"Sydney" attempted to open the gap between the two ships as she opened fire. This was hampered by the loss of both rangefinders, requiring each mounting to be targeted and fired locally. The first two salvoes missed, but two shells from the third struck: one exploding in "Emden"s wireless office, another by the Germans' forward gun. Heavy fire from "Sydney" damaged or destroyed "Emden"s steering gear, rangefinders, and the voicepipes to the turrets and engineering, and knocked out several guns. The forward funnel collapsed overboard, then the foremast fell and crushed the fore-bridge. A shell from "Sydney" landed in the aft ammunition room of "Emden", and the Germans had to flood it or risk a massive explosion.