HMAS Sydney: Australia's Greatest Naval Tragedy

by Tom Frame

On 19 November 1941, the pride of the Australian Navy, the light cruiser Sydney, fought a close-quarters battle with the German armed raider HSK Kormoran off Carnarvon on the West Australian coast. Both ships sank ? and not one of the 645 men on board the Sydney survived. Was Sydney?s captain guilty of negligence by allowing his ship to manoeuvre within range of Kormoran?s guns? Did the Germans feign surrender before firing a torpedo at the Sydney as she prepared to despatch a boarding party? This updated edition covers the recent discovery of the wreck ? with the light this sheds on the events of that day 67 years ago, and the closure it has brought to so many grieving families.

513 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[CMDR RETD · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a part of Australia's war time history, I found this story fascinating. It has been an enduring mystery, but I found the facts and the overall story compelling and easy to read. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys maritime history and war time mystery.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The loss of HMAS Sydney in 1941 to the German commerce raider Kormaran was an event no-one thought possible. This well researched and written book covers not just the events leading up to the clash of these two ships but looks also at how Germany deployed her commerce raiders around the globe and how the allied navies strove to counter them.

Of course any such unlikely victory prompted many to ask questions as to how Sydney came to be lost which almost inevitably lead to a host of what today we would call conspiracy theories. The author takes a look at the various theories pushed by interested parties and how they connected to the few facts known about that fateful day.

This edition covers the discovery of the wrecks of the Australian and German ships in March 2008 and what the wrecks can tell us about how both ships came to sink due to the damage each inflicted on the other.

This is a very good account, written in a non axe grinding manner and I thoroughly recommend it.