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Tasmanian Seafarers' Memorial
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HMAS Sydney (1941)
The plaque reads ...
HMAS 'Sydney'
1939-40 saw action in Mediterranean
1941 duty in Indian Ocean, Fiji, NZ.
19.11.1941 lost with all 645 hands
(635 RAN, 6 RAAF, 4 Canteen Staff)
after inflicting fatal damage to the
German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran
off N.W. Coast of West Australia.
46 Tasmanian servicemen perished.
~ Lest We Forget ~
Ex-HMS 'Phaeton', the Sydney saw action during 1939-40 in the Mediterranean as part of the British 7th Cruiser Squadron. She took part in the bombardment of Bardia and in 1940 became part of the covering force for Malta-bound convoys, joining the Mediterranean Battle Fleet with ensuing action against Italian forces.
In January 1941, she left Alexandria for Australia where, after a refit,
she was assigned to escort and patrol duties in the Indian Ocean, and
to Fiji and New Zealand before being ordered in September 1941, to Fremantle
for 'duties as required'.
On November 19th 1941 while patrolling some 130 miles off the NW coast of West Australia, the Sydney came upon a vessel purporting to be the Dutch merchant ship Straat Malacca bound for Batavia. However, following unsuccessful diversionary tactics and being unable to hoist the required secret flag signal for that vessel, the Dutch flag was struck and German colours hoisted - it was in reality the disguised German merchant cruiser Kormoran, a heavily armed raider searching for unescorted shipping.
"In the following action, Kormoran scored hits on Sydney's bridge and control position, followed by repeated hits amidships. Sydney, in reply, registered hits on the enemy's funnel and her engine room, before being hit by an enemy torpedo forward of 'A' and 'B' turrets. Five minutes after the action had begun, Sydney turned sharply towards Kormoran as though about to ram, but - ablaze from bridge to after funnel - passed astern of the raider. At 5.45 pm Sydney fired four torpedoes, her final reply, but all four missed. Kormoran ceased firing at 6.25 pm after expending 550 rounds. By 6.30 pm Sydney had disappeared over the horizon, though glare from the still blazing ship could be seen until 10.00 pm."
The Ships That Died : Vic Cassells pp 72-73.
The Kormoran , unable to extinguish fires in her engine room was scuttled with the last boat cast off at midnight. Of her crew of 397, 315 reached Australian shores.
The Sydney with a crew of 645 was lost with all hands - 635 RAN. 6 RAAF, 4 canteen staff. The only object recovered during the search for survivors was one tattered Carley Float which is held by the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
In Tasmania, to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of her loss in which 64 Tasmanian servicemen perished, a plaque was erected by the HMAS Sydney & Vietnam Logistical Support Veterans Association at Constitution Dock, Hobart. It overlooks the site on King's Pier where, in February 1938, the cruiser Sydney tied up while visiting and acting as flagship for the Hobart Regatta. The names of the Tasmanians lost with the sinking of HMAS Sydney can be viewed on the Virtual War Memorial Australia.
A magnificent memorial to the Sydney and her crew has been erected at Geraldton in WA.