In the Bible, Ishmael is the son of Abraham and his concubine Hagar, handmaid to his wife Sarah. When Sarah gave birth to Isaac, Ishmael was cast out. Herman Melville’s novel, Moby Dick (1851), begins with “Call me Ishmael.” In the American novel, the sailor Ishmael tells the story of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod, and his obsession with finding Moby Dick, the white sperm whale that had bitten off his leg.

Rowe, Joyce A. “Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick.” In The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature. Oxford University Press, 2004. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195156539.001.0001/acref-9780195156539-e-0189.

The Cocos (Keeling) Islands, between Austrialia and Sri Lanka, were annexed by the British in 1857. The Germans lost the Battle of Cocos, one of the first naval battles of the war, on November 9, 1914.

Reference to the German, British, and French.

A private ship approved by the government to attack the merchant shipping of an enemy.

“corsair.” In The Oxford Companion to Ships and the Sea, edited by I. C. B. Dear and Peter Kemp. Oxford University Press, 2006. https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780199205684.001.0001/acref-9780199205684-e-683.

The SMS Emden was a German light cruiser based at the port city of Qingdao (German Tsingtao), China, in June 1914, as part of the German East Asiatic Squadron, commanded by Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee (1873–1923) and tasked with guarding German colonies in the Pacific Ocean. In mid–August, the squadron left Tsingtao to avoid capture by the Japanese; the Emden alone headed for the Indian Ocean, intercepting 29 Allied and neutral merchant ships, sinking 16 British merchant ships, a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer. On September 22, at night, the Emden bombed the city of Madras. The SMS Emden was destroyed by the Australian HMAS Sydney on November 9, 1914, in the Battle of Cocos, one of the first naval battles in the war.

Massie, Robert K. Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003, 181, 190, 195–96.

See also Suchoples, Jarosław, and John R. Robertson. “Emden, SMS.” In 1914–1918–online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, edited by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson. Freie Universität Berlin, 2014–. Article published December 4, 2017. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/emden_sms.

The SMS Emden was a German raider, a light cruiser based at the port city of Tsingtao (Qingdao), China, in June 1914, part of the German East Asiatic Squadron, commanded by Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee (1873–1923) and tasked with guarding German colonies in the Pacific Ocean. In mid–August, the squadron left Tsingtao to avoid capture by the Japanese; the Emden alone headed for the Indian Ocean, intercepting 29 Allied and neutral merchant ships, sinking 16 British merchant ships, a Russian cruiser and a French destroyer.” On September 22, at night, the Emden bombed the city of Madras. The SMS Emden was destroyed by the Australian HMAS Sydney on November 9, 1914, in the Battle of Cocos, one of the first naval battles in the war.

Massie, Robert K. Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea. New York: Ballantine Books, 2003, 181, 190, 195–96.

See also Suchoples, Jarosław, and John R. Robertson. “Emden, SMS.” In 1914–1918–online. International Encyclopedia of the First World War, edited by Ute Daniel, Peter Gatrell, Oliver Janz, Heather Jones, Jennifer Keene, Alan Kramer, and Bill Nasson. Freie Universität Berlin, 2014–. Article published December 4, 2017. https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/emden_sms.