HMAS Sydney, named after the Australian city of Sydney, was one of three modified Leander-class light cruisers used by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Originally ordered for the Royal Navy as HMS Phaeton, the ship was bought by the Australian government and renamed before being launched in 1934.
During the early part of its service, Sydney helped enforce international rules during the Abyssinian Crisis. At the start of World War II, it was assigned to protect ships and patrol Australian waters. In May 1940, Sydney joined the British Mediterranean Fleet for an eight-month mission. During this time, it sank two Italian warships, took part in attacks on enemy positions on land, and supported convoys traveling to Malta. The ship suffered little damage and had no casualties during this period. When it returned to Australia in February 1941, Sydney again focused on protecting convoys and patrolling home waters.
On 19 November 1941, Sydney was involved in a battle with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, and both ships were destroyed. All 645 people on board Sydney died. The wrecks of both ships were not found until 2008; Sydney was discovered on 17 March, four days after Kormoran. Sydney’s loss is often explained by the closeness of the two ships during the battle and Kormoran’s use of surprise and accurate gunfire. However, the fact that no one on Sydney survived, while most of the crew on Kormoran lived, has led to claims that the German commander used unfair tactics to lure Sydney into range, that a Japanese submarine was involved, or that the true details of the battle were hidden. These claims lack evidence.
Construction and acquisition
The ship was started being built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson at Wallsend-on-Tyne, England, on July 8, 1933, for the Royal Navy as HMS Phaeton, named after a figure from Greek mythology. In 1934, the Australian government wanted to replace the light cruiser HMAS Brisbane and agreed to buy Phaeton while it was still being built.
The cruiser was renamed after Sydney, the capital city of New South Wales, and was launched on September 22, 1934, by Ethel Bruce, the wife of Stanley Bruce, a former prime minister of Australia and the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom at the time. Sydney was officially added to the Royal Australian Navy on September 24, 1935, with its crew coming from Brisbane, which had been taken out of service earlier that day.
After it was announced that Australia would buy a British-built cruiser, some people criticized the decision, mainly from the political group opposing the government at that time. They argued that the ship should have been built using Australian resources and workers. In response, several reasons were given for choosing a British-built cruiser instead of an Australian-made one: the ship was nearly finished, the risk of war meant there was not enough time to train Australians in shipbuilding skills, and one of the two cruisers built in Australian shipyards (HMAS Adelaide) had taken seven years to complete.
Design
Sydney was one of three Modified Leander-class light cruisers bought by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the late 1930s. Although Sydney was the first ship of the class to join the RAN, it was the second ship built and the first completed. These ships were sometimes called the Perth class. Perth and Hobart were first used by the Royal Navy before being bought by Australia in 1938. Like most British cruisers, the Leander-class ships were designed to travel long distances, scout enemy ships, and protect trade routes.
Sydney’s weight varied depending on its load. When empty, it weighed about 6,701 tons, and when fully loaded, it reached 8,940 tons. Its standard weight was 7,198 tons. Improved building methods made Sydney 52 tons lighter than its sister ships. The ship was 530 feet long between its ends and 562 feet 4 inches long overall. Its width was 56 feet 8.5 inches, and its depth in the water ranged from 15 feet 3 inches at the front to 17 feet 3 inches at the back.
Sydney was powered by four Admiralty 3-drum boilers that sent steam to Parsons turbines. These turbines produced 72,000 horsepower to drive four propeller shafts. Unlike earlier Leander-class ships, Sydney had two separate engine groups, a design borrowed from the U.S. Navy. This meant the ship could still operate if one engine area was damaged. Each engine group had its own smokestack, giving Sydney a different appearance compared to earlier Leander-class ships. Naval historian Henry Lenton called the Modified Leander-class ships "the most handsome cruisers ever built by the Royal Navy" because of their balanced and functional design.
Sydney and its sister ships had 1-inch thick steel hulls. The machinery spaces were protected by 3-inch thick armor, and the shell rooms and magazines had 2-inch thick plates. Sydney was the first Australian warship to have asdic, a sonar device in a retractable dome near the bow. However, this dome was a weak spot in the hull.
One of Sydney’s early commanders, Captain J.W.A. Waller, thought the ship’s single director control tower was a design weakness. The tower was the highest part of the ship and was used to control gun fire. Waller worried that a single hit could destroy the tower or cut its wiring, forcing the guns to operate independently. Although he suggested adding a second tower, no action was taken because later commanders did not share his concerns, and other Leander-class ships proved the system was reliable.
Sydney’s main weapons were eight 6-inch guns in four twin turrets. These could fire eight rounds per minute at targets up to 24,800 yards away. Four 4-inch guns were mounted on the aft funnel to fight aircraft and surface targets. These were later replaced with more advanced guns, but the change was delayed by World War II. For close defense, Sydney had twelve 0.5-inch machine guns and some 0.303-inch machine guns.
Sydney had eight 21-inch torpedo tubes and carried eight torpedoes. It also had a depth charge rail at the stern for underwater attacks. Four small guns were used for saluting ceremonies but were removed during a 1940 refit.
Sydney had a 53-foot, cordite-powered catapult between its funnels to launch a Supermarine Walrus aircraft. The Walrus was operated by Royal Australian Air Force personnel from No. 5 Squadron RAAF. A 7-ton crane helped recover the aircraft and deploy the ship’s boats.
Operational history
Sydney completed her training exercises before sailing from Portsmouth on 29 October 1935, with Captain J.U.P. Fitzgerald RN in command. Soon after leaving, Sydney was ordered to join the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet at Gibraltar to help the 2nd Cruiser Squadron enforce economic sanctions against Italy due to the Abyssinian crisis. In January 1936, the cruiser underwent repairs in Alexandria and visited medical facilities in Cyprus. Cases of rubella and mumps had spread among the crew since late 1935. In March, Sydney was reassigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron, where she and the heavy cruiser HMAS Australia continued enforcing sanctions and participated in exercises with Royal Navy units. After the Abyssinian crisis ended, Sydney departed for Australia on 14 July, arriving in Fremantle by late July, then visiting Melbourne on 8 August and reaching her namesake city three days later.
Once in Australian waters, Sydney focused on fleet exercises and training cruises. In 1938, the cruiser was among several Royal Australian Navy units prepared to respond to the Munich crisis, but all ships were ordered to stand down after the crisis was resolved. From 17 to 19 April 1939, Sydney participated in a joint trade protection exercise off the southeast Australian coast with seven other warships. In early August 1939, Sydney was in Darwin before heading to the Netherlands East Indies. However, with the outbreak of World War II, Sydney was ordered to sail to Fremantle on a war footing, arriving on 22 August.
After war was declared, Sydney carried out patrol and escort duties in Australian waters. Captain John Collins took command on 16 November. On 28 November, Sydney joined the Australian heavy cruisers Australia and Canberra in a four-day search for the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in the Indian Ocean. Sydney was relieved by HMAS Adelaide on 13 December and sailed to Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney for maintenance. The work was completed by late January 1940, and Sydney joined Canberra and British ships Leander and Ramillies in a shakedown cruise, escorting the Suez-bound Anzac convoy US 1. Sydney left the convoy after it departed Australia’s east coast and returned to Sydney. She then went to Fremantle on 6 February, relieving Australia as the west coast’s patrol and escort cruiser.
On 19 April, Sydney joined the escort of Anzac convoy US 2 off Albany, remaining with the convoy until it reached the Cocos Islands on 28 April, where it was replaced by the French cruiser Suffren. Sydney headed for Fremantle but was redirected to the East Indies Station and rerouted to Colombo, arriving on 8 May. There, Sydney was immediately assigned to meet Anzac convoy US 3 off the Cocos Islands and escort it across the Indian Ocean. The cruiser departed on 12 May but was ordered to head for the Mediterranean instead.
Returning to Colombo on 18 May, Sydney resupplied before sailing at high speed to Aden, arriving four days later. Accompanied by HM Ships Gloucester and Eagle, Sydney departed the next day, crossing the Suez Canal during the night of 25–26 May and arriving in Alexandria at 15:30. Originally planned for operations in the Red Sea, Sydney was reassigned to the Royal Navy’s 7th Cruiser Squadron after Admiral Andrew Cunningham observed the performance of an Australian destroyer flotilla and decided to keep the cruiser for his fleet.
Sydney was in Alexandria on 10 June 1940 and learned that night of Italy’s plan to declare war at midnight. By 01:00 on 11 June, all ships in the harbor had left to search for Italian warships and secure sea routes in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean. Sydney participated in the westbound sweep, sailing as far as the Gulf of Taranto during the four-day operation. The only action was an unsuccessful depth charge attack on a suspected submarine on 13 June.
On 21 June, Sydney fired for the first time, joining British cruisers Orion and Neptune, the French battleship Lorraine, and destroyers in shelling the Italian-controlled Libyan port of Bardia. Sydney targeted a military camp during the 22-minute bombardment. The cruiser’s Walrus amphibian aircraft provided spotting support but was attacked by three biplanes—later identified as British Gloster Gladiators, not Italian Fiat CR.42s. The pilot flew the damaged aircraft to Mersa Matruh and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. The Walrus was the only casualty of the operation. The next day, a retaliatory airstrike against the ships failed to cause damage.
On the same day, Germany and Vichy France signed the Second Armistice at Compiègne. Although French warships were ordered to return to France and disarm, the British government refused to let them fall into Axis hands. Sydney and British ships in Alexandria turned their guns on the French, but unlike the situation at Mers-el-Kébir, British Admiral Cunningham and French Admiral René-Emile Godfroy negotiated peacefully to disarm the ships in Alexandria.
Sydney and the 7th Squadron left Alexandria on 27 June, escorting a Malta convoy. Late on 28 June, the ships engaged three Italian destroyers resupplying Tobruk. Two Italian vessels escaped, but the third, Espero, was disabled. Sydney was ordered to recover survivors and sink Espero while the rest of the fleet continued to Malta. While 6,000 yards from Espero, the Italian ship fired two shells that fell short of Sydney. Sydney opened fire, striking the destroyer with four salvos before resuming the approach. Espero sank at 20:35, and Sydney remained in the area for nearly two hours to collect survivors despite the risk of submarine attack before withdrawing to Alexandria. The cruiser rescued 47 Italians (three of whom died from wounds during the return voyage) and left a fully provisioned cutter in the water for other survivors.
On 7 July, Sydney departed Alexandria as part of a fleet including four light cruisers, three battleships, an aircraft carrier, and sixteen destroyers. The fleet was divided into three groups to rendezvous east of Cape Passero on 9 July. The destroyers would escort two convoys from Malta, while other ships would attack targets near Sicily. However, on 8 June, the British submarine HMS Phoenix reported an unsuccessful attack on an Italian fleet including two battleships. Throughout the day, the fleet defended itself from multiple Italian air raids. At one point, Sydney and the 7th Squadron attacked what they believed was a high-flying bomber, but it was later identified as a different target.
Final battle and loss
On the afternoon of 19 November 1941, HMAS Sydney was near Carnarvon, Western Australia, and heading south toward Fremantle. Around 15:55, Sydney spotted a merchant ship moving north. The ship quickly turned away from the coast and traveled at 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). Sydney increased her speed to 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) to intercept the ship. As Sydney closed the distance, she used signal lights and flags to communicate with the merchant ship.
The merchant ship raised its callsign, but the flags were blocked by the ship’s funnel. Sydney asked the ship to make its callsign visible. The merchant ship adjusted the flags so they could be seen clearly. The callsign belonged to the Dutch ship Straat Malakka, but Sydney did not expect this ship to be in the area. Sydney then asked the ship about its destination and cargo.
At 17:00, Straat Malakka sent a distress signal, saying it was being chased by a merchant raider. Sydney approached the ship from behind, staying about 1,300 meters (4,300 feet) away. Sydney’s main guns and the torpedo launcher on the left side were aimed at the ship. She also sent a secret callsign from Straat Malakka. Fifteen minutes later, at about 17:30, the ship did not respond. Sydney ordered it to reveal the secret callsign.
Strat Malakka did not reply because it was actually the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran in disguise. When asked to show the secret callsign, Kormoran removed its disguise and began firing. Sydney also fired (accounts differ on which ship fired first). Sydney’s first shots either missed or caused little damage, but Kormoran’s four guns destroyed Sydney’s bridge, damaged her forward turrets, and set her aircraft on fire.
Sydney did not fire again until after Kormoran’s sixth shot. Sydney’s "X" turret hit Kormoran, damaging its machinery and one of its guns, and igniting an oil tank. During the battle, a torpedo from Kormoran struck Sydney near the front of the ship, causing severe damage. Sydney turned sharply to the left, and shells from Kormoran knocked off one of Sydney’s turrets.
By 17:35, Sydney was heading south, slowing down, and covered in smoke from fires. Her main guns were disabled, and her secondary guns could not reach Kormoran. Sydney continued to be hit by shells as the distance between the ships grew. The Germans reported that Sydney fired four torpedoes, but they missed. Only two torpedoes from Sydney’s left side were ever fired. Kormoran’s engines failed, but it kept firing until 17:50, when it stopped at a distance of 6,600 yards (6,000 meters). Kormoran launched another torpedo at 18:00, but it missed Sydney.
Sydney continued south at a slow speed. Observers on Kormoran doubted Sydney was still in control. The burning ship was visible to the Germans until about 22:00, and occasionally until midnight. At some point during the night, Sydney sank. The bow of the ship broke off as it went underwater, and the rest of the ship slid forward before hitting the ocean floor. Sydney’s shells damaged Kormoran, and German sailors abandoned the ship after fires spread below deck. Kormoran was scuttled at midnight and sank slowly until a mine exploded half an hour later.
Sydney’s failure to reach Fremantle on 20 November was not immediately concerning. However, by 23 November, no sign of Sydney was found, and shore-based stations ordered her to break radio silence. On 24 November, a group of German survivors was rescued by a British tanker, and a search began. By 29 November, 318 of Kormoran’s 399 crew members were found, but no evidence of Sydney or its 645 crew was recovered.
Australian Prime Minister John Curtin announced Sydney’s loss on 30 November. Her destruction was a major blow to Australian morale and military strength. Sydney’s crew made up 35% of the Royal Australian Navy’s wartime casualties. The loss did not have the same international impact, as Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December, and two British ships were destroyed soon after.
German survivors were taken to Fremantle for questioning. Some gave confusing or false answers, making it hard to learn the full story. However, Australian authorities confirmed the battle’s details through interviews with German sailors. By early 1947, Kormoran’s crew was moved to prisoner-of-war camps in Victoria.
On 6 February 1942, a Carley float with a dead body was found near Christmas Island. Locals believed it was from Sydney, but a 1949 Royal Navy investigation said it was not. Some historians later agreed, while others believed it was from Sydney. The body was exhumed in 2006, and DNA was tested. In 2021, Australian officials announced the DNA matched a relative of a Sydney crew member.
Search and rediscovery
The approximate location of the German ship Kormoran was known, with most German records placing the battle at 26°S 111°E. However, the area where both ships might be found was very large. Calculating this area was difficult because some people did not trust the German location and believed the ships were farther south and closer to the shore. Attempts to bring people who supported the "northern" and "southern" positions together to agree on a smaller search area were not successful.
Between 1974 and 1997, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) conducted several searches using the survey ship HMAS Moresby and later the trials ship HMAS Protector. These searches were limited to the continental shelf and usually happened after civilians claimed they had found the ship Sydney at a specific location. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) also used aircraft with magnetometers for searches, but these were also based on civilian claims. These efforts did not find either ship.
In 1996, American shipwreck hunter David Mearns learned about the battle and began studying it to prepare for a search in 2001. Mearns and other researchers studied primary sources, such as old files and diaries, and concluded that the German accounts were correct. He believed the ships would be found at the northern position. After gaining interest from the RAN, Mearns partnered with HMAS Sydney Search, a nonprofit organization created to help locate Sydney and Kormoran. Funding for the search came from government grants totaling nearly A$5 million, as well as private and corporate donations. A 45-day search was conducted from late February to early April 2008.
Mearns’ plan was to use the survey vessel SV Geosounder to search a 52-by-34-nautical-mile area around the German location using a deep-water, towed side-scan sonar to find Kormoran. Once Kormoran was located, the search area for Sydney would be narrowed. The ship would then return to port and replace the sonar with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to photograph and video the wrecks. The SV Geosounder was borrowed from DOF Subsea Australia.
After delays due to equipment and weather issues, the Geosounder found Kormoran on 12 March 2008 at 26°05′46″S 111°04′33″E. Using this discovery and German accounts of Sydney’s heading, speed, and last sighting, a smaller 20-by-18-nautical-mile search area for Sydney was calculated. This smaller area was possible because German records provided more detailed information about Sydney’s position and direction compared to the general coordinates for Kormoran.
Sydney was found on 17 March 2008, shortly after Kormoran’s location was announced. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd shared the news of Sydney’s discovery on 18 March. Sydney’s wreck was located at 26°14′31″S 111°12′48″E, 2,468 metres below sea level, 11.4 nautical miles southeast of Kormoran. The bow of Sydney had broken off as the ship sank and was found at the opposite end of a debris field less than 500 metres long, with the rest of the ship upright on the ocean floor. Both wrecks were protected under the Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976, which allows fines of up to A$10,000 or five years in prison for disturbing them. Both wrecks were added to the Australian National Heritage List on 14 March 2011.
After switching the sonar on the Geosounder with an ROV (delayed by technical issues and bad weather), the survey ship returned to Sydney’s wreck site on 3 April and studied the ship and debris field in detail. Inspections of Kormoran and the believed battle site (found to be pillow lava formations) were also conducted. Mearns ended the search on 7 April. In 2015, Curtin University and the Western Australian Museum began an expedition to map the wreck sites using 3D imaging for further study and to assess if conservation plans were needed due to any changes since 2008.
Awards, memorials, and legacy
Sydney was given the battle honor "Kormoran 1941" to recognize the damage caused to the ship Kormoran. This was one of only three honors given in the 20th century for sinking a single ship. It was the second honor for a ship named Sydney. The first had been given to the earlier Sydney for defeating the German light cruiser SMS Emden during the Battle of Cocos.
The main memorial for the loss of Sydney is located at Geraldton, Western Australia, on top of Mount Scott. Planning for the memorial began in late 1997 after a speech by Sydney researcher Glenys McDonald at a local Rotary club. A temporary memorial, made of a large boulder, a flagpole, and a bronze plaque, was placed before November 19, 1998. It was used in a remembrance ceremony that year. During the playing of the Last Post, a large group of seagulls flew over the participants and flew out to sea in formation. This event became a key part of the permanent memorial. The permanent memorial included four main parts: a stone structure shaped like the ship's front, a granite wall listing the names of the ship's crew, a bronze statue of a woman looking out to sea and waiting for the cruiser to return, and a dome (called the "dome of souls") with 645 stainless steel seagulls attached.
The memorial (without the stone structure, which was not finished in time) was dedicated on November 18, 2001. It was used the next evening for a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the ship's loss. In May 2009, the Australian government recognized the memorial as having national significance. By 2011, the stone structure was completed, and a fifth part—a pool of remembrance with a map of the region and the location of Sydney's wreck—was added.
Other memorials for Sydney include an oak tree planted at the Melbourne Shrine of Remembrance and an avenue in Carnarvon with 645 trees. The service of Sydney, along with other ships of the same name, is honored by a stained-glass window at the Garden Island Naval Chapel and by the mast of the first Sydney at Bradleys Head, New South Wales. The names of those who died aboard Sydney are listed at the Australian War Memorial.
In 2011, a memorial stone honoring both Sydney and the Kormoran was unveiled by former Australian ambassador to Germany, Peter Tesch, at the Laboe Naval Memorial near Kiel, Germany.
The "HMAS Sydney Replacement Fund" was created to help pay for a new ship. The AU$426,000 collected was used to buy Australia's first aircraft carrier in the late 1940s. The Majestic-class carrier was named HMAS Sydney when it joined the Royal Australian Navy in December 1948. This Sydney served during the Korean War, was later changed into a troop transport, and was used in the Vietnam War before being sold for scrap in 1973.
The Supermarine Seagull V aircraft that flew from Sydney between 1937 and 1938 is still on display at the Royal Air Force Museum in Colindale, London.
The "HMAS Sydney II Cup" was introduced in 2010 as a commemorative trophy competed for by two Australian Football League teams: the Sydney Swans (representing the ship's name) and the West Coast Eagles (representing the site of the ship's loss). The trophy is based on the cruiser's battle honor board, while the design of a Best On Ground trophy for the match's top player is inspired by a shell casing from the frigate Sydney.