The Australian cruiser reached "Emden" around 16:00. The Germans' battle ensign was still flying, generally a sign that a ship intends to continue fighting. "Sydney" signalled "Do you surrender?" in international code by both lights and flag-hoist. The signal was not understood, and "Emden" responded with "What signal? No signal books". The instruction to surrender was repeated by "Sydney" in plain morse code, then after there was no reply, the message "Have you received my signal?" was sent. With no response forthcoming, and operating under the assumption that "Emden" could still potentially fire, launch torpedoes, or use small arms against any boarding parties, Glossop ordered "Sydney" to fire two salvoes into the wrecked ship. This attack killed 20 German personnel. The ensign was pulled down and burned, and a white sheet was raised over the quarter-deck as a flag of surrender. During the battle, 130 personnel aboard "Emden" were killed, and 69 were wounded, four of the latter died of their wounds.