Penang Life - The Pallada Visit.

 

This is the photograph I would love to have taken.  To explain.  Whilst Gek and I were taking a stroll along the Esplanade a couple of days ago, we fell into a brief conversation, as is our want, with some young Russian sailors.  They were on a brief shore leave from the Vladivostok based Pallada training sail ship, the fastest in the world mark you at 18.7 knots, which was making an unscheduled stop over in Penang from a tour of SE Asia.  The Saturday newspaper said there would be an open day on the ship come Sunday but when we turned up at the quay to board, the Pallada had already sailed away.  So sadly, no photo of the ship and we didn't see the Russian lads again either.

And this was the reason for the unexpected stop over, the Russian cruiser Zhemchuk which was sunk in Penang harbour on the 28th September 1914, a few months after the outbreak of WW 1.  Ninety of the Zhemchuk's crew died in the sinking and are buried in the Western Road cemetery on the island. The Pallada's crew were calling in Penang to pay their respects to their fallen country men on their way past the island to Singapore.

The sinking of the Zhemchuk was the result of a series of blunders by the allies.  The German cruiser Emden gained entrance at sunrise to the Penang inner harbour by feigning the silhouette of a British cruiser, adding  a fake fourth  funnel to her set of three.

Once inside the harbour it was show time, with the allied ships crews still recovering for a nights partying they didn't stand a chance.  After escaping Penang without a scratch, the Emden was subsequently beached after an encounter with HMAS Sydney in  the Battle of Cocos on the 9th November 1914.  During her two month raiding period in the Indian Ocean, the Emden had sunk a further 25 civilian vessels in addition to the two allied warships sunk in Penang. No lady this one.