After releasing the British steamer, Emden turned south to Simalur, and rendezvoused with the captured collier Buresk.
Müller then decided to attack the British coaling station in the Cocos Islands; he intended to destroy the wireless station there and draw away British forces searching for him in the Indian Ocean.
While en route to the Cocos, Emden spent two days combing the Sunda Strait for merchant shipping without success.
She steamed to the Cocos, arriving off Direction Island at 06:00 on the morning of 9 November.
Since there were no British vessels in the area, Müller sent ashore a landing party led by Kapitänleutnant (First Lieutenant) Hellmuth von Mücke, Emden's executive officer.
The party consisted of another two officers, six non-commissioned officers, and thirty-eight sailors armed with four machine guns and thirty rifles.

Emden was using jamming, but the British wireless station was able to transmit the message "Unidentified ship off entrance."
The message was received by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, which was 52 nautical miles (96 km; 60 mi) away, escorting a convoy.
Sydney immediately headed for the Cocos Islands at top speed.
Emden picked up wireless messages from the then unidentified vessel approaching, but believed her to be 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) away, giving them much more time than they actually had.
At 09:00, lookouts aboard Emden spotted smoke on the horizon, and thirty minutes later identified it as a warship approaching at high speed.
Mücke's landing party was still ashore, and there was no time left to recover them.

Sydney closed to a distance of 9,500 yards (8,700 m) before turning to a parallel course with Emden.
The German cruiser opened fire first, and straddled the Australian vessel with her third salvo.
Emden's gunners were firing rapidly, with a salvo every ten seconds; Müller hoped to overwhelm Sydney with a barrage of shells before her heavier armament could take effect.
Two shells hit Sydney, one of which disabled the aft fire control station; the other failed to explode.
It took slightly longer for Sydney to find the range, and in the meantime, Emden turned toward Sydney in an attempt to close to torpedo range.
Sydney's more powerful 6 in (152 mm) guns soon found the range and inflicted serious damage.
The wireless compartment was destroyed and the crew for one of the forward guns was killed early in the engagement.
At 09:45, Müller turned his ship toward Sydney in another attempt to reach a torpedo firing position.
Five minutes later, a shell hit disabled the steering gear, and other fragments jammed the hand steering equipment.
Emden could only be steered with her propellers.
Sydney's gunfire also destroyed the rangefinders and caused heavy casualties amongst Emden's gun crews.

Müller made a third attempt to close to torpedo range, but Sydney quickly turned away.
Shortly after 10:00, a shell from Sydney detonated ready ammunition near the starboard No.
4 gun and started a serious fire.
Emden made a fourth and final attempt to launch a torpedo attack, but Sydney was able to keep the range open.
By 10:45, Emden's guns had largely gone silent; the superstructure had been shredded and the two rear-most funnels had been shot away, along with the foremast.
Müller realized that his ship was no longer able to fight, and beached Emden on North Keeling Island to save the lives of his crew.
At 11:15, Emden was run onto the reef, and the engines and boilers were flooded.
Her breech blocks and torpedo aiming gear were thrown overboard to render the weapons unusable, and all signal books and secret papers were burned.
Sydney turned to capture the collier Buresk, whose crew scuttled her when the Australian cruiser approached.
Sydney then returned to the wrecked Emden and inquired if she surrendered.
The signal books had been destroyed by fire and so the Germans could not reply, and since her flag was still flying, Sydney resumed fire.
The Germans quickly raised white flags and the Australians ceased fire.

In the course of the action, Emden scored sixteen hits on Sydney,
After releasing the British steamer, Emden turned south to Simalur, and rendezvoused with the captured collier Buresk. Müller then decided to attack the British coaling station in the Cocos Islands; he intended to destroy the wireless station there and draw away British forces searching for him in the Indian Ocean. While en route to the Cocos, Emden spent two days combing the Sunda Strait for merchant shipping without success. She steamed to the Cocos, arriving off Direction Island at 06:00 on the morning of 9 November. Since there were no British vessels in the area, Müller sent ashore a landing party led by Kapitänleutnant (First Lieutenant) Hellmuth von Mücke, Emden's executive officer. The party consisted of another two officers, six non-commissioned officers, and thirty-eight sailors armed with four machine guns and thirty rifles.
Emden was using jamming, but the British wireless station was able to transmit the message "Unidentified ship off entrance." The message was received by the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, which was 52 nautical miles (96 km; 60 mi) away, escorting a convoy. Sydney immediately headed for the Cocos Islands at top speed. Emden picked up wireless messages from the then unidentified vessel approaching, but believed her to be 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) away, giving them much more time than they actually had. At 09:00, lookouts aboard Emden spotted smoke on the horizon, and thirty minutes later identified it as a warship approaching at high speed. Mücke's landing party was still ashore, and there was no time left to recover them.
Sydney closed to a distance of 9,500 yards (8,700 m) before turning to a parallel course with Emden. The German cruiser opened fire first, and straddled the Australian vessel with her third salvo. Emden's gunners were firing rapidly, with a salvo every ten seconds; Müller hoped to overwhelm Sydney with a barrage of shells before her heavier armament could take effect. Two shells hit Sydney, one of which disabled the aft fire control station; the other failed to explode. It took slightly longer for Sydney to find the range, and in the meantime, Emden turned toward Sydney in an attempt to close to torpedo range. Sydney's more powerful 6 in (152 mm) guns soon found the range and inflicted serious damage. The wireless compartment was destroyed and the crew for one of the forward guns was killed early in the engagement. At 09:45, Müller turned his ship toward Sydney in another attempt to reach a torpedo firing position. Five minutes later, a shell hit disabled the steering gear, and other fragments jammed the hand steering equipment. Emden could only be steered with her propellers. Sydney's gunfire also destroyed the rangefinders and caused heavy casualties amongst Emden's gun crews.
Müller made a third attempt to close to torpedo range, but Sydney quickly turned away. Shortly after 10:00, a shell from Sydney detonated ready ammunition near the starboard No. 4 gun and started a serious fire. Emden made a fourth and final attempt to launch a torpedo attack, but Sydney was able to keep the range open. By 10:45, Emden's guns had largely gone silent; the superstructure had been shredded and the two rear-most funnels had been shot away, along with the foremast. Müller realized that his ship was no longer able to fight, and beached Emden on North Keeling Island to save the lives of his crew. At 11:15, Emden was run onto the reef, and the engines and boilers were flooded. Her breech blocks and torpedo aiming gear were thrown overboard to render the weapons unusable, and all signal books and secret papers were burned. Sydney turned to capture the collier Buresk, whose crew scuttled her when the Australian cruiser approached. Sydney then returned to the wrecked Emden and inquired if she surrendered. The signal books had been destroyed by fire and so the Germans could not reply, and since her flag was still flying, Sydney resumed fire. The Germans quickly raised white flags and the Australians ceased fire.
In the course of the action, Emden scored sixteen hits on Sydney,
SMS Emden