Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran

Battle between HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
Part of World War II
HMAS Sydney (top) and Kormoran in 1940.
Date 19 November 1941 Location 26°9′50″S 111°4′25″E / -26.16389, 111.07361, 100 nautical miles (190 km) off Steep Point, Western Australia, Indian Ocean. Result Both ships lost, German victory in terms of the respective losses and psychological impact.
Belligerents
Australia	Nazi Germany
Commanders
Joseph Burnett†	Theodor Detmers
Strength
One light cruiser, HMAS Sydney.	One auxiliary cruiser, Kormoran.
Casualties and losses
Sydney sunk with the loss of all 645 hands.	Kormoran damaged and scuttled, with the loss of more than 70 crew members.

On 19 November 1941, during World War II, the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney and the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran fought each other in the Indian Ocean, off Western Australia. The two ships severely damaged one another, and Sydney was lost with all of her 645 crew members, the largest ship from any Allied country to be lost with all hands during the war.^[1][2] Most of the crew from Kormoran were rescued and became prisoners of war.

The battle and sinkings remain controversial. Sydney's loss caused shock and disbelief in Australia, as she was one of the most celebrated ships of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and had been sunk by a converted freighter.^[3] The only eyewitness accounts of the battle were from the crew of Kormoran, and as the two ships were separated after the battle, the exact reason why Sydney sank remains unknown.

In March 2008, the wrecks of Kormoran and Sydney were located after a long search. Both lie approximately 200 kilometres (110 nmi) from Steep Point, at a depth of about 2,500 metres (8,200 ft), and about 12 nautical miles (22 km) from each other.^[4][5]

Contents 1 The ships 2 Background 3 The battle 4 Both ships sink 5 Survivors 6 Controversy 7 Discovery 8 References 9 Further reading 10 External links

The ships

Main articles: HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran

HMAS Sydney was launched on 22 September 1934, at Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend, England. She was a 6,830-ton, modified Leander class light cruiser, commissioned by the RAN in 1935. Her armament included eight 6-inch (152 mm) guns, in pairs, and four 4-inch (102 mm) guns, mounted singly. Externally, Sydney's most notable modification from the original Leander design was the re-trunking of the single, large funnel into two, much narrower and taller stacks, and she was uniquely distinguishable from her RAN sisters by a spar projecting forward from the bridge and by her single open-mount 4-inch guns (as opposed to shielded twin mounts), amidships.^{[citation needed]} She also carried a Supermarine Walrus seaplane (which had replaced a Supermarine Seagull),^[6] crewed by members of No. 9 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force.

In 1940, Sydney was credited with sinking a modern Italian cruiser during the Battle of Cape Spada, and two Italian destroyers in other engagements. After her return from the Mediterranean, command of Sydney passed from the celebrated Captain John Collins to the relatively inexperienced Captain Joseph Burnett.

Kormoran was a freighter which the Kriegsmarine (German Navy) had converted into a covert, long-range merchant raider, under the command of Fregattenkapitän (Commander) Theodor Detmers. The German vessel was posing as the Dutch freighter Straat Malakka. Although Kormoran lacked the armour protection and speed of a proper warship, she had substantial concealed armament, including six 150-millimetre (5.9 in) guns and torpedo tubes. She had been in service for just over a year and had sunk ten merchant ships in the South Atlantic, Indian Ocean and the South Pacific.

Background

On 16 October, after successful actions against merchant ships in the northern Indian Ocean, Kormoran rendezvoused with the Kriegsmarine supply ship Kulmerland — to re-fuel and re-supply, as well as depositing prisoners and five crew members requiring medical attention — at a pre-designated point off Cape Leeuwin, the south west tip of Australia.^[7] The two ships travelled north west together until 25 October. Detmers then intended to lay mines off Fremantle. However, after Kormoran headed back towards Australia, it received a radio warning from the Seekriegsleitung ("sea war command"; SKL) of a convoy approaching, escorted by the British heavy cruiser HMS Cornwall (which in May had sunk another German raider, Pinguin). Detmers took evasive action, changing course northward, before approaching the coast again near Shark Bay.

On 5 November, at Albany, Western Australia, Sydney began escorting the troopship Zealandia,^[8] which was bound for Singapore. Sydney and Zealandia arrived at Fremantle on 9 November. They were delayed by industrial action on board Zealandia, and did not leave Fremantle until 11 November. They reached Sunda Strait, on 17 November, and Sydney handed over the escort of Zealandia to HMS Durban, ^[8] before heading back towards Fremantle. Sydney was scheduled to arrive there in the afternoon or evening of 20 November.

According to accounts by crew members of Kormoran, she was off Dirk Hartog Island, and heading north when she was first sighted by Sydney, at about 4 pm on 19 November. The two ships were about 20 kilometres (11 nmi) apart. Kormoran ignored signals from Sydney and turned to port, heading for the open sea; the Australian ship followed. Detmers ordered the sending of radio signals, to the effect that the Dutch freighter Straat Malakka was being followed by an unknown warship. Kormoran had engine problems and could only make 14 knots (26 km/h).^[9] The two ships began exchanging visual signals.^[10] A series of deliberately muddled and badly displayed flag signals were sent by Kormoran, over a period of 90 minutes, as Sydney gained on the raider.

Detmers maintained the charade as long as possible, to take full advantage of surprise. He knew that he had a better chance in a battle at close range, where the effects of Sydney's better weapons, gunnery control system and armour protection would be diminished. Burnett eventually demanded a secret letter code from Kormoran, by which time Sydney had approached to within about 1,000 metres (1,100 yd) of Kormoran.^[11] According to Detmers, Sydney was still to the rear, albeit on a parallel course and was not at action stations; he could "see the cruiser's pantry men in their white coats lining the rails, to have a look at the supposed Dutchman".^[10]

The battle

Detmers decided that he had no choice other than fighting; he ordered that the Dutch flag be struck and the German naval ensign hoisted. His crew went into action at or near 26°9′50″S 111°4′25″E / -26.16389, 111.07361Coordinates: 26°9′50″S 111°4′25″E / -26.16389, 111.07361, at 17:30 hours.^[9] According to the crew of Kormoran, the Australian warship was not fully prepared for battle – her 6-inch guns were trained on Kormoran, but her secondary artillery was unmanned.^[10]

The first salvo from the German 150-millimetre (5.9 in) heavy guns fell short, but simultaneous salvoes from the Kormoran's 37 mm guns and 20 mm guns scored direct hits on its bridge, gunnery direction tower and other parts of the superstructure.^[9] The 150 mm guns scored hits with their second salvo. The accuracy of the German gunners, in the opening minutes of the battle, likely killed many of the officers on Sydney and/or destroyed her gunnery control system, impeding the ability of turret crews to fire accurately. The seaplane on board Sydney was also hit and its fuel caused a major fire amidships.

Some of the turrets on Sydney then opened fire. According to the Germans, the first shots from Sydney appeared to be a "bracket salvo": a standard targeting technique, in which shells fell on either side of the target. Sydney then suffered hits that put the forward turrets ("A" and "B") out of action, leaving only the after turrets ("X" and "Y") operational. The crew of Kormoran reported that "X" turret opened fast and accurate fire, hitting Kormoran in the funnel and engine room, killing nearly all of the engineering staff and starting a major fire. "Y" turret is said to have fired only two or three salvoes, all of which went over. Sydney was also hit in the bow by at least one torpedo.^[12]

Sydney then headed directly at Kormoran, causing the Germans to think she was about to ram them. However, Sydney completed a 180 degree turn, apparently in order to use her starboard torpedoes. At 17:45, four torpedoes were fired, but were near misses behind Kormoran.^[13] At around this time, the engines on Kormoran broke down.^[13]

Critically, Sydney was now exposed to further intense fire, this time along her starboard side. The volume of hits that she had now sustained along both sides of her superstructure and the resulting fires may have destroyed some of her lifeboats and rafts.^[14] Only five of the warship's nine lifeboats lie with her wreck.^[15] Sydney was reportedly hit 50 times by the 150 mm guns on Kormoran.

The Australian ship fired a last torpedo at 18:00 as she left the scene southwards. The German gunners continued firing at Sydney until 18:25, when Detmers gave the order to abandon ship. The order was given due to fires raging out of control on the German vessel, after reaching an oil store.^[16] By this time, battle damage had also destroyed the gunnery control system on Kormoran.

Both ships sink

The Germans reported seeing Sydney on fire at the horizon until 10 pm that night, and saw flames emerging from time to time two hours later. Some time after the Australian ship disappeared from view, the Germans heard several loud explosions, and believed — perhaps erroneously — that these were the results of fire reaching magazines on Sydney. However, examination of the wreck of Sydney has suggested that the root cause of her her sinking was the torpedo strike, which precipitated the breaking away of her bow, in rough seas. None of the 645 RAN and RAAF personnel on Sydney were seen again (with the possible exception of an unidentified body later found off Christmas Island).

Damage received during the battle had caused an uncontrollable fire in engine room of Kormoran, that rendered the ship's fire fighting equipment unserviceable. There were 20 dead and fire was approaching the mine storage area. Detmers chose to scuttle the ship, and explosive charges were placed and the surviving crew took to the lifeboats, with Detmers the last to leave. The process of abandoning ship took several hours, as scuttling charges were set and additional boats had to be laboriously hand-winched from the holds to provide enough capacity for the whole crew.^[16] A further 40 Germans, mostly wounded, lost their lives when a boat capsized in the choppy water. Shortly after midnight the charges went off, followed 25 minutes later by the mines. The entire stern and midships section was engulfed in a gigantic sheet of flame that shot 300 metres (980 ft) into the night sky as Kormoran went down by the stern.

Survivors

Detmers, about 320 Kriegsmarine personnel and three Chinese civilian laundry workers,^[17] were rescued from their lifeboats and liferafts by the merchant ships Aquitania, Trocas, Koolinda, Centaur and the anti-submarine vessel HMAS Yandra. A further two lifeboats came ashore near 17 Mile Well and Red Bluff, north of Carnarvon.^[18]

Nearly all of the Germans spent the rest of the war in POW Camps around Tatura, Victoria, from which they were not released until January 1947.^[19]

Controversy

The Australian Advisory War Council, headed by Prime Minister John Curtin, in its minutes for March 18, 1942 (which were made public in 1987), quoted an RAN Court of Enquiry into the loss of Sydney:

The 'Sydney' had worked into a position approximately 1500 yards [1,400 m] from the raider. The raider opened fire and launched two torpedoes, one of which hit the 'Sydney'. The raider had given a wrong name [that] was not on the daily list. The Captain of the 'Sydney' was 24 hours late in arriving at his rendezvous and had taken a risk in getting so close to the raider. In doing so he had not followed his orders.

Furthermore the Gunnery Officer of 'Sydney' was not ready. He should have been able to fire first and get in two salvoes before the raider attacked.^[20]

A Court of Enquiry is normal procedure after the loss of any RAN ship, although all other details and records of this enquiry have been lost.^[20] The reference to "24 hours late" appears to mean the delay at Fremantle, before Sydney and Zealandia left for Sunda Strait. The suggestion that the Gunnery Officer on Sydney was "not ready" appears to refer to the period of time between Kormoran changing flags and the first salvo from the Australian gunners.

In Australia, many people found it difficult to believe that a converted merchant ship could sink a modern light cruiser. Many also found it difficult to believe that a senior officer like Burnett took his ship so close to an unidentified and possibly dangerous vessel during wartime, without preparing for action and with such disastrous results. It was also seen as strange that the bulk of the crew of Kormoran survived, while there were no known survivors from Sydney, which made it the largest vessel of any Allied nationality to be sunk with all hands during World War II.

The dearth of evidence and the fact that the only survivors were from the Kormoran allowed the battle between Sydney and Kormoran to become the subject of some controversy, speculation and conspiracy theories over the years leading to the discovery of their wrecks. Anti-German feeling during the war also fostered disbelief in the German account of the battle.

Michael Montgomery, the son of Sydney's navigator, put forward a controversial theory in Who Sank the Sydney? (1981). He claimed firstly that Kormoran had been assisted by a submarine from the Imperial Japanese Navy, two weeks before Japan officially entered the war. Secondly, Montgomery suggested, to conceal the Japanese involvement, survivors from Sydney were machine-gunned while in the water.^[21]

However, there is no evidence that the crew of the Kormoran committed war crimes, or that Japanese personnel were involved in the sinking of Sydney.^[22] Any such action, 18 days prior to Japan's planned entry into the war, would have risked the element of surprise that Japanese forces achieved on 7 December, when they launched a series of attacks against several different countries.

Contrary to what some might assume, Kormoran was not very much weaker than Sydney in terms of armament.^[23] Kormoran was not comparable to a normal warship in terms of armour, speed and fire control, but this might not have counted for very much in an unconventional action at short range where it had the element of surprise.^[24] Even before the war, there was concern about some features of Sydneys design making it vulnerable to attack.^[25]

Some sources suggest that Burnett believed he was dealing with Kulmerland or another unarmed German supply ship and intended sending a boarding party to prevent the Germans from scuttling her.^[7] Kulmerland was very similar in appearance to Kormoran, and the Allies knew she had been operating in Australasian waters, disguised as a (then-neutral) Japanese vessel, while the location of Kormoran was unknown. The only photograph of Kormoran supplied to Sydney was poor and gave a false impression of her appearance.^[7]

The emotive nature of these issues in Australia has resulted in discussion and debate regarding them sometimes becoming heated. In 1999, an Australian Parliament Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade stated that: "[t]he statement of differing views [on the fate of HMAS Sydney] has become a dialogue of the deaf rather than a fruitful exchange within the norms of historical discourse."^[18]

Discovery

Main article: Search for HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran

Searches for the wrecks of the two ships have been ongoing for a long time, both as historical research projects, and with increasing capability to detect submersed wrecks, as actual expeditions into the supposed sinking area. In the 2000s, the Australian government also invested substantial funds into the search.

The Finding Sydney Foundation eventually announced that the wreckage of the Kormoran had been found on 15 March 2008, at 26°05′49.4″S 111°04′27.5″E / -26.097056, 111.074306, during a partly private^[26] and partly government-funded search for the Sydney launched at the beginning of March.^[27]

On 17 March 2008, the wreckage of HMAS Sydney was found at 26°14′37″S 111°13′03″E / -26.24361, 111.2175 (HMAS Sydney), approximately 100 nautical miles (190 km) west of Steep Point and 12 nautical miles (22 km) south-east of the Kormoran wreckage.^[28]

At approximately 8:30 am on that same day, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd confirmed^[29] that the wreckage was that of the Sydney, at a depth of 2,470 metres (8,100 ft). Vice Admiral Russ Shalders said: "For 66 years, this nation has wondered where the Sydney was and what occurred to her, we've uncovered the first part of that mystery...the next part of the mystery, of course, is what happened."^[30]

References

Further reading

• Anon., "Sydney Still Controversial," Naval History magazine (Annapolis, Md., October 2005)
• Detmers, Theodor (1959). The Raider Kormoran. Kimber Books. 
• Gibbs, Martin (2001). The Corpse in the Carley Float – An archaeological survey of the Christmas Island Cemetery and the possible site of an HMAS Sydney sailor. The Bulletin of the Australian Institute for Maritime Archaeology. 
• Gill, G. Hermon (1957). Royal Australian Navy 1939-1942, Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy, Volume I. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. 
• McDonald, Glenys (2005). Seeking the Sydney: A Quest for Truth. University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1920694544. 
• Montgomery, Michael (1983). Who Sank the Sydney?. Lee Cooper, Secker and Wallburg. ISBN 0436284472. 
• Olsen, Wesley (2002). Bitter Victory;the death of HMAS Sydney. University of Western Australia Press. ISBN 1-876268-91-3. 

External links

• Maritimequest HMAS Sydney photo gallery
• Finding Sydney Foundation
• HMAS Sydney II Memorial Geraldton

v • d • e HMAS Sydney, German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, their battle and the searches for them Royal Australian Navy in World War II • Auxiliary Cruisers • German Naval Activity In Australian Waters • Sydney • Kormoran •  The Battle • The Search • Unidentified Body on Christmas Island

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