2014 50c Centenary of The Sydney/Emden Engagement PNC

Australia’s first victory at sea during World War I was also the first engagement fought by a warship of the fledgling Royal Australian Navy. The Battle of Cocos took place on 9 November 1914 when the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney responded to an attack by the German light cruiser SMS Emden on a communications station at Direction Island in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. While Emden was the first to fire, Sydney's more powerful guns resulted in Emden’s eventual surrender after she was deliberately beached on the North Keeling Island reef.