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HMAS Sydney Inquiry Completed
http://www.theage.com.au/national/hm...0812-ehsd.html
70 years after the sinking, the Australian government has released a report that places much of the blame on the captain. According to the report he was informed of all merchant ship movements in the area and should have known that the Kormoran couldn't have been a Dutch freighter. I really hate to "armchair quarterback" a brave man who lost his life, but the report seems correct to me. In hindsight the decision to come so close to an unknown ship may not have been the best one. It's interesting to contrast the Sydney's last battle with the fight b/w the "Devonshire" and "Atlantis". In that battle the British cruiser stayed outside the Germans' range, transmitted a challenge at a distance, and opened fire when the enemy ship got it wrong. No offence intended to Australian subsim visitors, BTW - just my opinion. |
I agree with the assessment IABL. I'm not sure whey you would choose to go near an unknown vessel in time of war. Unless you are certain of intent you would have to err on the side of caution and maintain whatever superiority you have. This was clearly not done in this case and the error costs many their lives.
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Allow me to concur also.....nevertheless a terible tragic event was the resulting consequence.
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No offence taken-seems like the most comprehensive investigation to date has concluded what most people already knew-the HMAS Sydney got too close and was suprised and overwealmed in a matter of minutes.
It's always the captain's responsibility when the ship goes down but it might have been the XO or someone else on duty at the time. |
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Link to official report if anyone is interested:
http://www.defence.gov.au/sydneyii/F...ort/index.html Looks like it might make for some interesting reading. :) |
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There's some great photos of the wreck in Volume 2, Ch. 12 with pretty extensive analysis of the damage. The clarity and detail of the photos are amazing.
Big document though-almost 14MB to download. :) |
Archived....126MB (87MB zipped) :smug:
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I read somewhere that the men in the aft turrets behaved heroically during the battle. The entire ship was being destroyed around them, and at the last minute they managed to do just enough damage to make sure Kormoran sank. Tragically, they were of course never rewarded for their bravery. RIP. :nope:
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If someone is interested:
http://www.defence.gov.au/sydneyii/exhibits.htm Those are links to, what seems to be, the raw data that was used in the report. Some interesting stuff and many historical documents are accesible. |
A veritable treasure trove http://www.psionguild.org/forums/ima...s/thumbsup.gif
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I very much enjoyed the "Letter from the German Military Archives of 2/3/2009" (Exhibit number 249) to the Commission of Inquiry where a Dr. Menzel, Director of the Archives, gives his "assessment of a [certain] allegedly official document by the German Navy" cited in the book "The lost souls and ghosts of HMAS Sydney II 1941, dated 21 November 1941.
http://www.defence.gov.au/sydneyii/E...005.0347_E.pdf Quote: "In average every second word of the thirteen lines of text -on top of everything written with a type writer font not used at that time- is misspelled. In part, English words are used. Clerks and official writers no matter of whichever administration [and] in whatever country, however, normally are proficient in the official language. There can be not mention of a command of the German language here though. The grammar is downright ludicrous!" "--an absolutely amateurish and altogether very clumsy forgery!--" LOL! To have command of the German language and grammar can be useful at times, at least, if you want to fake offical Navy documents. Go back to school! |
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Mr. M. seems to be intimidated: http://www.defence.gov.au/sydneyii/C...020.0220_R.pdf " I cannot afford to become involved in legal action...There is not a lot of spare cash around when on a government assisted pension. I hope that this may not be necessary." However, it was all Hans "Meire" or "Miere", or probably "Meier"'s fault anyway, the German speaking member of Mr. M's team, who unfortunately passed away about two years past. |
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Just looking at the document gives me a headache. It reads kinda an Engrisch users manual, send through a not really working babelfish app. :D |
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