In search of the Emden and Königsberg, 8 ships.
General protection of trade by vessels other than the above, 40 ships.
Convoy duty in the Indian Ocean, 8 ships.
Blockade of the Turco-German fleet at the Dardanelles, 3 ships.
Defence of Egypt, 2 ships.
Miscellaneous minor tasks, 11 ships.
Total, 102 ships of all classes.
We literally could not lay our hands on another vessel of any sort or kind which could be made to play any useful part. But we were soon to have relief.
Already on October 30 news had reached us that the Königsberg had been discovered hiding in the Rufigi River in German East Africa, and it was instantly possible to mark her down with two ships of equal value and liberate the others. On November 9 far finer news arrived. The reader will remember for what purposes the Sydney and Melbourne had been attached to the great Australian convoy which was now crossing the Indian Ocean. On the 8th, the Sydney, cruising ahead of the convoy, took in a message from the wireless station at Cocos Island that a strange ship was entering the Bay. Thereafter, silence from Cocos Island. Thereupon the large cruiser Ibuki increased her speed, displayed the war flag of Japan and demanded permission from the British Officer in command of the convoy to pursue and attack the enemy. But the convoy could not divest itself of this powerful protection and the coveted task was accorded to the Sydney. At 9 o’clock she sighted the Emden and the first sea fight in the history of the Australian Navy began. It could have only one ending. In a hundred minutes the Emden was stranded, a flaming mass of twisted metal, and the whole of the Indian Ocean was absolutely safe and free.
In consideration of all the harm this ship had done us without offending against humanity or the laws of sea war as we conceived them, we telegraphed:—