Captain's Log SMS Emden 1914 Part II

Continuing with the Emden's voyage.

Escape From the Sydney

As SMS Emden and her prize sailed from the Dutch East Indies to the Timor Sea, she encountered her historical nemesis HMAS Sydney, a ship which was both faster and better armed.  We abandoned our prize and its prize crew to its fate and fled at top speed.  Fortunately the British player chose the easier target, allowing Emden to escape northwards and around some islands. By evening there was no sign of pursuit. Our wireless office heard transmissions in RN naval code, doubtless coming from the Sydney.  I was given the choice of trying to steam into the Timor Sea or returning to the Dutch East Indies.  Not wanting to tempt fate, I chose to return to the Dutch East Indies.  The loss of the prize crew was regrettable and would have repercussions later in the campaign.

While in the Indies, we obtained some "intelligence" from the Campaign blog, the Singapore Sling apparently written by some drunken sot in a bar.

Adventures in the Gulf of Thailand

For turn 5, I needed to put some distance between Emden and those chasing her.  With multiple options, I somehow decided to go into the Gulf of Thailand which was a rich hunting ground but also a cul-de-sac.  

As Emden slipped out of the Dutch East Indies, our wireless office indicated that we left at least  two ships transmitting in RN code.    The WT officer could tell because there one ship who was transmitting much more slowly than the other.  Best to leave those behind us.

As we entered the Gulf of Thailand, we came across a heavy laden large steam merchant ship flying the Red Ensign.    She obeyed your message to stop engines and not use her wireless.    Her papers show her as the SS Linney, out of London, carrying a load of American made farm equipment and locomotives from San Francisco bound for South Africa.  She has 11 coal points in her bunkers.  This was welcome since we had only 8/18 coal remaining, enough for only 4 more turns.  We put a prize crew aboard and kept her in company as we steamed on.

We spent Turn 6 commerce raiding in the Gulf of Thailand, and had pretty mazing results with the following encounters.

1. A British flagged steamer, the Sophie, out of Southampton and bound for Sydney, Australia.    She obediently stopped her engines as per our signal and did not use her wireless.   Our boarding party was incredulous as she was laden with luxury goods - grandfather clocks, fine furniture, crates of whiskey, caviar, silk dresses.   She had 13 points of coal and has a crew of 25, mostly British.
2. A small passenger ship, also flying the red ensign, and she was likewise obedient.   She is the SS Saint Osmund, and she is carrying 44 passengers of both sexes, including children.  She is also bound for Australia,  The manifest says that there are four Royal Navy officers on board.  She has 10 points of coal and a crew of 30, a mix of Indian, Chinese, and British.
3. While our boarding party was investigating the St Osmund we spotted the steamer Ulvon approaches, flying the Swedish flag, with a load of heavy machinery bound for the Philippines.
4. The SS Zephyr, another British steamer,  carrying a load of livestock from South Africa bound for Hong Kong.    Her crew were mostly Africans with British officers, and she had 10 coal points aboard.   She did not stop at first, but a warning shot convinced her to stop engines.  Fortunately, she does not try to send any wireless messages.
5. The British flagged merchant sailing ship, the Hilda ,  carrying rice and other foodstuffs out of India bound for Singapore.    Her crew of 15 are mostly Asian with British officers.    She has no wireless aboard.
6. American flagged steamer, the Chautauqua, with a load of rice bound for San Francisco.   Her captain was courteous and made no complaints about being hailed.   He told us  that there are rumours in India of another German cruiser operating in the Bay of Bengal and that the British weren't very good at finding her.  Sparks from WT confirmed this rumour, indicating that he picked up a wireless from the British Jupiter, under attack in the Bay of Bengal.

That was a total of 6 ships, all merchants and 4 of them fair targets.  Quite an improvement from our earlier encounters, but we will likely pay for this good luck (cue the sinister foreshadowing music).  We also had some problems to work out with what to do with the ships, cargos and human cargo.  We could only afford a few prize crew before we lost our elite crew status, and we'd lost one already on the Diplomat.  Plus we had only three turns of coal left.

Logistics

Our orders for Turn 7 dealt with logistic issues, as follows.

• We liberated some whiskey, caviar and a grandfather clock (for our wardroom) from the Sophie.  On second thought we went back and gathered up the silk dresses too, having hatched a plan.
• We sent our American friends off with a case of whisky and the Swedes on with a case of caviar.
• We put the British officers on the St Osmond in the Emden's brig.  We transferred all of the other crew and passengers  to the St Osmond along with a prize crew.
• We sank the Hilda Zephyr and Linney by opening seacocks.
• We tied up alongside the Sophie in a secluded cove and began transferring coal to our low coal bunkers.
• I visited the St Osmund to reassure her passengers, crew and other captives  of our good intentions towards them.  We planned to let them sail on their journey once we are in a safer location.

Meanwhile, I had time to deal with our guests from the Royal Navy.  These include 2 British midshipmen not old enough to shave and an Australian Lt Cdr, a paymaster on his way to a posting in Sydney and an English Commander on his way to a posting in Admiral Patey’s Australia squadron.  He is the Rt Hon Geoffrey Sykes-Willoughby and he demanded proper officer’s quarters for the four prisoners. 

I entertained Sykes-Willoughby in our wardroom with some liberated whisky.   I was willing to allow them better quarters and limited amounts of freedom on promise of good behaviour.  They shared two cabins with limited deck access while under armed guard.  I indicated that any suspected sabotage or other bad behaviours would result in them being returned to the brig.  I discreetly pointed out that the Emden has fine lifeboats and muse that I admired RN officers such as Shackleton and Bligh who navigated long sea journeys in similar craft.  I enquired if  Sykes-Willoughby thought that he could do the same.  

Recognizing that coaling is a dirty, hard job, I decided that the crew needed a morale booster.  I charged a junior officer Georg with putting on a musical farce to entertain the crew.  I told him make use of the talents of the sailmaker and the silk dresses to create suitable costumes.  He could also work with the carpenter for scenery and the bandmaster.

This admin was exhausting, and I took some personal time in my cabin with some fine Scotch liberated from the Sophie.

Action Stations

Having had stellar luck with encounters on Turn 6, we pretty much much rolled snake eyes on Turn 7.  I received this communication from the GM

    

Hello Peter:

I’m afraid that the dice have generated an encounter and a decision for you.

It’s about 3pm on a day early in Turn 7 when you are engaged in coaling. The weather is overcast, there is a chance of rain later in the afternoon/evening. You are in a secluded cove on the Siamese coast. Bags of coal are being slung by crane from the SS Sophie which is tied up alongside - it’s early in the process. Your deck and men are covered in coal dust but the crew is cheerful from their recent piratical exploits. St Osmund rides at anchor nearby, her passengers taking the air on deck watched by a few guards from your prize crew.

As you survey the scene you are startled by a loud blast from a trumpet, it’s from the two sailors you’ve placed on a small headland to scan the coast to the north of the cove, which is cut off from your view in the cove. As you turn your binoculars in their direction you see a frantically waved red flag, the sign for enemy ships sighted, and the flag dipped three times to indicate three ships.

It’s probably four hours until sunset. Fortunately your chief engineer has kept steam up, just in case of emergencies such as this.

Captain, what will you do?

Talk about getting caught with our pants down!  Since Emden is an anchor in Valparaiso and we are enjoying Rioja and empanadas, obviously we escaped to tell the tale, but I'm still not sure how.