HMAS Sydney (I48/D48), named for the Australian city of Sydney, was one of three Modified Leander class light cruisers

Leander class cruiser (1931)

The Leander class was a class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s that saw service in World War II. They were named after mythological figures, and all ships were commissioned between 1933 and 1936...

 operated by the Royal Australian Navy

Royal Australian Navy

The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...

 (RAN). Ordered for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 as HMS Phaeton, the cruiser was purchased by the Australian government and renamed prior to her 1934 launch.

During the early part of her operational history, Sydney helped enforce sanctions during the Abyssinian crisis, and at the start of World War II was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties in Australian waters. In May 1940, Sydney joined the British Mediterranean Fleet for an eight-month deployment, during which she sank two Italian warships, participated in multiple shore bombardments, and provided support to the Malta Convoys

Malta Convoys

The Malta Convoys were a series of Allied supply convoys that sustained the besieged island of Malta during the Mediterranean Theatre of the Second World War...

, while receiving minimal damage and no casualties. On her return to Australia in February 1941, Sydney resumed convoy escort and patrol duties in home waters.

On 19 November 1941, Sydney was involved in a mutually destructive engagement with the , and was lost with all 645 aboard. The wrecks of both ships were lost until 2008; Sydney was found on 17 March, five days after her adversary. Sydneys defeat is commonly attributed to the proximity of the two ships during the engagement, and Kormorans advantages of surprise and rapid, accurate fire. However, the cruiser's loss with all hands compared to the survival of most of the German crew have resulted in controversy, with some alleging that the German commander used illegal ruses to lure Sydney into range, that a Japanese submarine was involved, and that the true events of the battle are concealed behind a wide-ranging cover up

Cover Up

Cover Up is an American action/adventure television series that aired for one season on CBS from September 22, 1984 to April 6, 1985. Created by Glen A. Larson, the series stars Jennifer O'Neill, Jon-Erik Hexum, Antony Hamilton, and Richard Anderson....

.

Construction and acquisition

The ship was laid down by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, on 8 July 1933 for the Royal Navy as HMS Phaeton, named for the Greek mythological figure

Phaëton

In Greek mythology, Phaëton or Phaethon was the son of Helios and the Oceanid Clymene. Alternate, less common genealogies make him a son of Clymenus by Merope, of Helios and Rhode or of Helios and Prote....

. However, in 1934, the Australian government was seeking a replacement for the light cruiser , and negotiated to purchase Phaeton while she was still under construction. The cruiser was renamed for the capital city of New South Wales

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

, and was launched on 22 September 1934 by the wife of Stanley Bruce

Stanley Bruce

Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created...

, former Prime Minister of Australia

Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...

 and the serving Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom. Sydney was commissioned into the RAN on 24 September 1935, drawing her ship's company from Brisbane, which had been decommissioned earlier that day.

Following the announcement that Australia was purchasing a British-built cruiser, there was criticism, primarily from the Opposition

Opposition (Australia)

Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition in Australia fulfils the same function as the official opposition in other Commonwealth of Nations monarchies. It is seen as the alternative government and the existing administration's main opponent at a general election...

 of the day, stating that such a warship should be built using Australian resources and labour. Several reasons were given in reply for acquiring British-built cruisers instead of Australian-made: the ship was already close to completion, the pending threat of war meant that there was not enough time to train Australians in the necessary skills, and that of the two cruisers built in Australian shipyards, one had taken seven years to complete.

Design

Sydney was one of three Modified Leander class

Leander class cruiser (1931)

The Leander class was a class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s that saw service in World War II. They were named after mythological figures, and all ships were commissioned between 1933 and 1936...

 light cruisers acquired by the RAN during the late 1930s. Although the first ship of the class to join the RAN, Sydney was the third ship in what came to be known as the Perth class: and operated with the Royal Navy for a short period before they were purchased by Australia in 1938. Like most British cruisers, the Leanders were designed for long range patrols, scouting, and trade protection duties.

Sydneys displacement

Displacement (ship)

A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load...

 ranged between 6,701 tons (light) and 8,940 tons (full load), with a standard displacement of 7,198 tons: improved fabrication and welding techniques made her 52 tons lighter than her sister ships. She had a length of 530 feet (161.5 m) between perpendiculars and 562 in 4 in (171.4 m) overall, a beam of 56 foot, and a draught at standard displacement between 15 in 3 in (4.65 m) forward and 17 in 3 in (5.26 m) aft.

The ship was propelled by four Admiralty 3-drum boilers, feeding Parsons geared turbines, which supplied 27000 shp to the four propeller shafts. Unlike the first five Leanders, which had a single machinery space (consisting of all six boilers in one compartment and all six turbines in another), Sydney was designed with two redundant machine spaces, a design practice adopted from the United States Navy. The cruiser had two boilers and the turbines for the outer shafts forward, and two boilers and the turbines for the inner shafts aft; as steam from any boiler could be routed to any turbine, the ship could continue operating if one space was damaged. Each space had its own exhaust funnel, giving the modified ships a different profile to the single-funnelled early Leanders; an arrangement which contributed to naval historian Henry Lenton's description of the Modified Leanders as "the most handsome cruisers ever built by the Royal Navy, with a symmetry that was as attractive as it was functional."

Sydney and her sister ships were constructed from 1 inches (25.4 mm) hull plating, with a 3 inches (76.2 mm) armour belt over the machinery spaces (the lengthening of this belt from 84 to 141 ft (25.6 to 43 m) to adequately cover both spaces negated the weight reduction from their reorganisation), and 2 inches (50.8 mm) plates over the shell rooms and magazines

Magazine (artillery)

Magazine is the name for an item or place within which ammunition is stored. It is taken from the Arabic word "makahazin" meaning "warehouse".-Ammunition storage areas:...

. Sydney was the first Australian warship fitted with asdic; a Type 125 unit in a retractable pattern 3069 dome. The retractable sonar dome, located near the bow, was a weak point in the hull.

One of the cruiser's early commanding officers, Royal Navy Captain J.W.A. Waller, believed that the ship's single director control tower was a weak point in the design. The director control tower was the highest compartment on the ship, from where personnel would determine the range and optimum firing angle for a gun salvo, then transmit this information to the gun turrets: the actual firing could be controlled from the tower or the turret. Waller believed that the centralised system could be destroyed with a single hit, or the wiring linking the compartment to the turrets could be severed, forcing the four turrets to rely on independent control. Although Waller suggested that a second tower be installed aft to provide redundancy, it was deferred indefinitely as subsequent commanding officers did not share his concerns, and combat experiences of other Leander class cruisers showed that the system was more robust than expected.

Armament

Sydneys main armament consisted of eight 6 inches (152.4 mm) breech-loading Mk XXIII guns

BL 6 inch Mk XXIII naval gun

The 50 calibre BL 6 inch gun Mark XXIII was the main battery gun used on the Royal Navy's conventional light cruisers built from 1930 through the Second World War.-Description:...

 mounted in four Mk XXI twin turrets: "A" and "B" forward, "X" and "Y" aft. All eight guns could be fired in salvo, elevated to an angle of 60° and depressed to −5°, and fire eight rounds a minute at targets up to 24800 yards (22,677.1 m) away.
Four 4 inches (101.6 mm) quick firing Mk V guns

QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun

The QF 4 inch Mk V gun was a Royal Navy gun of World War I which was adapted on HA mountings to the heavy anti-aircraft role both at sea and on land, and was also used as a coast defence gun.-Naval service:...

, mounted on single, high angle, Mk IV mountings, were fitted to a platform around the aft funnel. These were primarily used to target aircraft at heights up to 28750 feet (8,763 m), but could also be used against surface targets, with a maximum range of 16300 yards (14,904.7 m). Their replacement with eight Mk XIX high-angle/low-angle guns in four twin mounts, which was to occur in the late 1930s, was prevented by the outbreak of World War II. The guns could have been swapped out during a maintenance docking, but the demand for cruisers and Sydneys fortune in never sustaining major damage meant that the additional time in dock could not be justified. For close-range anti-aircraft defence, the 4-inch guns were supplemented by twelve 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) Vickers Mk III machine guns, which were arranged in three Mk II quadruple mountings, one on each side of the forward superstructure, and the third on top of the aft superstructure.
A mixture of 0.303 inches (7.7 mm) machine guns

.303 British

.303 British, or 7.7x56mmR, is a .311 inch calibre rifle and machine gun cartridge first developed in Britain as a blackpowder round put into service in December 1888 for the Lee-Metford rifle, later adapted to use smokeless powders...

 were used for close defence work, and could be fitted to pedestals at various points on the ship, primarily around the bridge and on the three searchlight platforms (one either side of the forward funnel, the third raised above the aft superstructure). At launch, Sydney carried fourteen Lewis machine guns

Lewis Gun

The Lewis Gun is a World War I–era light machine gun of American design that was perfected and widely used by the British Empire. It was first used in combat in World War I, and continued in service with a number of armed forces through to the end of the Korean War...

 and two Vickers machine gun

Vickers machine gun

Not to be confused with the Vickers light machine gunThe Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a name primarily used to refer to the water-cooled .303 inch machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army...

s, but by the start of World War II, the Lewis guns had been reduced to nine, and the Vickers guns removed completely.

Eight 21 inches (533.4 mm) torpedo tubes were fitted in two QR Mk VII quadruple mounts to the deck below the platform for the 4-inch guns. Only eight Mark 9 torpedoes were carried. Sydney was fitted with a single depth charge rail at the stern, which held five Mk VII depth charges. Four 3-pounder (47-mm, 1.9-in) quick-firing Hotchkiss guns

QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss

The QF 3 pounder Hotchkiss was a light 47-mm naval gun introduced in 1886 to defend against new small fast vessels such as torpedo boats, and later submarines...

 were carried as saluting guns. These were removed during the August 1940 refit.

Sydney was fitted with a 53 feet (16.2 m), cordite

Cordite

Cordite is a family of smokeless propellants developed and produced in the United Kingdom from 1889 to replace gunpowder as a military propellant. Like gunpowder, cordite is classified as a low explosive because of its slow burning rates and consequently low brisance...

-powered revolving catapult between the two funnels, which was used to launch a Supermarine Walrus

Supermarine Walrus

The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...

 (sometimes described as a Seagull V) amphibious aircraft. The Walrus was operated by Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 personnel from No. 5 Squadron RAAF

No. 5 Squadron RAAF

No. 5 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force training, army co-operation and helicopter squadron. The Squadron was first formed in 1917 and was disbanded in December 1989.-Squadron history:...

 (which was redesignated No. 9 Squadron RAAF

No. 9 Squadron RAAF

No. 9 Squadron was a unit of the Royal Australian Air Force. The Squadron saw active service in World War II and the Vietnam War before being disbanded in 1989.-Fleet co-operation:...

 in 1939). The 7-ton electric crane used to recover the aircraft also served to deploy most of the ship's boats.

Early history

Sydney completed working up trials before sailing from Portsmouth on 29 October 1935. Almost immediately after departing, Sydney was instructed to join the RN's Mediterranean Fleet at Gibraltar and assist the 2nd Cruiser Squadron in enforcing economic sanctions

Economic sanctions

Economic sanctions are domestic penalties applied by one country on another for a variety of reasons. Economic sanctions include, but are not limited to, tariffs, trade barriers, import duties, and import or export quotas...

 against Italy in response to the Abyssinian crisis. During January 1936, the cruiser underwent maintenance in Alexandria

Alexandria

Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...

 and visited medical facilities in Cyprus: cases of rubella

Rubella

Rubella, commonly known as German measles, is a disease caused by the rubella virus. The name "rubella" is derived from the Latin, meaning little red. Rubella is also known as German measles because the disease was first described by German physicians in the mid-eighteenth century. This disease is...

 and mumps

Mumps

Mumps is a viral disease of the human species, caused by the mumps virus. Before the development of vaccination and the introduction of a vaccine, it was a common childhood disease worldwide...

 had been circulating through the ship's company since late 1935. In March, Sydney was reassigned the 1st Cruiser Squadron

1st Cruiser Squadron

The First Cruiser Squadron was a Royal Navy squadron of armored cruisers that saw service as part of the Mediterranean and Grand Fleets during the First World War. It was originally formed in 1909, but was renamed on 1 January 1913 to First Battle Cruiser Squadron...

, where she and the heavy cruiser continued to enforce sanctions and participate in fleet exercises with RN units. Following the resolution of the Abyssinian crisis, Sydney departed for Australia on 14 July; reaching Fremantle in late July before visiting Melbourne on 8 August and arriving in her namesake city three days later.

After reaching Australian waters, Sydney spent most of her time on fleet exercises and training cruises. In 1938, the cruiser was one of several RAN units prepared to respond to the Munich crisis, but all ships stood down after the potential war was averted. From 17 to 19 April 1939, Sydney was one of eight warships involved in a joint forces trade protection exercise off the south-east Australian coast. In early August 1939, Sydney was in Darwin, prior to visiting the Netherlands East Indies. However, in response to the events which prompted the start of World War II, Sydney was ordered to sail to Fremantle on a war footing, where she arrived on 22 August.

Start of World War II

Following the declaration of war, Sydney was instructed to carry out patrol and escort duties in Australian waters. Captain John Collins took over command of Sydney on 16 November. On 28 November, Sydney joined the Australian heavy cruisers and in an unsuccessful four-day search for the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, which was known to be operating in the Indian Ocean. Sydney was relieved by on 13 December, and sailed to Cockatoo Island in Sydney for a maintenance docking. The work was completed in late January 1940, and as a shakedown cruise Sydney joined Canberra and the British ships Leander

HMNZS Leander

HMNZS Leander was a light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship of a class of eight ships, the Leander class light cruiser and was initially named HMS Leander.- History :...

 and in escorting the Suez-bound Anzac convoy US 1; Sydney broke off after the convoy left the east coast of Australia and returned to Sydney. Returning to Fremantle on 6 February, Sydney relieved Australia as the cruiser responsible for patrol and escort duties on the west coast.

On 19 April, Sydney joined the escort of Anzac convoy US 2 off Albany, and remained with the convoy until it reached the Cocos Island on 28 April and was replaced by . The Australian cruiser set course for Fremantle, but on 1 May was assigned to the East Indies Station

East Indies Station

The East Indies Station was a formation of the British Royal Navy from 1865 to 1941.From 1831 to 1865 the East Indies and the China Station were a single command known as the East Indies and China Station...

 and rerouted to Colombo, where she arrived on 8 May. Arriving in Colombo on 8 May, Sydney was immediately tasked with meeting Anzac convoy US 3 off the Cocos Islands and escorting it across the Indian Ocean. The cruiser departed on 12 May, but while en-route, she was instructed to make for the Mediterranean. Arriving back in Colombo on 18 May, Sydney replenished before sailing at high speed to Aden, where she arrived four days later. The Australian cruiser, accompanied by HM Ships and , departed the next day, with the ships crossing the Suez Canal during the night of 25–26 May, and arriving in Alexandria that afternoon at 15:30. Sydney was originally marked for operations in the Red Sea

Red Sea

The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...

, but after observing the performance of an Australian five-destroyer flotilla

Scrap Iron Flotilla

The Scrap Iron Flotilla was an Australian destroyer group that operated in the Mediterranean and Pacific during World War II. The name scrap iron flotilla was bestowed upon the group by Nazi Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels....

 assigned to the British Mediterranean Fleet, Admiral Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope

Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope KT, GCB, OM, DSO and two Bars , was a British admiral of the Second World War. Cunningham was widely known by his nickname, "ABC"....

 decided to "keep the Australian cruiser for himself" and attached Sydney to the Royal Navy's 7th Cruiser Squadron.

Mediterranean operations

Sydney was in Alexandria harbour on 10 June 1940, and that evening learned of Italy's intention to declare war at midnight. By 01:00 on 11 June, all ships in harbour had departed to search for Italian warships in position to attack Alexandria, and secure the sea lines of communication

Sea lines of communication

Sea lines of communication is a term describing the primary maritime routes between ports, used for trade, logistics and naval forces...

 in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean. The Australian cruiser was involved in the westbound sweep, and sailed as far as the Gulf of Taranto

Gulf of Taranto

The Gulf of Taranto is a gulf of the Ionian Sea, in southern Italy.The Gulf of Taranto is almost square, 140 km long and wide, and is delimited by the capes Santa Maria di Leuca and Colonna...

 during the four-day operation. Apart from an unsuccessful depth charge attack on a suspected submarine during the afternoon of 13 June, Sydney did not encounter any enemy vessels.

On 21 June, Sydney fired in anger for the first time, joining the British cruisers and , the French battleship Lorraine

French battleship Lorraine

The Lorraine was a French Navy battleship of the Bretagne class named in honour of the region of Lorraine in France.- Construction :...

, and a force of destroyers in shelling the Italian port of Bardia

Bardia

Bardia is a geographic region in the Democratic Republic of Nepal.Bardia comprises a portion of the Terai, or lowland hills and valleys of southern Nepal. The Terai is over 1,000 feet in elevation, and extends all along the Indian border...

. Sydney focused her fire on a military camp throughout the twenty-two minute bombardment. During this operation, the Australian ship's Walrus amphibian performed bombardment spotting for the squadron, but was fired on by three biplanes: although reported at the time as Italian Fiat CR.42

Fiat CR.42

The Fiat CR.42 Falco was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter which served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica before and during World War II. The aircraft was produced by the Turin firm, and entered service, in smaller numbers, with the air forces of Belgium, Sweden and Hungary...

s, the attackers were later determined to be British Gloster Gladiator

Gloster Gladiator

The Gloster Gladiator was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it...

s. The pilot flew the damaged aircraft to Mersa Matruh, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross

Distinguished Flying Cross (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Flying Cross is a military decoration awarded to personnel of the United Kingdom's Royal Air Force and other services, and formerly to officers of other Commonwealth countries, for "an act or acts of valour, courage or devotion to duty whilst flying in active operations against...

 for his skill in doing so, but the unrepairable Walrus was the only casualty of the operation. The next day, a retaliatory airstrike against the ships, by then having returned to Alexandria, failed to do damage. That same day, Germany and Vichy France signed the Second Armistice at Compiègne: although French warships (which had until that point operated with the Allies) were ordered to return to France and disarm, the British government was unwilling to allow them to fall into Axis hands. Sydney and the British warships in Alexandria turned their guns on the French, but unlike the situation in Mers-el-Kébir

Mers-el-Kébir

Mers-el-Kébir is a port town in northwestern Algeria, located by the Mediterranean Sea near Oran, in the Oran Province.-History:Originally a Roman port, Mers-el-Kébir became an Almohad naval arsenal in the 12th century, fell under the rulers of Tlemcen in the 15th century, and eventually became a...

, which deteriorated into a naval battle, British Admiral Cunningham and French Admiral René-Emile Godfroy

René-Emile Godfroy

René-Emile Godfroy was a French admiral.Godfroy was born at Paris. In June 1940, he commanded French naval forces at Alexandria, where he negotiated, with British Admiral Andrew Cunningham, the peaceful internment of his ships.The French squadron consisted of the battleship Lorraine, 4 cruisers, 3...

 peacefully negotiated to disarm the ships at Alexandria.

Sydney and other elements of the 7th Squadron sailed from Alexandria on 27 June, escorting a Malta convoy. Late on 28 June, the ships engaged a force of three Italian destroyers

Battle of the Espero Convoy

The Battle of the Espero Convoy was the first Second World War surface engagement between Italian and Allied warships. It took place southwest of Crete on 28 June 1940, after a force of seven cruisers and 16 destroyers, preparing to escort three Allied convoys to Alexandria, were informed of the...

. Although two Italian vessels were able to withdraw, the third, Espero was disabled. At 20:00, Sydney (which had little opportunity to fire during the engagement) was detailed to recover any survivors and sink the destroyer while the rest of the force continued on to Malta. However, while 6000 yards (5,486.4 m) from Espero, the Italian ship fired two shells, both of which fell in line with but short of the cruiser. Sydney opened fire, and after four salvos struck the destroyer with no shots fired in return, resumed the approach. Espero sank at 20:35, and Sydney remained in the area for almost two hours to collect survivors despite the risk of submarine attack, before she was ordered to withdraw to Alexandria. The cruiser rescued 47 Italians (three of whom died from wounds during the return voyage), and left a fully provisioned cutter in the water to be used by other Italian survivors after Sydney had departed.

On the evening of 7 July, Sydney departed from Alexandria as part of a fleet including four other light cruisers, three battleships, an aircraft carrier, and sixteen destroyers, divided into three groups. The three groups were to rendezvous on 9 July at a point 120 nautical miles (222.2 km) east of Cape Passero and 150 nautical miles (277.8 km) from Malta, at which point the destroyers would escort two convoys outbound from Malta, while the other vessels would attack targets of opportunity around Sicily. However, early on 8 June, the British submarine reported that she had unsuccessfully attacked an Italian fleet including two battleships. Throughout the day, the fleet had to defend itself from multiple Italian air raids: at one point Sydney and the other cruisers of the 7th Squadron attacked what they thought was a high-flying bomber, but was later determined to be the planet Venus

Venus

Venus is the second planet from the Sun, orbiting it every 224.7 Earth days. The planet is named after Venus, the Roman goddess of love and beauty. After the Moon, it is the brightest natural object in the night sky, reaching an apparent magnitude of −4.6, bright enough to cast shadows...

. Aerial reconnaissance located the Italian force during the afternoon, which was made up of at least two battleships, accompanied by multiple cruisers and destroyers. The sightings of such a large force of warships, combined with the heavy air attack, led Admiral Andrew Cunningham

Andrew Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope

Admiral of the Fleet Andrew Browne Cunningham, 1st Viscount Cunningham of Hyndhope KT, GCB, OM, DSO and two Bars , was a British admiral of the Second World War. Cunningham was widely known by his nickname, "ABC"....

 to conclude that the Italians were also covering a major convoy, and decide to reposition his fleet between the Italians and Taranto, the projected destination.

Contact with the Italian fleet was lost during the night, but regained in the morning of 9 July. By 14:00, the Allied fleet had positioned itself in the Italians' path, and Cunningham ordered them west, to close on the projected position of the enemy and engage. Sydney spotted smoke at 14:45, and made visual contact with a force of five cruisers just after 15:00. The Allied cruiser squadron, supported by the battleship altered their course northward, and at 15:20, Sydney opened fire on an Italian Zara class cruiser, 23000 yards (21,031.2 m) distant, but both the Allied and Italian cruiser forces were unable to successfully hit their opposing numbers. Sydney remained unsuccessful until the late part of the engagement, when she successfully shelled a smokescreen-laying destroyer. The naval component of what came to be known as the Battle of Calabria

Battle of Calabria

The Battle of Calabria, was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in World War II. It was fought between the Italian Royal Navy and the British Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy. The battle occurred 30 miles to the east of Punta Stilo, the "toe" of Italy , on 9 July 1940...

 concluded around 17:00, with Cunningham unwilling to pursue the Italian fleet through the smokescreen they had created. The Allied ships instead broke off for Malta, while enduring several heavy but ineffective air attacks; during the safe delivery of Malta Convoy MA 5 and the return to Alexandria on 13 July, Sydney sustained no damage, but expended all her anti-aircraft ammunition. Sydneys participation in the battle earned the ship a battle honour

Battle honour

A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....

: "Calabria 1940".

The Australian cruiser spent five days in Alexandria for resupply and maintenance, before departing for Crete with the British destroyer . They arrived at sunset on 18 July, and the next morning, the two ships were ordered to patrol the Gulf of Athens for Axis warships and shipping, while providing support for a four-ship destroyer force (HM Ships , , , and ) conducting an anti-submarine sweep north of Crete. Believing that these two tasks were incompatible, and that protecting the destroyers was the more important, Sydneys commander, Captain John Collins, ordered the two ships to move 100 nautical miles (185.2 km) south of their patrol area while maintaining radio silence. At 07:20 on 19 July, the destroyer force spotted and was spotted by a pair of Italian light cruisers; Giovanni dalle Bande Nere

Italian cruiser Giovanni dalle Bande Nere

Giovanni delle Bande Nere was an Italian light cruiser of the first group of the Condottieri class, which served in the Regia Marina during World War II. She was named after the eponymous 16th century condottiero and member of the Medici family...

 and Bartolomeo Colleoni

Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni

Bartolomeo Colleoni was an Italian Condottieri class light cruiser, that served in the Regia Marina during World War II. It was named after Bartolomeo Colleoni, an Italian military leader of the 15th century....

, which opened fire seven minutes later. The British destroyers turned to an north-east heading and set off at 30 knots (16.3 m/s), broadcasting news of the attack to the silent Sydney while closing the gap between the two forces. Using the wireless signals to track the four destroyers, Sydney and Havock made to intercept the destroyers and their cruiser pursuit, and was able to close at least half an hour earlier than if they had followed their original instructions: when Sydney opened fire on Bande Nere at 08:29, both sides were surprised by the appearance of the cruiser. Within minutes, Sydney had successfully damaged Bande Nere, and when the Italians withdrew to the south, the six Allied ships pursued. At 08:48, with Bande Nere hiding behind a smoke screen, Sydney shifted her fire to Bartolomeo Colleoni, which was disabled by 09:33. Collins ordered the destroyers to torpedo the ship and rescue survivors: Hyperion, Ilex, and Havock did so, while Hero and Hasty supported Sydney in continuing pursuit of Bande Nere. At 10:37, the chase ended, as the faster Italian cruiser had outrun the Allies, visibility was reduced by smoke and haze, and ammunition aboard the pursuing ships was low: Sydney had ten shells left for her forward turrets. The six ships returned to Alexandria around 11:00 on 20 July after fending off several air attacks (one of which damaged Havock), and were met by cheering from all ships in the harbour.
The only damage to Sydney during what came to be known as the Battle of Cape Spada

Battle of Cape Spada

The Battle of Cape Spada was a naval battle during the Battle of the Mediterranean in Second World War. It took place on 19 July 1940 in the Mediterranean Sea off Cape Spada, the north-western extremity of Crete.-Prelude:...

 was caused by a shell at 09:21, which knocked a hole in the forward funnel, and wounded a sailor through splinter damage. For his actions, Collins was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath

Order of the Bath

The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

, while other officers and sailors from Sydney received two Distinguished Service Order

Distinguished Service Order

The Distinguished Service Order is a military decoration of the United Kingdom, and formerly of other parts of the British Commonwealth and Empire, awarded for meritorious or distinguished service by officers of the armed forces during wartime, typically in actual combat.Instituted on 6 September...

s, two Distinguished Service Crosses

Distinguished Service Cross (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Service Cross is the third level military decoration awarded to officers, and other ranks, of the British Armed Forces, Royal Fleet Auxiliary and British Merchant Navy and formerly also to officers of other Commonwealth countries.The DSC, which may be awarded posthumously, is...

, five Distinguished Service Medals

Distinguished Service Medal (United Kingdom)

The Distinguished Service Medal was a military decoration awarded to personnel of the Royal Navy and members of the other services, and formerly also to personnel of other Commonwealth countries, up to and including the rank of Chief Petty Officer, for bravery and resourcefulness on active service...

, and twelve Mentions in Despatches between them. Sydney herself was awarded the battle honour "Spada 1940".

After refuelling and rearming, Sydney and departed Alexandria on 27 July to join the covering force for a southbound convoy from the Aegean. The ships were attacked five times that afternoon by aircraft, but Sydney escaped with only minor damage and shrapnel wounds. The two cruisers broke away from the convoy the next day to locate and sink the Italian tanker Ermioni, which was supplying the Dodecanese

Dodecanese

The Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, of which 26 are inhabited. Τhis island group generally defines the eastern limit of the Sea of Crete. They belong to the Southern Sporades island group...

 Islands. The two cruisers located Ermioni just before dusk: Sydney provided anti-submarine protection while the tanker's crew were convinced to transfer to the British warships, after which Ermioni was shelled by Neptune. The two ships returned to Alexandria on 30 July, and Sydney departed the same day in company with for a three-day patrol.
Back in Alexandria, Sydney underwent a refit, during which a 3 foot (0.9144 m) high, 0.5 inches (12.7 mm) thick wall of armour plating was constructed around the 4-inch gun platform, while the ship's company repainted the ship from standard grey to a naval camouflage

Ship camouflage

‎Ship camouflage is a form of military deception in which a ship is painted in one or more colors in order to obscure or confuse an enemy's visual observation...

 pattern. The refit was completed by 12 August, when Sydney, Neptune, and five destroyers set off to interdict Axis shipping along the north African coast and the Aegean Sea. The operation was cancelled after no ships were located during the first two days, and Sydney was tasked with assisting a destroyer squadron during shore bombardments at Bomba and Bardia. At the end of the month, the cruiser joined the escort of Malta convoy MB 5.

On the return voyage, Sydney and several other vessels were tasked with attacking Italian facilities. Canvas and timber were used to alter the cruiser's profile to resemble an Italian Condottieri class cruiser

Condottieri class cruiser

The Condottieri class was a sequence of five, different, light cruiser classes of the Regia Marina , although these classes show a clear line of evolution. They were built before World War II to gain predominance in the Mediterranean Sea...

, allowing her to manoeuvre close to Scarpanto during the night of 3–4 September. At dawn, Sydney and the British destroyer Ilex attacked the Italian Makri Yalo Airbase

Makri Yalo Airbase

The Makri Yalo airbase was a Regia Aeronautica facility on the island of Scarpanto, in the Dodecanese.During World War II, the airbase was a major part of Italian military operations in the Mediterranean, by supporting air operations to Crete, the Greek mainland, and the ocean approaches to...

 at Scarpanto; the cruiser fired 135 shells in 25 minutes, while the destroyer fended off five E-boat

E-boat

E-boats was the designation for Motor Torpedo Boats of the German Navy during World War II. It is commonly held that the E stood for Enemy....

s, sinking two. On completion, the two ships rejoined the fleet, but were again mistaken for Italian warships and nearly fired on before Sydney raised the White Ensign

White Ensign

The White Ensign or St George's Ensign is an ensign flown on British Royal Navy ships and shore establishments. It consists of a red St George's Cross on a white field with the Union Flag in the upper canton....

 and cut down her disguise. Admiral Cunningham congratulated Sydney with the message "Well Done. You are a stormy petrel.", which was adopted as a nickname for the cruiser. On her return to Alexandria, the Australian cruiser underwent another short refit, which was completed late in the month: on 24 September Sydney supported during the interception of a French merchant ship, then completed a two-day patrol west of Cyprus. Late on 28 September, Sydney joined the heavy escort of a Malta-bound troop convoy. During the return voyage, Sydney and left the fleet on 1 October for a sweep of the Aegean Sea, which was concluded with a brief bombardment of Maltezana before returning to Alexandria two days later.

The entire Mediterranean fleet sailed from Alexandria on 8 October to provide cover for several Malta Convoys, and attempt to draw the Italian fleet into battle. The convoys reached their destination safely, and the operation was uneventful for Sydney; the only contact with Italian forces was an engagement

Battle of Cape Passero (1940)

The Battle of Cape Passero , was a Second World War naval engagement between the British light cruiser and seven torpedo boats and destroyers of the Regia Marina, southeast of Sicily, in the early hours of 12 October 1940...

 during the early morning of 12 October between the British cruiser and seven Italian torpedo boats and destroyers, of which Ajax sank three and damaged a fourth. From 25 October, Sydney, Orion, and the destroyers and were engaged in a sweep of the Aegean for Axis vessels, reaching as far north as the Dardanelles. No major incidents occurred until 28 October, when the Italians invaded Greece

Greco-Italian War

The Greco-Italian War was a conflict between Italy and Greece which lasted from 28 October 1940 to 23 April 1941. It marked the beginning of the Balkans Campaign of World War II...

: the four ships were recalled to Alexandria, where they arrived that evening. Shortly after, the two cruisers were joined by HM Ships and and met the main force of the Mediterranean fleet west of Crete on 30 October. Over the next few days, the warships patrolled around Crete and along the Greek mainland, and provided cover for the first supply convoy to Crete.

On 5 November, Sydney and departed from Port Said with military equipment to be used to establish an Allied advanced base at Souda Bay

Souda Bay

Souda Bay is a bay and natural harbour on the northwest coast of the Greek island of Crete. The bay is about 15 km long and only two to four km wide, and a deep natural harbour. It is formed between the Akrotiri peninsula and Cape Drapano, and runs west to east...

, Crete. After delivering the equipment, which included almost 1,000 soldiers, the equipment for a Bofors battery, cases of food, and several trucks, the cruisers rejoined the main fleet. The Mediterranean Fleet remained on patrol for several days, and during the night of 11–12 November, while the bulk of the fleet supported the world's first all-naval-aircraft attack on the Italian fleet anchored in Taranto

Battle of Taranto

The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, flying a small number of obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea...

, Sydney, Ajax, Orion and the destroyers and attempted to transit the Strait of Otranto as a diversion. Despite the mission of "looking for trouble", the northbound passage through the strait passed without incident. The return was not so uneventful: at 01:20, a convoy of four merchantmen with two escorting destroyers was spotted by Sydneys lookouts. The Allied warships manoeuvred in close, and opened fire at 0127: Sydney directing her fire onto a freighter 7000 yards (6,400.8 m) away. During the 23-minute engagement, the cruiser successfully contributed to the destruction of three merchant ships and damaged a destroyer, avoided a torpedo, and unsuccessfully fired two in return. At 0:157, the undamaged Allied force departed the strait, and met the main fleet before midday.

From 15 to 20 November, Sydney and three other cruisers transported 4,000 Allied soldiers and their equipment from Alexandria to the Piraeus as reinforcements for the Greek military. On returning to Alexandria, Sydney deployed with the majority of the Mediterranean fleet to cover multiple convoys across the sea: the Australian cruiser spent the remainder of the month operating throughout the eastern and central Mediterranean, and was bombed by Italian aircraft on 24 November at Souda Bay, but escaped damage. Sydney started December in the Aegean, where she escorted convoys and shelled the port of Valona, then proceeded to Malta for a refit and repairs to her rudder, which lasted until the end of the year. During this refit, the cruiser was fitted with degaussing

Degaussing

Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating an unwanted magnetic field. It is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, an early researcher in the field of magnetism...

 equipment. The ship rejoined the fleet on 8 January 1941, when she was instructed to head home after proceeding along the north coast of Africa and linking up with any Australia-bound merchant ships she encountered. The recall was attributed to the need to bring Sydney in for a major refit and give her crew leave, a plan to spread combat experience throughout the RAN by trading the cruiser with her sister ship, , and a need to protect Australia against the German merchant raiders operating in the area, particularly following the attacks on Nauru

German attacks on Nauru

There were two German attacks on Nauru in December 1940. These attacks were conducted by auxiliary cruisers between 6 and 8 December and on the 27th of the month. The raiders sank five Allied merchant ships and inflicted serious damage on Nauru's economically important phosphate-loading...

.
Before leaving, 100 of the ship's company were removed on 11 January, so they could be sent to England to help man the new N class destroyers

J, K and N class destroyer

The J, K and N class was a class of 24 destroyers of the Royal Navy launched in 1938. They were a return to a smaller vessel, with a heavier torpedo armament, after the Tribal class that emphasised guns over torpedoes. The ships were built in three flotillas or groups, eight each of ships with...

. The next day, the ship sailed for Aden via the Suez Canal. Sydney and the troopship left Aden on 16 January to join Convoy SW 4B, which Sydney escorted until relieved by four days later. The Australian cruiser was instructed to attack any Italian ships at Mogadiscio, but as there were no large merchant ships in port and Sydney was forbidden to attack the harbour itself, she then proceeded to the Seychelles

Seychelles

Seychelles , officially the Republic of Seychelles , is an island country spanning an archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, some east of mainland Africa, northeast of the island of Madagascar....

 to refuel. On 24 January, Sydney was one of several warships which responded to an attack on the merchantman Mandasor by the German merchant raider Atlantis

German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis

The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis , known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 16 and to the Royal Navy as Raider-C, was a converted German Hilfskreuzer of the Kriegsmarine, which, during World War II, travelled more than in 602 days, and sank or captured 22 ships totaling...

. Despite a three-day search, Sydney did not come into contact with Atlantis. Sydney resumed her voyage home, and arrived in her namesake city after sunset on 9 February. The cruiser anchored in Watsons Bay for the night, then sailed into the inner harbour the next morning and tied up alongside at Sydney Cove

Sydney Cove

Sydney Cove is a small bay on the southern shore of Port Jackson , on the coast of the state of New South Wales, Australia....

 to a heroes' welcome. On 11 February, a holiday was declared for school students in Sydney, so they could join the thousands of people who witnessed the ship's company perform a freedom of entry march.

As well as the battle honours for the battles at Calabria and Cape Spada, Sydney was granted the "Mediterranean 1940" battle honour for her various actions during the Mediterranean naval campaign

Battle of the Mediterranean

The Battle of the Mediterranean was the name given to the naval campaign fought in the Mediterranean Sea during World War II, from 10 June 1940-2 May 1945....

. During the eight-month deployment, the only fatality in the ship's company was a death due to illness.

Australian waters

Following a short refit, Sydney sailed for Fremantle on 27 February, where she was assigned to escort and patrol tasks in the Indian Ocean. This primarily involved meeting convoys off the southern Australian coast and escorting them on the next leg of their journey, either westbound to the Middle East and Europe, or northwards to the Dutch East Indies.

In April, Sydney escorted the troopship Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary

RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...

 from Fremantle to Jervis Bay, before embarking Admiral Ragnar Colvin

Ragnar Colvin

Admiral Sir Ragnar Musgrave Colvin KBE, CB was a long-serving British naval officer who commanded the Royal Australian Navy at the outbreak of the Second World War.-Early life and background:...

 and a party of advisors from all three branches of the Australian military and transporting them to Singapore by 19 April for a secret conference between the British Commonwealth, the Netherlands East Indies, and the United States of America. The cruiser returned to Fremantle before month's end, after which Collins handed command over to Captain Joseph Burnett

Joseph Burnett

Joseph Burnett was a Royal Australian Navy officer most widely known as the captain of the light cruiser in the battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran on 19 November 1941...

 on 15 May. Shortly after, the cruiser escorted the transport SS Zealandia during a troop transport run to Singapore. Sydney escorted the troopship to Sunda Strait, where responsibility was handed over to the British light cruiser . In early June, Sydney met Zealandia and Danae on the troopship's return voyage, and took over escort duties from Sunda Strait back to Fremantle. After replenishing in Fremantle, Zealandia joined a multiple ship convoy to the east coast of Australia, which was also escorted by Sydney. The convoy departed on 24 June and made for Sydney, after which the cruiser joined the escort of a Pacific convoy before returning for maintenance. This concluded on 8 August, when Sydney escorted the troopship Awatea to New Zealand, then Fiji.
On her return to Sydney at the end of August, the cruiser joined the troopships Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth

RMS Queen Elizabeth

RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. Plying with her running mate Queen Mary as a luxury liner between Southampton, UK and New York City, USA via Cherbourg, France, she was also contracted for over twenty years to carry the Royal Mail as the second half of the two...

 during the first leg of their voyage (Anzac convoy US 12A), escorting them until rendezvousing with Canberra in the Great Australian Bight. Sydney then sailed to Melbourne, and remained until 19 September, during which her camouflage was repainted in a new pattern. The cruiser then escorted the four-ship Anzac convoy US 12B to Fremantle: heavy seas while crossing the Great Australian Bight caused "A" turret to become jammed on a port facing. This was repaired in Fremantle, and the convoy proceeded to Sunda Strait, where Sydney handed the merchant ships over to the British cruisers and Danae on 3 October and set course for Fremantle. On the night of 5–6 October, a mysterious ship that responded to challenge signals near Rottnest Island then disappeared led the Naval Officer in Charge Fremantle to believe that the approaches to the harbour had been mined. Sydney was diverted to intercept Queen Mary before the troopship reached Fremantle, and ordered to remain with her until a channel was swept and found free of mines. After reaching port on 7 October, Sydney officially assumed patrol and escort duties in Western Australian waters.

The next few weeks were uneventful for Sydney, and between 18 and 29 October, the cruiser visited Geraldton

Geraldton, Western Australia

Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...

 and Bunbury

Bunbury, Western Australia

The port city of Bunbury is the third largest city in Western Australia after the State Capital Perth and Mandurah. It is situated south of Perth's central business district...

. On 2 November, the Australian cruiser sailed to meet Zealandia off Albury. The troopship was on a second troop transport run to Singapore; delivering the 8th Division.
The two ships returned to Fremantle, and on 11 November, they departed for Sunda Strait. Zealandia was handed over on 17 November to for the next leg, and the Australian cruiser turned for home: she was scheduled to arrive in Fremantle late on 20 November.

Final battle and loss

Note: all times in this section are UTC+7

UTC+7

UTC+07:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +07:00. In ISO 8601 the associated time would be written as .Also known as Indochina Time , it is used in:-As standard time :*Australia...

On the afternoon of 19 November, Sydney was off the coast of Western Australia, near Carnarvon

Carnarvon, Western Australia

Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately 900 kilometres north of Perth, Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Reef lies to the north...

, and heading south towards Fremantle. Around 15:55, the cruiser spotted a merchant ship on a northbound course, which quickly turned away from the coast at 14 knots (7.6 m/s). Sydney increased speed to 25 knots (13.6 m/s) and made to intercept. As she closed the gap, Sydney began to signal the unidentified merchantman, first by signal light, then after no reply was forthcoming and the distance between the two ships had decreased, by a combination of light and signal flag. The merchant ship hoisted her callsign, but as she was ahead and just port of Sydney, the flags were obscured by the funnel. A request from the cruiser that the merchant ship make her signal letters clear, which the signals officer did by lengthening the halyard

Halyard

In sailing, a halyard or halliard is a line that is used to hoist a sail, a flag or a yard. The term halyard comes from the phrase, 'to haul yards'...

 and swinging the flags clear. The callsign was that of the Dutch ship Straat Malakka, but she was not on Sydneys list of ships meant to be in the area. Further flag signals were exchanged between the ships, with Sydney asking the Dutch ship's destination and cargo.

At 17:00, a distress signal was transmitted by Straat Malakka, indicating that she was being pursued by a merchant raider

Merchant raider

Merchant raiders are ships which disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels, whilst actually being armed and intending to attack enemy commerce. Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I, and again early in World War II...

. Following this, Sydney pulled alongside the merchant ship from astern; pacing the merchantman on a parallel course, approximately 1300 metres (4,265.1 ft) away. Sydneys main guns and port torpedo launcher were trained on the ship, while she sent the interior portion of Straat Malakkas secret callsign. Fifteen minutes later, at around 17:30, the merchantman had not replied, and Sydney sent a signal ordering her to show the secret callsign.

Straat Malakka had not replied because she was the in disguise, and when asked to reveal a callsign the Germans did not know, they responded by decamouflaging and opened fire. Prompted by the raider's unveiling, Sydney also fired (accounts are divided as to which ship fired first), but while her first salvo either missed or passed through Kormorans upper superstructure with minimal damage, four of the raider's six 5.9 inches (149.9 mm) guns (the other two guns were on the port side and could not fire to starboard) were able to destroy the cruiser's bridge and gun director tower, damage the forward turrets, and set the aircraft on fire. Sydney did not fire again until after the raider's sixth salvo: "Y" turret fired without effect, but "X" turret was able to put multiple shells into Kormoran, damaging machinery spaces and one of the raider's guns, while igniting an oil tank. During this, Kormoran maintained heavy fire, and around the time of the eighth or ninth German salvo, a torpedo launched at the start of the engagement hit Sydney just forward of "A" turret and near the ASDIC compartment (the weakest point on the ship's hull), ripping a hole in the side and causing the bow of the cruiser to angle down. Down by the bows, the cruiser swung hard to port, and passed behind Kormoran; during the turn, shells from the raider knocked "B" turret off Sydney.

By 17:35, Sydney was heading south and losing speed, wreathed in smoke from multiple fires. Her main armament was disabled (the two aft turrets had jammed on a port facing and could not be swung around), and her secondary guns were out of effective range. The cruiser continued to be hit by shells from Kormorans aft guns as the distance between the ships increased. The Germans reported that around 17:45, all four torpedoes from Sydneys starboard launcher were fired, but as Kormoran was manoeuvring to bring her port broadside to bear, they all missed. In fact, only two torpedoes from Sydneys port launcher were ever fired, which must have happened some time earlier. The raider's engines broke down after this turn, but she continued to fire on Sydney at a high rate despite being immobilised, although many of the shells would have missed as the distance between the two ships increased. Kormoran ceased fire at 17:50, with the range at 6600 yards (6,035 m), and launched another torpedo at 18:00, but missed Sydney.

The Australian cruiser continued on a south-south-east heading at low speed; observers aboard Kormoran doubted that Sydney was under control. Although disappearing over the horizon shortly later, the glow from the damaged, burning warship was consistently seen by the Germans until about 22:00, and sporadically until midnight. At some point during the night, Sydney lost buoyancy and sank: the bow was torn off as she submerged and descended almost vertically, while the rest of the hull glided 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) forward as she sank, hitting the bottom upright and stern first. Sydneys shells had crippled Kormoran; the German crew abandoned ship after it was determined that below-deck fires could not be controlled before they reached the gun magazines or the mines in the cargo hold. The raider was scuttled at midnight, and sank slowly until the mine deck exploded half an hour later.

Aftermath

Sydneys failure to reach Fremantle on 20 November was not initially cause for concern, as several factors may have delayed the cruiser, none of which were sufficient reason to break the order to maintain wireless silence. However, with no sign of the cruiser by 23 November, shore-based wireless stations began transmitting orders for Sydney to break silence and report in. A raft of German survivors was recovered by a British tanker on 24 November, at which point a large-scale air and sea search began. During this search, which lasted until the evening of 29 November, 318 of Kormorans 399 crew were found, but apart from a carley float

Carley float

The Carley float was a form of invertible liferaft designed by American inventor Horace Carley . Supplied mainly to warships, it saw widespread use in a number of navies during peacetime and both World Wars until superseded by more modern rigid or inflatable designs...

 and a lifebelt, nothing from Sydney or the 645 aboard was recovered.

Australian Prime Minister John Curtin

John Curtin

John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority...

 officially announced the loss of the cruiser during the afternoon of 30 November. Sydneys destruction was a major blow to Australian morale and military capability: her ship's company made up 35% of the RAN's wartime casualties. The cruiser's loss did not have the same impact internationally; two British capital ship

Capital ship

The capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...

s were destroyed during the same fortnight, and Japan entered World War II with attacks on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 and Singapore

Battle of Singapore

The Battle of Singapore was fought in the South-East Asian theatre of the Second World War when the Empire of Japan invaded the Allied stronghold of Singapore. Singapore was the major British military base in Southeast Asia and nicknamed the "Gibraltar of the East"...

 three weeks later.

The German survivors were taken to Fremantle and interrogated. Attempts to learn what had happened were hampered by the German officers instructing their sailors to obfuscate the enemy with false answers, people describing events they did not witness but heard of later, and difficulty in keeping groups separated in order to check their stories against each other. Despite this, Australian authorities were able to piece together the broad details of the battle, which was verified by a group of German sailors who had been taken to Sydney instead: their interviews showed the same commonalities and inconsistencies as those in Fremantle, and the interrogators concluded that the true story was being recounted. Interrogations were concluded in December, and by the end of January, Kormorans crew had been moved to prisoner-of-war camps in Victoria, where they remained until their repatriation to Germany in early 1947.

On 6 February 1942, a carley float containing a dead body was spotted just off Christmas Island

Christmas Island

The Territory of Christmas Island is a territory of Australia in the Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of the Western Australian city of Perth, south of the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and ENE of the Cocos Islands....

 and towed ashore. Examination of the raft and its occupant led the island's inhabitants to believe that they were from Sydney. Although a 1949 investigation conducted by the RN stated the raft was not from HMAS Sydney, and while some historians agreed, others concluded that the raft and the body originated from Sydney. The body was exhumed in October 2006 and reburied at Geraldton Ceremony in November 2008, after DNA was extracted. As of 2009, attempts to compare the DNA with relatives of Sydney personnel had yet to identify the unknown sailor.

Controversy

The battle between Sydney and Kormoran is seen as controversial: the disbelief that a modified merchant ship could so successfully defeat a cruiser combined with the lack of Australian survivors led some to believe that the German account was false. Rumours that the battle was not what it seemed had been around since Sydney failed to reach Fremantle on schedule in 1941, but several historians (including Tom Frame

Tom Frame (bishop)

Tom Frame is an Australian Anglican bishop, historian, academic, author and social commentator.Frame was born in Stanmore, New South Wales and raised in Wollongong by his adoptive parents.-Career:...

 and Wesley Olson) credit Michael Montgomery and his 1980 book Who Sank The Sydney? with igniting the controversy.

The main claims made by supporters of an alternative view of the engagement include: that the Germans fired on Sydney before raising their battle ensign

Battle ensign

A battle ensign is the name given to a large war flag which is flown on a warship's mast just before going into battle.The flag identified the allegiance of the ship in what could be a very confusing situation, with thick clouds of gunsmoke obscuring the ships in action, hence the large size of...

, or after using a flag of surrender

White flag

White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.-Flag of temporary truce in order to parley :...

 or signals of distress to lure the cruiser in, that a Japanese submarine was partially or completely responsible for sinking Sydney, that the involvement of the Japanese was covered up to lure the United States into the war

Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge debate

The Pearl Harbor advance-knowledge conspiracy theory is the idea that the American officials had advance knowledge of Japan's December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor...

, and that Australian survivors were killed in the water to eliminate witnesses. Other claims, less widely-heard, include a belief that Sydney was not at action stations

Action Stations

Action Stations is the general signal to the personnel of a warship that combat with a hostile attacker is imminent or deemed probable...

 and thus not prepared for Kormorans attack, distress calls from the cruiser were heard by Australian shore facilities but ignored, and that survivors were captured then executed by the Japanese. Most of these claims have been proven false by historians and researchers; the 1998 inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee for Foreign Affairs, Defence, and Trade concluded that the German accounts were a "feasible" interpretation of the battle, but there was no reliable evidence to support any of the alternative claims, while the 2009 report for the Cole

Terence Cole

Terence Rhoderick Hudson Cole, AO, RFD, QC , is an Australian jurist, known best for presiding over two Royal Commissions. Cole was born in Longreach, Queensland, and was educated at Fort Street High School in Sydney and the University of Sydney. He was admitted to the bar in 1962, and appointed a...

 Inqiry found nothing to substantiate any of the theories raised.

In addition, most researchers have speculated as to why Sydney was so close to an unknown vessel, with various levels of blame assigned to Captain Burnett for the demise of his ship. Theories to explain Burnett's actions include that he was inexperienced or incompetent, deceived by Kormorans disguise, the idea that he was under conflicting orders instructing that raiders be attacked at range but enemy supply ships be captured, or that he was trying to clearly identify the merchantman.

Search and rediscovery

Despite the approximate position of Kormoran being known (most German accounts giving the battle coordinates as 26°S 111°E), the required search area for both ships was immense. Calculating a search area was complicated by the fact that several people distrusted the German location, and believed the ships would be found further south and closer to shore. Several attempts to bring supporters of the 'northern' and 'southern' positions to a consensus and narrow down the potential search area were unsuccessful.

Multiple searches were carried out by the RAN between 1974 and 1997 (using the survey ship and later the trials ship ), but efforts were restricted to the continental shelf, and were usually in response to civilian claims that they had found Sydney at a certain location. Other searches were conducted by RAAF aircraft carrying magnetometer

Magnetometer

A magnetometer is a measuring instrument used to measure the strength or direction of a magnetic field either produced in the laboratory or existing in nature...

s; again, these were only in response to possible location claims. These searches failed to find either ship.

American shipwreck hunter David Mearns

David Mearns

David Louis Mearns, born circa 1958, is a United States-born marine scientist and deep water search and recovery expert, long resident in the United Kingdom. He is famous for locating the wrecks of several ships lost during World War II...

 first learned of the battle in 1996, and began to study it as a prelude to a search for the ships in 2001. Mearns, with the aid of other researchers, focused on primary sources (rediscovering several archive files and diaries in the process), and came to the conclusion that the German accounts were true, and that the ship would be found at the northern position. After attracting the interest of the RAN, Mearns entered into a partnership with HMAS Sydney Search, a not-for-profit company set up to administer and help fund an expedition to locate Sydney and Kormoran. State and Federal government grants totalling just under A$5 million, coupled with private and corporate donations, were used to fund a 45-day search from the end of February to early April 2008.

Mearns' plan was to inspect a 52 by search box around the German location with a deep-water, towed side-scan sonar

Side-scan sonar

Side-scan sonar is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea floor...

 to locate Kormoran, after which the search team would be able to narrow down the search area for Sydney. After locating one or both vessels, the search ship (survey vessel SV Geosounder, chartered from the subsea

Subsea

Subsea is a general term frequently used to refer to equipment, technology, and methods employed in marine biology, undersea geology, offshore oil and gas developments, underwater mining, and offshore wind power industries.- Oil and gas :...

 exploration company DOF Subsea

DOF Subsea

DOF Subsea is an international subsea operating company. The company operates in all major offshore petroleum markets with 23 offshore vessels, 25 Remotely operated vehicles, 1 Autonomous underwater vehicle and 11 diving spreads. The company has been operating since the 1980s and has since 2005...

 Australia) would return to port and replace the sonar with a remotely operated vehicle

Remotely operated vehicle

A remotely operated vehicle is a tethered underwater vehicle. They are common in deepwater industries such as offshore hydrocarbon extraction. An ROV may sometimes be called a remotely operated underwater vehicle to distinguish it from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the air. ROVs...

 (ROV) to photograph and video the wrecks.

After problems with equipment and weather, Geosounder commenced the search, and located Kormoran on 12 March 2008 at 26°05′46"S 111°04′33"E. Using the newly-discovered wreck and the accounts of the Germans describing Sydneys heading, speed, and last sighting after the battle, a 20 by search box for the cruiser was calculated: the dramatic change in size was because there was a lot of information regarding Sydneys position and heading in relation to Kormoran, but the raider's location consisted of only broad coordinates.
Sydney was located on 17 March 2008 just after 11:00, only hours after Kormorans discovery was made public. News that the cruiser had been found was announced by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd

Kevin Rudd

Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...

 on 18 March. Sydneys wreck was located at 26°14′31"S 111°12′48"E at 2468 metres (8,097.1 ft) below sea level, 11.4 nautical miles (21.1 km) south-east of the raider. The bow of the cruiser had broken off as the ship sank, and was located at the opposite end of a debris field stretching less than 500 metres (1,640.4 ft) north-west from the hull, which was sitting upright on the ocean floor. On discovery, both wrecks were placed under the protection of the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976

Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976

The Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 is an Australian Act of Parliament designed to legally protect historic shipwrecks and any relics or artifacts from those wrecks...

, which penalises anyone disturbing a protected shipwreck with a fine of up to A$10,000 or a maximum five years imprisonment. Both wrecks were placed on the Australian National Heritage List

Australian National Heritage List

The Australian National Heritage List is a list of places deemed to be of outstanding heritage significance to Australia. The list includes natural, historic and indigenous places...

 on 14 March 2011.

After the side-scan sonar aboard Geosounder was switched out for the ROV (again delayed by technical issues and more bad weather), the survey ship returned to Sydneys wreck site on 3 April, and performed a detailed study of the ship and her debris field. Inspections were also carried out on Kormoran and the believed battle site (the latter found to be outcrops of pillow lava

Pillow lava

Pillow lavas are lavas that contain characteristic pillow-shaped structures that are attributed to the extrusion of the lava under water, or subaqueous extrusion. Pillow lavas in volcanic rock are characterized by thick sequences of discontinuous pillow-shaped masses, commonly up to one metre in...

), before Mearns declared the search over on 7 April.

Awards, memorials, and legacy

Sydney was granted the battle honour "Kormoran 1941" in recognition of the damage done to Kormoran. This was one of only three honours awarded during the 20th century for the sinking of a single ship, and the second to a ship named Sydney (the other had been awarded to the previous HMAS Sydney

HMAS Sydney (1912)

HMAS Sydney was a Chatham class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy . Laid down in 1911 and launched in 1912, the cruiser was commissioned into the RAN in 1913....

 for her defeat of the German light cruiser SMS Emden at the Battle of Cocos

Battle of Cocos

The Battle of Cocos took place on 9 November 1914 during the First World War off the Cocos Islands, in the north east Indian Ocean. The German light cruiser attacked the British cable station on Direction Island and was engaged several hours later by the Australian light cruiser...

).

The main memorial for the loss of Sydney is located at Geraldton, Western Australia

Geraldton, Western Australia

Geraldton is a city and port in Western Australia located north of Perth in the Mid West region. Geraldton has an estimated population at June 2010 of 36,958...

, on top of Mount Scott. Planning for the memorial commenced in late 1997, after a speech by Sydney researcher Glenys McDonald at the local Rotary

Rotary International

Rotary International is an organization of service clubs known as Rotary Clubs located all over the world. The stated purpose of the organization is to bring together business and professional leaders to provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical standards in all vocations, and help...

 club. The first, temporary memorial (consisting of a large boulder, a flagpole, and a bronze plaque), was installed prior to 19 November 1998, and was used in a remembrance ceremony that year. During the playing of the Last Post

Last Post

The "Last Post" can be either a B♭ bugle call within British Infantry regiments or an E♭ cavalry trumpet call in British Cavalry and Royal Regiment of Artillery used at Commonwealth military funerals and ceremonies commemorating those who have been killed in war.The two regimental traditions have...

, a large flock of seagulls flew over the participants and headed out to sea in formation: this became a major feature of the permanent memorial. The permanent memorial included four major elements: a stele

Stele

A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...

 of the same size and shape of the ship's prow, a granite wall listing the ship's company, a bronze statue of a woman looking out to sea and waiting in vain for the cruiser to come home, and a dome (dubbed the "dome of souls") onto which 645 stainless steel seagulls were welded. The memorial (minus the stele, which had not been completed in time) was dedicated on 18 November 2001, and was used the next evening for a commemoration ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the ship's loss. In May 2009, the memorial was recognised by the Australian government as being of national significance.
Other memorials commemorating the loss of Sydney include an oak tree planted at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance

Shrine of Remembrance

The Shrine of Remembrance, located in Kings Domain on St Kilda Road, Melbourne, Australia was built as a memorial to the men and women of Victoria who served in World War I and is now a memorial to all Australians who have served in war...

, and an avenue in Carnarvon lined with 645 trees. The service of Sydney, along with the other ships of the same name

HMAS Sydney

Five ships of the Royal Australian Navy have been named HMAS Sydney, for Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales., a Chatham-class light cruiser launched in 1912, decommissioned in 1928, and broken up for scrap, a Leander-class light cruiser launched in 1934, and sunk following an engagement...

, is commemorated by a stained-glass window at the Garden Island Naval Chapel

Naval Chapel, Garden Island NSW

The Naval Chapel at Garden Island dockyard is the oldest Christian chapel of the Royal Australian Navy . It was established in 1902 after conversion from the former sail loft., and has stained glass windows and plaques from that era to the present. The building is the oldest on Garden Island, two...

, and by the mast of the first at Bradleys Head, New South Wales. The names of those killed aboard Sydney are inscribed at the Australian War Memorial

Australian War Memorial

The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...

.

The "HMAS Sydney Replacement Fund" was established to help finance the acquisition of a replacement ship. The AU£

Australian pound

The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 13 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. It was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.- Earlier Australian currencies :...

426,000 raised was contributed to the purchase of Australia's first aircraft carrier in the late 1940s; the Majestic class carrier was named upon her commissioning into the RAN in December 1948. This Sydney operated during the Korean War, then was modified into a troop transport and served in the Vietnam War, before her sale for scrap in 1973.

The Supermarine Seagull V

Supermarine Walrus

The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...

 aircraft that was allocated to Sydney, and flew from her between 1937 and 1938, still survives as part of the collection of the Royal Air Force Museum in London.

Footnotes

A significant minority of sources give the cruiser's length overall as 555 feet (169.2 m). This corresponds to the five unmodified Leander class cruisers.

External links

• Sinking of the HMAS Sydney at National Archives of Australia
  National Archives of Australia
  The National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. It is an Executive Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and reports to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator Joe Ludwig.The national...
  
  
• HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd, The Finding Sydney Foundation (official website)
• HMAS Sydney (II), Royal Australian Navy
• HMAS Sydney (II) website by the Western Australian Museum
• HMAS Sydney II Memorial
• maritimequest.com, HMAS Sydney photo gallery
• Bullet-riddled Carley life float from HMAS Sydney in the Australian War Memorial, Canberra