View Full Version : Wreck of HMAS Sydney found
Pioneer
03-16-08, 05:03 PM
There's not an Australian who hasn't at some time been told of the "mystery" sinking of HMAS Sydney.
And now, it appears the mystery of the sinking may be put to rest, and the families know where the grave lays.
HMAS Sydney (http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23387679-952,00.html)
!
:o
If that's true, that was quick (after Kormoran's find that is). Excellent work. I can't wait for pictures...
hehe,
I just got a radio message in SH3 telling me about this event.
darius359au
03-16-08, 05:14 PM
!
:o
If that's true, that was quick (after Kormoran's find that is). Excellent work. I can't wait for pictures...
Survivors from Kormoran said they saw the Sydney explode just on or just over the horizon so finding the Kormoran really narrowed down the search area - iirc Kormoran didn't move very far from the battle site before she sank.
Yes, I realize that. But still quite impressive to have this found within a day.
darius359au
03-16-08, 05:23 PM
It's just been announced from the Prime ministers office that they have found the sydney , so its official now :up:
Alot of families will finally get some closure.
This has been long awaited by many Australians and hopefully can bring closure to many of the families and friends of the crewmembers lost in this tragedy.
Being a Brit, I had no idea about the Sydney so I wiki'd her (and updated the article) and well, I completely understand now, this is a very momentus day, and I'm very glad she was found, now some closure can be brought to the families who have grieved for these 66 years.
Sailor Steve
03-16-08, 06:33 PM
I'm a longtime follower of Naval history, and this is truly amazing.:sunny:
" Mr Rudd said the Sydney was located yesterday, about 22km from the Kormoran."
Sounds about right then. I wondered when the first report suggested they were 4km apart, and that would be a bit odd considering the German reports say Sydney was beyond the horizon when they still saw flames from it.
bookworm_020
03-16-08, 08:05 PM
Will be intresting to see what remains of her, and if it can shead some answers on her sinking.
Will be intresting to see what remains of her, and if it can shead some answers on her sinking.
Article now says...
"Mr Rudd said the hull has been found largely intact."
Encouraging! :hmm:
Being 2km below the surface means that it would be difficult to do much other than remote imaging. I understand the desire is to leave the wreck in peace and have both sites registered as war graves.
Oh, I agree entirely. I don't think any comprehensive digging through the site is needed. But... even a brief look with remote imagery can probably be of benefit. One wouldn't need to be intrusive to see whether it was a magazine explosion that took her down, or something else that went wrong and doomed the whole crew.
Otherwise, whatever the case, I think it's clear to everyone now that we have the wrecks side by side - the Sydney and her crew were definitely lost in battle against the Kormoran, along with Kormoran and 70 of her crew. Whatever happened, happened. That's the first thing that needs to be known and respected foremost.
iambecomelife
03-16-08, 09:35 PM
Will be intresting to see what remains of her, and if it can shead some answers on her sinking.
Article now says...
"Mr Rudd said the hull has been found largely intact."
Encouraging! :hmm:
Glad to hear that she's in decent shape - it's quite fitting.
Her crew may have saved hundreds of lives with their dying act. I hope that this find will generate some more interest in her history.
Jimbuna
03-17-08, 07:46 AM
I hope this means that all those families from both countries can find some form of closure and peace now.
bookworm_020
03-17-08, 07:35 PM
Being 2km below the surface means that it would be difficult to do much other than remote imaging. I understand the desire is to leave the wreck in peace and have both sites registered as war graves.
There are planes to send a remote camera down to suvey the wreck and possibly reveal the cause of the sinking and the complete loss of life. Both the Sydeny and the Kormeran are now covered by interim protection ordered prohibiting the removal of any artifact or destirbance of the site without the express approval of next of kin, the Royal Australian Navy and the Government,
I don't know if they are going to take any pictures of the Kormeran, be a pity if they didn't.
EDIT: It sounds like the Bow has been blown off, which could be cause of her suddern sinking, but that's just a guess.
I was just reading similar reports. There was talk in one report of the search potentially extending to trying to locate the ships log which may shed some light on the cause. I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Sure it is intriguing to try to understand the mystery, but I'm not sure if notes taken during an action like this and it's obviously fairly sudden aftermath that the log will actually tell us more or simply leave us just as in the dark. That is assuming that it could be found in the first place.
In some ways I feel it might be better to leave it to external analysis of the site to see what the hull can tell us.
She was spoofed into closing, a tactic the German Captain hoped would lure her in, otherwise the Cruiser could have peperred the raider from 11K away and sunk her. The Australians were probably not on there toes and moved in to within 3000M when the Raider dropped her camouflage, raised her ensign and opened fire with her guns and Heavy Anti Aircraft MG's They swept the deck of Australian crewman and the guns concentrated fire on the Cruisers battle bridge which was quickly decimated and all there soon dead. Without any C&C the cruisers guns ended up firing as best they could all the while receiving murderous incoming fire from the Raider. The cruisers decks were smeared with the blood of dead and dieing, her AA guns unmanned, her torpedoes unmanned and unable to be fired with no crews. The raider fired a salvo of torpedoes which struck the cruiser just aft of the bow taking out her forward turrets and their ammunition bunkers. Within minutes the cruiser independently firing guns holed the raiders thin unarmored hull and several shells found their way into the engineering deck and engines. Fires erupted from holed fuel bunkers and lines. As the ships drew apart the cruisers engines worked madly to continue to provide headway and the distance grew. It was however to late as the torpedoes had weakened the hull and she was rent asunder in a massive explosion of her ammo bunkers. The cruiser bow seperated and the forward momentum crushed bulkhead after bulkhead and she quickly took on water and sank. Meanwhile the raiders engines eventually failed and she stood dead in the water unrepairable. The Captain ordered abandon ship and had demolition charges set to blow the raiders mines. Working quickly several small boats were lifted from cargo areas and lowered unto the sea and the raiders crew and demolition team hurried off.. A vast explosion then took the raider to the sea bottom. Most of the German crew survived and went on to internment. The Australian crew were all lost to a man. The german captain had feared radio traffic had located their position and sent for help.. This was not the case and the raider would have served as a floating refuge for some time if not scuttled.
Was their treachery involved? Was their false identities used, was the Australian Captain irresponsible for closing unto an unknown? The German crew stated they acted within their previous patterns of attack. Was te Australian ship lured to close on a surrendered vessel? Perhaps a look at the wreck will reveal some clue... Likely not..
:-?
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