HMAS Sydney , where art thou ?

apparently the search is on in earnest

google_links

for more info on the loss

kormoram

sydney

i hope they have some new info [ that they are keeping secret for commercial advantage ] otherwise its going to be a long and costly endeavour

I guess I am strange..

But I never understood the fascination of locating the wrecks of destroyed warships nowdays. I mean we had a search for the USS Yorktown near the Midway battle.. the Search for the HMS Hood, the Search for the Bismark etc.

I hope those who want to find teh Sydney do find the vessel.. but to me its a causualty of war.

The way i look at this topic is that the site where a Naval vessel lies is a place that will provide closure to the families of the loved ones who served their country.

Sydney served with distinction in the early stages of World War II, but her fate following an encounter with the Kormoran remains shrouded in mystery and controversy in Australia. Her apparent sinking with all hands represents the greatest loss of life in an Australian ship, and she was the largest vessel of any country to be lost with no survivors during the war.

(bold text added)
HMAS Sydney

Sanc'.

[UPDATE

the wreck sites of HMAS Sydney , and the Raider Kormoran have been located

the discovery raises more questions than it answers

hull largely intact .............. sitting upright

that demolishes my pet therory , namely that :

HMAS Sydney was destroyed by the belated detonation of an unexploded shell or torpedo fired by Kormoran , which ignited her own bunkers or powder rooms

i honestly believed that Sydeneys fate had been similar to Hood`s - all be it delayed

i suspose the next logical theory would be sudden capsise - either caused by internal explosion / fire or mismanagement of counter flooding procedures by the damage control teams

but how it hit the sea bed upright is another mystery

Latest images shown on TV last night do indeed point to a torpedo hit in the bow section. Also a number of her lifeboats were located showing damage from machine gun and splinter fire. So even if they had survived the crew would have only had Carley floats to abandon ship with. Further examination will no doubt reveal more.

They have also released images of the Kormoran and you can clearly see the deck guns that were hidden in her structure. Also clearly evident is where her crew set off scuttling charges to avoid allied capture.

LEE.

reply to post by thebozeian



True, i saw that too, I'm keeping my ear to the ground on this one.
Really interesting.