Review of "Swan of the East, The Life and Death of the German Cruiser Emden in World War I," by Edwin P. Hoyt

 Review of

Swan of the East, The Life and Death of the German Cruiser “Emden” in World War I, by Edwin P. Hoyt

Five out of five stars

Account of a part of the war not widely covered

 When there is a mention of naval activity between German forces and those of the Entente in World War I, most of the time it either refers to Jutland or submarine warfare. Rarely is there a mention of the small fighting ships that prowled in the main sea lanes to attack commercial ships of the other side. This book covers the Emden, a German ship that operated primarily in the Indian Ocean. It was a commerce raider that avoided warships, concentrating on unarmed merchant ships. While it was very successful, the law of averages eventually caught up with it and it was attacked and sunk by a far more powerful Allied ship.

 What is very clear from this story is how chivalrous the captain and crew of the Emden acted towards their victims. When it was on the prowl, the Emden was accompanied by a coal ship for fuel and there was usually another ship where the valuable cargo and crew of the destroyed ships were kept. The captain and crew of the Emden went to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.

 That chivalrous behavior extended to the situations when warships encountered each other. They would blast away in an attempt to destroy each other, but when one struck their colors in surrender, the victor would then do all they could to rescue the survivors and treat the wounded. Deaths among the enemy were buried at sea with full military honors.

 The history of the Emden is a fascinating one. One of the most interesting events is when it entered a harbor and torpedoed and sunk a large Russian warship. It was an act of great bravado. In an adventure that is difficult to believe, a group of the Emden crew escaped the pursuit in a small boat and ended up landing in the Ottoman Empire on the Red Sea. After many trials that included a camel caravan across the desert and a battle with Arab bandits, they managed to travel back to Germany to fight again. Such a journey would make a great movie.

 This is a book that partially fills a gap in the treatment of history. During World War I the German naval officer corps was very professional and extremely chivalrous. They fought their former friends to the death yet could still treat them with kindness when the fighting was over.

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