HMAS Sydney 1941
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Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | HMAS Sydney | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1941 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | light cruiser | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Nationality / flag | Australia | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | Royal Australian Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | INDIAN OCEAN | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Position | -26.2436, 111.2175 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
HMAS Sydney, named for the Australian city of Sydney, was one of three modified Leander-class light cruisers operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Ordered for the Royal Navy as HMS Phaeton, the cruiser was purchased by the Australian government and renamed prior to her 1934 launch.
During the early part of her operational history, Sydney helped enforce sanctions during the Abyssinian Crisis, and at the start of World War II was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties in Australian waters. In May 1940, Sydney joined the British Mediterranean Fleet for an eight-month deployment, during which she sank two Italian warships, participated in multiple shore bombardments, and provided support to the Malta Convoys, while receiving minimal damage and no casualties. On her return to Australia in February 1941, Sydney resumed convoy escort and patrol duties in home waters.
On 19 November 1941, Sydney was involved in a mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, and was lost with all hands (645 aboard). The wrecks of both ships were lost until 2008; Sydney was found on 17 March, four days after her adversary.
Diving & visiting
Despite the approximate position of Kormoran being known (most German accounts giving the battle coordinates as 26°S 111°E), the required search area for both ships was immense. Calculating a search area was complicated by the fact that several people distrusted the German location, and believed the ships would be found further south and closer to shore. Several attempts to bring supporters of the 'northern' and 'southern' positions to a consensus and narrow down the potential search area were unsuccessful.
Multiple searches were carried out by the RAN between 1974 and 1997 (using the survey ship HMAS Moresby and later the trials ship HMAS Protector), but efforts were restricted to the continental…
Sydney was granted the battle honour "Kormoran 1941" in recognition of the damage done to Kormoran. This was one of only three honours awarded during the 20th century for the sinking of a single ship, and the second to a ship named Sydney (the other had been awarded to the previous Sydney for her defeat of the German light cruiser SMS Emden at the Battle of Cocos).
Location
- Recorded position: -26.2436, 111.2175 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: INDIAN OCEAN
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article HMAS Sydney (D48) (revision 1379836960), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section and section(s) “Search and rediscovery”, “Awards, memorials, and legacy”; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
- Kormoran 16 km
Other wrecks of the World War II
- SS Gracechurch 1940
- SS Rio de Janeiro 1940
- U-13 1940
- U-25 1940
- U-54 1940
- Armando Diaz 1941
- Bismarck 1941
- Fiume 1941
- HMAS Waterhen 1941
- HMS Ark Royal 1941
All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
Browse more: Open ocean wrecks · INDIAN OCEAN · Second World War