On 28 October 1914, Commander Cherkassov was at the Eastern & Oriental Hotel in George Town with a lady friend. The remaining crew were having a party on board rather than keeping watch. The German light cruiser was disguised as a British warship and pulled alongside "Zhemchug" at a distance of . At that range, "Emden" raised the Imperial German naval flag, launched a torpedo, and opened fire with her 10.5 cm guns. The torpedo hit near the aft funnel, blowing off the fantail of the cruiser and destroying the aft guns. To their credit, "Zhemchug"s crew managed to load and return fire with the front guns, but missed the German raider and struck a merchant ship in the harbor instead. "Emden" turned around and fired a second torpedo that struck the burning "Zhemchug" at the conning tower, causing a tremendous explosion that tore the ship apart. By the time the smoke cleared, "Zhemchug" had already slipped beneath the waves, her masts the only parts of the ship still above water. Cherkassov watched helplessly from shore as his cruiser was sunk. The sinking of "Zhemchug" killed 81 Russian sailors and wounded 129, of whom seven later died of their injuries. "Emden" afterwards sunk the which concluded the Battle of Penang.