Posted on 08/12/2009 12:41:30 AM PDT by naturalman1975
The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, AC, AFC said HMAS Sydney II was lost with all hands on 19 November 1941, following an engagement with the German raider, HSK Kormoran, off the Western Australian coast.
For a long time our nation has struggled to understand how our greatest maritime disaster occurred, Air Chief Marshal Houston said.
The unanswered questions have haunted the families of those brave sailors and airmen that never came home.
President of the Commission, the Honourable Terence Cole, AO, RFD, QC, said that the Inquirys key findings confirm that accounts provided by the HSK Kormoran survivors of Sydney IIs last movements and of the damage she sustained during the engagement with the German raider are correct.
The Commanding Officer of HMAS Sydney II was not expecting to encounter any merchant ship in the location where he encountered Kormoran, Mr Cole said.
That knowledge together with his knowledge of the possible presence of a German raider should have caused the sighted vessel to be treated as suspicious.
Another key finding is that there is now additional compelling evidence to support the conclusion that the body recovered from Christmas Island in 1941 is that of a member of HMAS Sydney IIs ships company.
Mr Cole further concluded that each of the many frauds, theories and speculations reported to the Inquiry were thoroughly investigated.
none were found to have any substance whatsoever, Mr Cole said.
Chief of Navy, Vice Admiral Russ Crane, AM, CSM, RAN encouraged those with an interest in HMAS Sydney II to read the report and reflected that the loss of HMAS Sydney II needs to be viewed in context of the times.
Offered in memory of the brave men of His Majesty's Australian Ship Sydney and Handelsstörkreuzer Kormoran lost at sea in the service of their countries on or about 19th November 1941.
HMAS Sydney
German Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran
ex navy and growing up on the great lakes... I guess thats why I find this stuff fascinating.
I too am fascinated by the tragic loss of HMAS Sydney. The controversy is now definitively resolved, with the Sydney shown to have been lost because it was badly handled and made vulnerable to a well-armed German surface raider.
As the old saying goes, military procedures are written in blood is the case here. In order to follow identification procedure, the HMS Sydney gave up her range advantage by closing to the raider in an attempt to make visual identification
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