[PeteB570]

I would guess the inquirery would be more in line with “why did the Sydney get so close while being so unprepared”.

The only survivors were from the Kormoran and they stated they pumped a great number of shells into the Sydney before she started fighting back.

The inspection of the Sydney will show the shell damage.

naturalman1975 - you got some better intell?

[naturalman1975]

You've pretty much summarised what I expect the inquiry to have looked at - Sydney must have been taken by surprise, and there's no good reason that should have happened. They should have been alert. For some reason, they weren't.

The Kormoran seems to have inflicted a great deal of damage very quickly and there was probably an element of luck in that, but the bottom line is they caught the Sydney with its pants down, they managed to hit very hard, very quickly, and while Sydney was able to hit back with enough force that the Kormoran had to be scuttled, the damage had already been done. Sydney was fatally damaged.

[naturalman1975]

You've pretty much summarised what I expect the inquiry to have looked at - Sydney must have been taken by surprise, and there's no good reason that should have happened. They should have been alert. For some reason, they weren't.

The Kormoran seems to have inflicted a great deal of damage very quickly and there was probably an element of luck in that, but the bottom line is they caught the Sydney with her pants down, they managed to hit very hard, very quickly, and while Sydney was able to hit back with enough force that the Kormoran had to be scuttled, the damage had already been done. Sydney was fatally damaged.