The FIRST WORLD WAR - two of the Imperial German Navy's light cruisers , SMS Dresden and SMS Emden wage a trade war against British ships far from home. The Dresden initially operated off the East Coast of South America and the Emden in the Indian Ocean. In order to avoid British Warships the Dresden made its way into the Pacific to join the German East Asia Squadron. In the first naval battle of the First World War, a Royal Navy Squadron was able to narrowly avoid defeat in an action in which two British Warships were sunk. The subsequent attack on Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands failed however and all the German ships except the Dresden were lost. Crippled the Dresden hid in bays around the South of Chile until 14 March 1915 when she was discovered by three British warships and fired upon. The Captain decided to scuttle his ship. The Emden however, cleverly avoided enemy contact and was thus able to destroy the Oil Storage Unit at Madras. During later actions, two small British cruisers and many merchant ships also fell victim to the Emden. The Emden was however, rendered unfit for action whilst under fire from the Australian cruiser Sydney on its way to the Coco Islands (early in November 1914). The captain was forced to run his ship aground in order to prevent her sinking. Later as a special commendation, all surviving crew members were permitted to bear the additional title Emden.
The history of the small German cruiser "Emden" is that of a ship with a short but illustrious career, climaxing as a raider in the South Pacific. Unexpectedly this is also a story in which chivalry, audacity and romance played a part. The keel of the Emden was laid in April 1906 at the imperial shipyards in Danzig, she was launched in May 1908 and went into service with the fleet in July 1909. In September 1910 she arrived in Tsing Tao (East Asia) from where she patrolled Chinese waters. After the outbreak of World War I on 14.8.1914 she received the order to engage in commerce raiding in the Indian Ocean. Circumvented by skilful manoeuvres on the part of the enemy, she cruised in the Bay of Bengal, where she destroyed the oil storage tanks of Madras, sank many merchant ships and 2 small cruisers. She finally made for the Cocos Islands, where she came under fire from the Australian cruiser Sydney and was disabled. Sea Captain Karl v. Muller ran the Emden onto the rocks and 116 men were taken prisoner. 134 of the crew were lost, the rest escaped. Her successes totalled 2 cruisers destroyed, 16 steamships sunk amounting to about 71000 GRT. All the surviving crew members would later be allowed to bear the name "Emden".
- 2 Plastic model kits
- Detailed hulls with many engravings
- Textured deck with many details
- Detailed deck structures
- 10,5 cm & 5,2 cm Guns
- Detailed Bridge
- Life Boats
- 2 Masts
- Three Funnels
- Moveable Rudder
- Display stands
- Authentic Decal and Flag sets:
- SMS Dresden, Anno Juli 1914 - März 1915
- SMS Emden, 1910 - 1913 and Krieg 1914