KUALA LUMPUR: The Battle of Penang was a brief but deadly action now largely forgotten locally but still marked by the Russians every year.
The battle was mentioned numerous times by Vladimir Putin on his 2003 presidential visit to Malaysia, and on Saturday members of the Russian diplomatic mission to Malaysia remembered the loss of 88 Russian sailors aboard the cruiser Zhemchug (Pearl) during the battle.
Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, allied ships from Britain, France and Russia were in and around Penang harbour. One of these was the Russian cruiser Zhemchug, in Penang for repairs to her boilers.
On the night of Oct 27, Zhemchug was moored in the harbour while her captain, Cmdr Baron Cherkassov, went ashore for the night.
Early the next morning, the British cruiser HMS Yarmouth was observed entering George Town harbour. Once inside the harbour, however, she ran up the German naval ensign revealing her true identity: the German cruiser SMS Emden. She had disguised herself as the Yarmouth with a false smoke stack.
Emden quickly fired a torpedo at Zhemchug, followed by a salvo of shells which crippled the ship.
The Zhemchug managed to return fire but its guns quickly ran out of ammunition as her inactive steam boilers meant there was no power to elevate shells from the magazines on the lower decks.
Emden swiftly came about and fired a second torpedo at the stricken vessel causing a huge explosion which tore the Zhemchug apart.
Cherkassov could only watch helplessly from the Eastern & Oriental Hotel as his ship sank.
The French destroyer Mousquet, returning to the harbour from a patrol, set off in pursuit of Emden, but was quickly sunk by the German ship.
The Emden itself was destroyed 10 days later in a battle with the Australian navy off the coast of Indonesia’s Cocos Islands.
On Saturday, in a ceremony held at the Western Road Cemetery in George Town, to commemorate the Russian lives lost, wreaths were laid on behalf of Russian ambassador Valery Yermolov at the monument raised in their honour.
“The loss of these sailors and their ship Zhemchug was a tragedy that we will continue to remember and mark with each passing year.
“Their untimely end so far from home reminds us of the sacrifice made by these young men over 100 years ago. They will not be forgotten and we will continue to carry them in our memories,” he said.
Some 20 members of the Russian expatriate community attended the ceremony.
The wreath laying was followed by a brief Orthodox church memorial service.
Penang historian Salma Khoo said, “Not many Malaysians are aware of any action fought during the First World War in Malaya but the incident was spectacular at the time.
“The quick and deadly raid caught the imagination of many, it was certainly widely spoken about and a number of the Russian sailors who survived were in fact saved by Malay fishermen who risked their lives as the German ship was still firing,” she said.
Khoo pointed out that there are in fact two memorials: the one at the cemetery and another on Pulau Jerejak.
“Two of the sailor’s bodies washed up on Jerejak and it was decided to bury them on site, with a smaller monument erected on the island.”
Source:
1.11.2018: 9.35 am
No comments:
Post a Comment