HMAS Sydney Found At Last!

[Troy Tempest]

On the 19.11.1941, the RAN light cruiser HMAS Sydney was last seen sailing away, heavily burning and low in the bow, after a vicious engagement with the Kriegsmarine raider, HSK Kormoran, about 150 miles off the West Australian coast, in the Indian Ocean. The Kormoran sank, but 300 of her crew survived. The Sydney, however, was never seen again, and all 645 of her crew were lost. Her sinking with all hands represents the greatest ever loss of life in an Australian warship; Sydney was also the largest vessel of any country to be lost with no survivors during the war. It was announced on 16 March, 2008 that the wreckage of the German vessel which sank HMAS Sydney, the auxilliary cruiser HSK Kormoran, had been found on the night of 14 March, 2008. Today, 17 March 2008, the discovery of the wreck of HMAS Sydney herself was announced by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The government has stated that both sites will be classified as war graves.

Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

HMAS Sydney (1934) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Wolster]

Good to here they have finally found her to bring some closure to this story!

[Biscuit]

RIP for the brave souls of the HMAS Sydney!

[Geek44]

Yeah...this has been pretty big news down here. My partner suggested I post it on my 'forum thingy' but I told her it would have already been seen to. We discussed the questions it raised for me. Where the heck was the Kormoran getting supplied from? There's a rumour about a rendezvous with a Japanese submarine but that seems kinda kooky to me. The Japanese weren't even in the war yet.

Sea 'detectives' end the agony - National - theage.com.au

Here's our local newspaper's take on it.

[McCoy]

It's good with closure for the realtives. It looks to me that she went down fast as her bow broke of n' just dived down so the crew didn't even have a chance of abandon ship.

[MAGNA]

It's been a long time coming that's for sure.

It seems it is also very close to where many people over the years said it would be too.

[Geek44]

Not that far away from you MAGNA...in Aussie scale at least. I've been to Albany mate...would have liked to check it out for longer. We LOVED WA. Drove to Perth for a wedding once.

[lufttiger]

Wow that was some story that i never heard of before. Amazing how they
ended up sinking each other.

[Geek44]

Yeah pretty remarkable. There was an old woman on TV here last night who lost her husband on the Sydney. They'd only been married for six weeks and she never re-married. I probably would have moved on after I stopped grieving but I have to admire that dedication, even if I think it is a bit pointless.

[Aussie Dave]

Originally Posted by lufttiger

Wow that was some story that i never heard of before. Amazing how they
ended up sinking each other.

Yes but the HMAS Sydney should have kicked the HSK Kormoran's butt.
The Sydney had bigger guns, was faster and more importantly had thicker armour plating than the german vessel.

The Sydney's "NEW" Captain was negligent and to blame for the loss of his ship and crew.

The Sydney, which served with distinction alongside the British and French in the Mediterranean, had been sailing from Sumatra back to Fremantle when the warship encountered the Kormoran, disguised as a Dutch freighter.

While the Sydney’s crew perished, there were 317 German survivors from among the Kormoran’s 397 sailors.
Their accounts suggest that the Sydney sailed too close, with Kormoran’s first shots causing catastrophic damage to Sydney’s bridge, radios and gun control.
According to the German survivors the Sydney's gun turrets were trained fore and aft which would indicate that she was not at action stations which would also indicate that there was not even the slightest concern that the merchant ship could have been a German raider.

Wes Olsen, an Australian author of a book about the Sydney, said that no one would ever know why the warship, with far superior six-inch guns, came within 1,500 metres — well within the range — of the raider.
“We are always going to be in the dark as to what prompted the captain of the Sydney to go so close to what must have been clear to him a suspicious vessel,” Mr Olsen said.

David Mearns, a shipwreck hunter who led the expedition and who was involved in finding the wrecks of the HMS Hood and the DKM Bismarck, said that a 25-metre (80ft) section of the bow had snapped off.
“Our feeling is that the loss of the bow, which had been weakened by the torpedo hit on her port side . . . is probably what sent Sydney to the seabed.”

Against Navy regulations he got too close to an "Unidentified Vessel" and this allowed his ship to come into the effective range of the Kormoran's inferior guns.

He took the advantage of his bigger guns and thicker armour and threw it away when he moved his ship in close to ready a "Boarding Party".

If he had followed them while staying out of range till the ship's identity he was in pursuit of had been established and confirmed, I'm sure the battle would have had a much different outcome.


Cheers,
Dave