In October, Churchill visited Antwerp to observe Belgian defenses against the besieging Germans and promised British reinforcements for the city. Soon afterwards, however, Antwerp fell to the Germans and Churchill was criticized in the press. He maintained that his actions had prolonged resistance and enabled the Allies to secure Calais and Dunkirk.
On 28 October, the German cruiser SMS Emden sank the Russian cruiser Zhemchug in the Battle of Penang. Japan seized Germany's Micronesian colonies and, after the Siege of Tsingtao, the German coaling port of Qingdao on the Chinese Shandong peninsula.