI Story of a German-Light Cruiser and Her Courageous Crew byEdwin Palmer Hoyt, Globe Pequot Press, 2001ISBN 978-1-58574-382-7
• Hellmuth von Mücke, Helene Schimmelfennig White (1917).The Emden. Ritter.
• Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of the Emden During World War I by John M. Taylor
• New York Times: "German Cruiser Emden Destroyed", 11 November 1914 a PDF ofNYT's report onEmden's sinking along with some praise for its captain.
• New York Times: "Captain of Emden Killed?", a PDF of aNYT article dated 13 April 1921
• "Junk-Emden".Time. 6 May 1929. Archived fromthe original on 27 October 2010. Retrieved8 August 2008.
• Cruisers EMDEN, Frigates EMDEN - 5 warships named EMDEN until today(in German)
• World War I Naval Combat
• Karl Friedrich Max von Müller: Captain of theEmden During World War I
• How German cruiser ‘Emden’ struck terror in the heart of the British Empire, and became a Tamil word. The Hindu. 23 February 2020.

• Frame, Tom. (2004).No Pleasure Cruise: The Story of the Royal Australian Navy. Sydney:Allen & UnwinISBN 978-1-74114-233-4 (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.ISBN 1-58574-382-8.
• Hohenzollern, Franz Joseph, Prince ofEmden: 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.ISBN 0-87021-015-7.
• McClement, Fred.Guns in paradise. Paper Jacks, 1979.ISBN 0-7701-0116-X.
• Mücke, Hellmuth von.The Emden-Ayesha Adventure: German Raiders in the South Seas and Beyond, 1914. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 2000.ISBN 1-55750-873-9.
• Schmalenbach, PaulGerman Raiders: A History of Auxiliary Cruisers of the German Navy, 1895-1945. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1979.ISBN 0-87021-824-7.
• 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.ISBN 0-688-03115-3
• Walter, JohnThe Kaiser's Pirates: German Surface Raiders in World War One. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press, 1994.ISBN 1-55750-456-3.

• Naval battles of World War I involving Germany
• India in World War I
• Burmah-Castrol
• Conflicts in 1914
• September 1914
• Naval bombing operations and battles of World War I
• Ship fires
• 20th century in Chennai
• Military history of the Madras Presidency
• Gas explosions in India
• Naval history of India
• Vehicle fires in India
• Attacks on energy sector

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from March 2025
• Use Indian English from March 2025
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• Articles with German-language sources (de)
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• Articles missing coordinates without coordinates on Wikidata