During a two-month period, the German cruiser captured or sank 25 civilian vessels, shelled Madras, and destroyed two Allied warships at Penang.

The German ship scored several hits, but was unable to inflict disabling damage to the Australian cruiser before Sydney opened up with her more powerful main guns.

Sydney rejoined the troop convoy in Colombo, then spent the rest of the war assigned to the North America and West Indies Station, then the British Grand Fleet.

The 50 men of the German shore party on Direction Island commandeered the schooner Ayesha and escaped, eventually reaching Constantinople by land.

The defeat of the last German ship in the region allowed RAN warships to be deployed to other theatres, and troopships were able to sail unescorted between Australia and the Middle East until renewed raider activity in 1917.

Shortly after the war began, the threat of the Australian battlecruiser HMAS Australia, plus the likelihood that Japan would join the Allies, prompted the German squadron to head into the Pacific Ocean, as the first stage of a retreat to Germany.

[12][13] Unlike the rest of the force, Emden, on von Müller's suggestion, was ordered to head into the Indian Ocean and commence a raiding campaign, as she was the most modern vessel in the East Asia Squadron.

[15] Aware of the increasing efforts to find his ship, von Müller selected the wireless station at Direction Island as his next target, with the hope that, in addition to hampering communications between Australia and the United Kingdom, disabling it would frustrate efforts to coordinate the search for Emden (which by this point included sixteen warships from five Allied nations), and direct them away from the Aden-India shipping route, which was where he intended Emden to operate next.

[17] Although operating independently at the time under a prize crew, Emden had arranged to transmit a signal summoning the collier to the Cocos Islands, allowing the cruiser to refuel before heading west.

[4] Sydney, Melbourne, Minotaur, and the 36 merchant ships departed from Albany on 1 November, heading for Colombo; Ibuki had diverted to Fremantle to collect another two transports, and caught up two days later.

[5] At 06:00 on 9 November, the ship anchored in the Cocos lagoon, deployed a steam pinnace (to tow a 50-strong landing party in two boats, led by Emden's first officer, Hellmuth von Mücke, ashore), and transmitted the coded summons for Buresk.

[24] Emden was able to jam the wireless signal shortly after it began, while the cable distress call continued until an armed party burst into the transmission room.

[25] Von Mücke instructed Farrant to surrender the keys to the station's buildings and any weapons, which the superintendent handed over, along with news that the Kaiser had announced awards for Emden's actions at Penang.

[35][37] Von Müller recognised that his success in the battle required Emden to do as much damage as possible before the other ship retaliated, but despite the heavy rate of fire from the Germans over the next ten minutes (at points reaching a salvo every six seconds), the high angle of the guns and the narrow profile presented by Sydney meant that only fifteen shells hit the Australian warship, of which only five exploded.

[40][42] Heavy fire from Sydney damaged or destroyed Emden's steering gear, rangefinders, and the voicepipes to the turrets and engineering, and knocked out several guns.

[45] In addition, about half of the cruiser's personnel had been killed or wounded, and the abandoning of the attack party on Direction Island meant there were no reserves to replace them.

[48] As the third funnel went overboard, Emden found herself closer to North Keeling Island, and von Müller ordered the ship to beach there, hoping to prevent further loss of life.

[37][48] After Sydney contacted the convoy to report "Emden beached and done for", the soldiers aboard the troopships were granted a half-day holiday from duties and training to celebrate.

[40][48] Sydney recovered the boarding party and the crew from Buresk, fired four shells to hasten the collier's sinking, then once she had submerged, turned back towards North Keeling Island.

[40] Glossop had orders to ascertain the status of the transmission station, and left with Sydney to do so, after sending a boat with Buresk's crew to Emden with some medical supplies and a message that they would return the next day.

[60] On 12 November, the auxiliary cruiser Empress of Russia arrived, and the majority of the German personnel (excluding the officers and those too injured to be moved) were transferred over for transportation to Colombo.

[49][63] After Emden's defeat, the only German warship in the Indian Ocean basin was SMS Königsberg; the cruiser had been blockaded in the Rufiji River in October, and remained there until her destruction in July 1915.

[73] In 1915, a Japanese company proposed that the ship be repaired and refloated, but an inspection by HMAS Protector concluded that surf damage to Emden made such an operation unfeasible.

[74][75] After completing escort duties, the Australian ship was deployed to the North America and West Indies Station for eighteen months, then spent the rest of the war attached to the British Grand Fleet.

[79] They witnessed the first stages of the battle, but by the time the combatants disappeared from view, it was clear that Emden had been seriously damaged, and if she survived, von Müller's priority would be heading to a neutral port to effect repairs.

[80] Unlikely to hold the beach against any investigating Allied warships, von Mücke decided to commandeer the 97-ton schooner Ayesha, which had been anchored in the lagoon, and attempt to sail to the neutral Dutch East Indies.

[81] With the willing assistance of the station staff, the Germans loaded Ayesha with half the island's food supply, then towed the schooner out of the lagoon with the steam launch that evening.

[30][82] The schooner initially sailed to Padang, where they were escorted into port on 27 November by the Dutch destroyer Lynx and only allowed to remain under strict terms, so the Netherlands could maintain their stance of neutrality.

[83] With the threat that Ayesha would be seized by Dutch authorities, von Mücke took the schooner out during the night of 28 November, and headed for a rendezvous point he had announced to the German merchant vessels sheltering at Padang.

[86] The Germans headed overland to Jeddah with a party of Turkish and Arab guards, and were forced to fight running battles against Bedouin raiders from 30 March.