The Search for the HMAS Sydney

David L Mearns

Harper Collins

2009

Reviewer: Bob Estreich

The loss of the HMAS Sydney during World War Two was the Royal Australian Navy’s greatest tragedy and mystery. All that was known was that in 1941 it had come into combat with the German commerce raider Kormoran and both ships had been sunk. Survivors from the Kormoran told of a cruiser closing with their ship, of a savage close range gun battle, of their own ship on fire and about to explode, and Sydney heading off into the night fiercely ablaze. There were no survivors from the Sydney to tell its story. The Royal Australian Navy maintained an interest and groups of family of the crewmen kept pressing for a search, but the question was where to search? As the map shows, the possible locations based on best guesses cover much of the Western Australian coastline and well out to sea. The Navy could not spend money on a search until the location could be better pinned down.

Enter David Mearns. He had experience in wreck location and recovery, an obsession with drawing on original documents to eliminate errors in translation, and the ability to put all the information together and arrive at a useful answer. The book discusses in detail his search for original papers in the RAN and Royal Navy archives and his trips to Germany and South America to interview survivors. One of his biggest problems was that most of the evidence available came from the German crew members. Many people suspected that the Germans were hiding something sinister. Mearns decided to accept their reports at face value and mapped out a likely area where the wreck could be found. First he had to find the Kormoran. Its position when it blew up was fairly well known by the German survivors. If its wreck was located where the Germans said it was, their stories would be verified. He could then use the German reports of the time, speed and direction of the blazing Sydney to define a smaller area where its wreck should be.

He also looked at the current, wind and drift patterns of the Kormoran’s lifeboats. By backtracking from where they were picked up or landed on the coast it should be possible to tighten up the likely site. There was no “X marks the spot”, just a large area of ocean to be examined with side scanning sonar. This would show any irregularities on the ocean floor. Mearns knew the size and shape of the ships and he had previous experience in what a debris field from a sunken warship would look like. The final test would be a photographic scan of the wrecks. It would all have to be done by remote control since it was well below the depth for divers or manned submersibles.

The next problem was funding. Despite the constant sniping from other researchers who insisted he was searching the wrong area, eventually the Australian Government funded the search. There followed a period of setting up – finding a ship, hiring the sonar gear, testing and repairing it, dodging a cyclone. Getting the ship to sea in working condition was almost as big a task as working out the position to search. All Mearns’ intensive research was justified when in March 2008 the wreckage of the Kormoran was found. The prearranged plan to search for the Sydney using the Kormoran’s position as a basis was then set in motion. On March 8 the wreck of the Sydney was found. It was an emotional moment for many Australians.

His photos of the wreck show the extent of the damage. Captain Burnett, apparently deceived by the Kormoran’s pretence of being a Dutch merchant ship, had sailed the Sydney to well within range of the powerful guns on the Kormoran. When Kormoran opened fire the damage to Sydney was intense. The bridge was destroyed, gun turrets were put out of action, the torpedo tubes were rendered useless, and many crewmen died in a hail of bullets from the antiaircraft guns. Most of the lifeboats and floats were destroyed and the firefighting equipment was put out of action. Finally a torpedo hit Sydney near the bows and she veered away from the Kormoran, on fire and sinking. Sydney got one of its gun turrets operating and inflicted terrible damage to the Kormoran. A raging fire was started next to the hold containing the Kormoran’s sea mines and an explosion was imminent. There was time to evacuate the ship but when the mines blew up they broke the Kormoran in two. The pictures of the damage allowed a reconstruction of the battle. They were also a poignant reminder of what death in bloody battle really meant.

The book is beautifully presented, hard bound and printed on high quality paper that shows the photos to best advantage. David Mearns has academic qualifications but has written the book in a straighforward manner that makes his story easier to follow. His explanations of the technical equipment are clear and concise and he gives his reasoning on his navigational decisions in great detail. The Prologue by Lieutenant John Perryman is a tribute to the ship and the men of both vessels carrying the name HMAS Sydney. There was an HMAS Sydney during World War 1 that fought an engagement with the German commerce raider Emden, forcing it to be scuttled on the Keeling Islands. The second HMAS Sydney of World War 2, the subject of this book, also ran foul of a German commerce raider, the Kormoran. This time the outcome was different.

The book is superbly illustrated but I feel the best picture is the cover one, which shows the sad remains of the Sydney, upper works destroyed and most guns damaged and with the bows blown off by the torpedo hit. An extra bonus is hidden inside the dust jacket – an A2 size detailed plan of the Sydney’s decks as she was fitted out.

For any lovers of military history or Australian history, this book is a must-have for Christmas.

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This review will appear in Volume 2 No.6 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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