German WW1 Imperial navy Cruiser S.M.S Emden cap tally
The prefix "S.M.S." stands for Seiner Majestät Schiff (His Majesty's Ship).
There were two ships with the name S.M.S Emden, the first 1909–1914(Sunk) and the second was put in action 1916 and was used until the end of WW1.
As far as we understand the early cap tallies were embroided with thin metal wire.
By early 1917, the British naval blockade caused severe shortages of precious metals in Germany.
The Kaiserliche Marine officially transitioned to yellow cotton thread (substituting for gold) and white cotton thread (substituting for silver).
With that in mind we can rule out the first Emden.
So this tally would have been worn by a sailor on S.M.S Emden built 1916. This ship was a Königsberg-class light cruiser. You can read more here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_Emden_%281916%29
As you can see the cap tally has been shortened, probably so the sailor could have it on display. Otherwise it's in good condition.
A very hard to find cap tally from a famous ship.
