Today marks the 100th anniversary of attacks by German warships in the Bay of Bengal, the Pacific Ocean and the North Sea.
The cruiser, Emden, bombarded the Indian port of Madras (now Chennai) on September 22nd 1914, setting fire to oil tanks in the harbour.
Madras was the only city in India, then part of the British Empire, to come under fire from the Central Powers during the First World War.
French territory in the Pacific was also attacked by warships belonging to Germany’s East Asia Squadron on this day 100 years ago.
The cruisers, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, bombarded Papeete on the island of Tahiti.
Today’s anniversary is being marked with commemorations in Pepeete, the capital of French Polynesia.
A series of Centenary events is also being launched aimed at raising public awareness of the First World War in the Pacific.
In Europe, the German submarine U9 sank three Royal Navy cruisers in the North Sea on September 22nd 1914.
The Imperial Germany Navy had suffered a defeat almost four weeks earlier at the Battle of Heligoland Bight on August 28th 1914.
Source: Wikipedia/various
Image: Bibliothèque nationale de France/Gallica bnf.fra/public domain
Posted by: Peter Alhadeff, Centenary News