HMAS Sydney - Legendary fights with Angry Australians

The career of the HMAS Sydney, and the circumstances of it's loss, are today's subject.
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Music - / ncmepicmusic

[@Drachinifel]

Please ensure all Q&A questions are posted as replies to this post. :)

[@99IronDuke]

The thing that has always puzzled me about the sinking of HMAS Sydney is how none of the crew (except that one man on a raft) got off the ship?

[@christopherabernathy6115]

Q&A In your opinion what was the best Armored Cruiser class

[@Drachinifel]

@@99IronDuke the full RAN report after the wreck was found reckoned most of the crew in the upper part of the ship were dead or wounded by the end, the fire would trapped and/or accounted for more. Most of the boats and floats would've been smashed and the ship would have gone from afloat to sunk pretty quick when it broke apart. Past that, it would've been sheer blind luck if any remaining survivors lasted long enough or drifted in the right direction.

[@klipsfilmsmelbourne]

Drachinifel Sydney and Perth sisters cursed sinking

[@bushyfromoz8834]

Q&A - What were the political ramifications, if any, of Australia being forced to decommission HMAS Australia - An Indifatigable class battle cruiser and the RAN's flagship, so that the Royal Navy could meet the terms of the London Naval Treaty.

[@Zaprozhan]

I was strangely heartened to hear how the HMAS Sydney consistently ran out of ammo in the Mediterranean. "They don't pay us to bring it back!"

[@muttproductions2536]

Allied Naval Command: "Another request for ammo resupply _again_ Sydney?! What are you trying to sink out there?!" HMAS Sydney: "There's no rule, official or otherwise, that says we have to return with ammo, and even then, you're not paying us for it!"

[@GabelhelmSogarbraten]

They were spending a lot figuring out the correct angle for effective fire on venus

[@DrThunder88]

Hence the old Australian idiom: shoot for the stars; even if you miss, your flak burst will still be among Stukas.

[@katehobbs2008]

DrThunder88 is that an old Australian idiom? As an old Australian, I have never heard it.

[@markredacted8547]

@@katehobbs2008 It's just a play on words, he is using it as a joke due to the whole Venus thing 🤣🤣

[@ankles632]

Footnote. It was announced today ,18/11/21, that the body recovered on Christmas island some time after the battle has been identified by DNA as being a crew member of HMAS Sydney. He was 21 year old Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark of Brisbane in Queensland.

[@Kreatorisbackyt]

Sad but still glad to know that his remains got identified

[@GabelhelmSogarbraten]

Just a kid... war is terrible

[@austinblack7991]

He was the only survivor from the sydeny but he died from dehydration

[@mickmaxtube]

Swearing at enemy aircraft can be strangely effective. Spike Milligan, while serving in the 8th Army was kept awake by British searchlights and gunfire directed at an intruding aircraft, Spike pointed at said aircraft and shouted "I hope you bloody well crash!". Which to his amazement, it promptly did.

[@raptormaster666]

Major Chater Jack looked down the line of trucks "My god, what a target for the Luftwaffe." "Don't worry sir, I have a verbal anti-aircraft curse that can bring down planes." "Keep talking Milligan, I think I can get you out on mental grounds." "That's how I got in." "Didn't we all."

[@SvenTviking]

It was an American P38 lightening that decided to attack British positions.

[@aldisozols2522]

@@SvenTviking In 1944 there was an American P38 Lightning that was piloted by a secret Nazi sympathiser. He was stationed in Italy and one day he flew the Lightning over the front and landed on a German airfield. The Germans had no idea what to do with him. "Zank you for zis fine Airkraft. You do know ve are losing ze var, yes?"

[@peterkirgan2921]

Lol spike was the best!!! Rip the goons!!!!!!

[@whateverthisis389]

That Pilot: *understandable,have a great day*

[@leeoneill1918]

The Sydney was my Dad's ship, sadly Mum lost him on the night of his 20th birthday when the Sydney was lost with all hands in the fight against the Kormoran. Mum was still carried me at the time so I never knew him but I know his spirit looks after me. RIP Dad and all your fellow sailors and the airmen about the Sydney

[@kwd3109]

Very compelling comment my friend. I think your father must have been a very brave man as was all his fellow shipmates.

[@leeoneill1918]

@@kwd3109 Thanks mate, ironically when I wanted to join the Navy in my dad's footsteps, Mum asked me not to so when I told her I'll join the army, she said good you'll be safe there, but I was sent to Vietnam for a year. That as I found out on returning home was a year of hell for mum who prayed for me every night, despite me telling her I was having a ball there.

[@goodshipkaraboudjan]

@@leeoneill1918 Sounds like a rough trip mate, all the best.

[@leeoneill1918]

@@goodshipkaraboudjan Thanks mate.

[@nicklewis6052]

The Italians: “Why is that Australian ship shooting at Venus?” HMAS Sydney: “My goals are beyond your understanding.”

[@jiyuhong5853]

i don't get it

[@TheWareek]

I served in the RAN in the 70's and was on lookout duty when a group of us reported a fast closing vivid red light to the bridge only to be informed several minutes later that it was the planet Mars. it is only out at sea in total darkness that you find out how bright these planets are, so can understand the mistake.

[@pmckinlay653]

Which ship(s) did you serve on?

[@goodshipkaraboudjan]

Same, I'm a pilot and during dawn and dusk planets can look suspiciously like another plane.

[@TheWareek]

@@pmckinlay653 hmas swan hmas hobart

[@Maxyshadow]

I hope your ship maintained the proud RAN tradition and engaged.

[@oisinmccool3019]

@@Maxyshadow Or probably another Aussie tendency and stared at it

[@premiergeneralmiller]

NASA or the ESA need to get a piece of the ship and put it on the next probe we send to Venus so the ship finally gets a chance to land a hit on the planet.

[@sugarnads]

premiermiller that would be brilliant.

[@colingibson8018]

That would be brilliant. At least a smile ending to a tragic story

[@Birkbecks]

its all right due to the great distances involved HMAS Sydney's shells are still on the way and should arrive on Venus in 2020 :)

[@USSAnimeNCC-]

I agree with that it brilliant

[@mainepants]

Great idea, they should rebuild and name her Space Battleship Sydney. Need to develop a Wave motion gun though.

[@titanicww2345]

Curse ye Venus, the bane of the Australian Navy.

[@bigblue6917]

It's their own fault. We all know you need at least an 11 inch or bigger for Venus. When the comedian Spike Milligan was on a troopship to North Africa in WW2 they came under air attack which lasted until it was pointed out that the local seagulls were actually neutral.

[@sugarnads]

One dayyyyyy venus ONE DAYYYY *shakes fist*

[@blackdeath4eternity]

@@bigblue6917 lol

[@Jharug87]

the navy got a leg up on the army then... as far as i know the Australian navy have never lost to emu's :P ;)

[@shanesimpson3455]

As a new sailor on HMAS Torrens on lookout duty I once reported the moon as a vessel on the far horizon and a shooting star as an aircraft.

[@graeme8624]

80 years on, the crewman recovered at Christmas Island has been identified as 21-year-old Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark. Rest in Peace.

[@DIEGhostfish]

To be fair, Aussie swearing is probably more dangerous than a .303 to an aircraft.

[@SvenTviking]

DIEGhostfish We won the Battle of Britain with the .303.

[@DIEGhostfish]

True SvenTviking but those .303s were mounted on other aircraft, not surface ships. I suppose I should have made that more clear.

[@omega7b948]

Think of how much faster the brits could have won the battle of Britain if they used swearing aussies instead of .303s

[@thomaszinser8714]

@@omega7b948 On the other hand, you might have difficulties fitting a swearing aussie into the wing of a Spitfire.

[@omega7b948]

@@thomaszinser8714 who said they needed to be in the wing, one in the cockpit should be enough

[@Napalmratte]

5:45 - "having failed to become the first warship to shoot down another planet ..." glorious british dry humor ... ... dry as their weather ;)

[@lycossurfer8851]

You do know that's why we've never seen any aliens. They're scared we'll shoot down their planet with 6" guns

[@Deevo037]

@@lycossurfer8851 Yup, the Aussies scared them off. :)

[@neildahlgaard-sigsworth3819]

Ben D Jr we did the Raknos with a 120mm armed Chieftain tank.

[@Mustango5]

Sounds like the Aussies had a few too many drinks and decided to start a fight with a planet!

[@Lazarus1095]

Ah, that honor would go to the DS Mark I "Stardust", commonly referred to by its more modern nickname...

[@tigerpjm]

HMAS Adelaide - built in Australia over 7.5 years. HMAS Sydney - built in the UK over 2.5 years. Good to see Australian shipbuilding has remained consistent for 85 years...

[@tigerpjm]

@@highcountrydelatite Whereas I'm guessing you didn't watch the video?

[@powerofone1645]

RIP HMAS Sydney officers and crew. My grandfather (RIP) was a Lieutenant Commander of a MTB boat in the Mediterranean theartre. He served in the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserves. Helped capture a U Boat. I recall his talking about the HMAS Sydney demise with my parents. He had many near misses himself. I now have the privilege of caring for his 5 WW2 medals handed down to me. I'll never sell them. He returned home after the war. Always wore his navy cap, smoked his pipe, rowed his boat to his moored yacht he built. I thought he was a hero. (My childhood memories of him: He was a great man. Quiet and like a mountain to me. He was a good yacht builder. When I was about 10 he built my brother and I a sailing dinghy. Happy days.) I'm 56 now. He passed peacefully away 30 years ago now. Hard times make hard men... Hard men make easy times.. . Easy times make weak men. .. Weak men make hard times.

[@falloutghoul1]

HMAS Sydney vs Planet Venus. A true "David vs Goliath" situation.

[@Fiddling_while_Rome_burns]

Or an Australian army vs some Kangeroos situation.

[@JohnE9999]

@@Fiddling_while_Rome_burns Emus, man. Emus.

[@blackdeath4eternity]

@@Deevo037 LOL that is some funny stuff.

[@hexmark4879]

mate ya gotta remember Aussies have been know to take on a bush fire in their PJ,s armed with a garden hose and consider it a "fair fight"

[@hexmark4879]

but i only tried that once

[@OutbackCatgirl]

my great-uncle was on board the sydney when it went down, one of those many able seamen who lost their lives that day. There's a framed memorial plaque and photos on the wall of my home. I wish i'd have had the chance to meet him, i'd heard from my grandmother that he was a kind bloke.

[@rhys5567]

Lest we forget.

[@edjacobs6897]

Hi My mother's cousin ,so my second cousin also went down with the Sydney , Able Seaman Cornelius ( Con) Smith. i also have a photo. Did you go to Sydney for the finding commemoration? where they read out all the crew's names. Had he lived I would have met him , RIP

[@tonyh4822]

After reading some of the comments here, I would like to respectively remind everyone that the Brave sailors of HMAS Sydney were solely instrumental in the sinking of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran and as such potentially saved the lives of 1000s of allied sailors and millions of tons of vital war supplies. R.I.P. all thee sailors of HMAS Sydney, lest we forget.

[@theswordguy5269]

Agreed. While her captain erred in approaching to closely to Kormoran, her crew clearly fought bravely against tough odds. Her service (and theirs') before her loss was exemplary, probably the best of any cruiser and crew up to that point, and of many afterwards, and I'm a USN cruiser aficionado, especially of those that fought the tough fight in the Solomons. Has there been any movement on DNA work on the one man who reportedly washed up deceased in a life raft some weeks later? If he was Australian and not German, then there were survivors, at least for a time.

[@locusmortis]

Are you guys insane or something? The Kormoran was an unarmoured merchant ship, if the Aussies weren't idiotically complacent they should have easily sunk the Kormoran. For a merchant ship to sink any warship let alone a cruiser was remarkable.

[@theswordguy5269]

@@locusmortis Feel free to criticize her commander. He screwed up and deserves approbation. To criticize her brave crew overall, however, is both wrong and ignorant. Despite what were likely early immobilizing hits to her machinery spaces and at least one main battery turret, Sydney's crew still fought on after recovering from the initial shock. Indeed, they managed to so severely maul Kormoran that she was a wreck in short order. This speaks to a well trained and proficient rank and file crew. Again, her CO we'll all agree approached too closely, but then again how else was Sydney to ascertain her identity? At some point, Sydney had to approach within Kormoran's weapons range to inspect her and a knife fight would have ensued. The real issue is why her CO didn't have them at action stations; the Kormoran's crew was fairly consistent in stating that they weren't, or at least weren't at a high order of alert. This again goes to her CO not treating the Kormoran as a threat, when he knew that an armed merchant cruiser was supposedly in the area.

[@sundoga4961]

@@locusmortis You're ignoring the fact that Kormoran was basically a cruiser in her own right. Her weapons combination would have done any CL proud, and her fire direction systems were, if not cutting edge, solidly and well founded. Merchant hulls are quite capable of carrying effective armaments and ancillary combat systems. Their problem is lack of armour and insufficient damage control facilities (like fully sealable bulkheads). At the ranges of this fight, armour was more or less irrelevant, at least at the levels a light cruiser carried, and damage control is most important after a fight or during a prolonged engagement - and indeed, it was that lack of damage control facilities that ultimately doomed Kormoran. This was a fight between equals - mutual destruction was all too likely.

[@rob28803]

@@locusmortis sigh *_It wasn't a merchant ship_*

[@NickHey]

a sad chapter and end to a great naval story. Lest we forget.

[@neilwilson5785]

I felt sad when I heard about those poor sailors being lost. They did an amazing job, and should be remembered.

[@bskorupk]

"At first, the fact that Sydney was overdue was not a cause of concern, and it would be five days before the search was begun." I reckon would largely account for the lack of survivors, as the perhaps two dozen would-be survivors from such a sinking would be in a similar situation to those of the USS Indianapolis: wounded, no food, no water, no shelter, and potentially surrounded by sharks. EDIT: I just realized that several others in the comments have figured that out as well! :)

[@marhawkman303]

yeah, Detmers told the Australians where to look, but this was DAYS later.

[@twentyrothmans7308]

Thank you for this excellent documentary. Arthur Merrifield was born in Glasgow in 1913 and served on HMAS Sydney in the Med but was reassigned before she took to the Indian ocean for the last time. He died in 1982. He was my great uncle. Unfortunately, by the time I was old enough to be able to ask the sorts of questions I wanted to, the poor devil had suffered a stroke and wasn't in a position to understand or respond. I expect that after this calamity, there must have been much discussion amongst the sailors of the RAN.

[@terrenceodgers5866]

You have some history you can hang on to. Many of us can't lay a claim to that.

[@leopardas1]

Thank you for doing this. HMAS Sydney was my Grandfather's ship. He served on her before the war and in the Med, but was injured on her return voyage to Australia. He was invalided of in Sydney (the city) and did not sail with her to WA. When he recovered he was, I believe, assigned to HMAS Australia. Thanks again mate, a great retelling of Sydney's story.

[@7thsealord888]

Good video. For non-Australians, it is worth noting that the name 'Sydney' has similar weight in the Royal Australian Navy that names like 'Enterprise' has in the US Navy or 'Ark Royal' in the RN. In pretty much every conflict the RAN has participated, an HMAS Sydney has served - usually with distinction. The name is never left idle - the next HMAS Sydney will be launched in 2020 (number FIVE, ww2 Sydney was the second), and you can be certain that great things are expected of her as well.

[@davidknowles2491]

I'd always assumed it was Canberra that held the most clout?

[@7thsealord888]

@@davidknowles2491 The first HMAS Sydney was one of the founding ships of the RAN, and earned th navy's very first battle honours in ww1, when she fought and sank the German cruiser Emden at the Cocos-Keeling Islands (not so far, ironically, from where the second HMAS Sydney met her end). When scrapped, her mast was put up on Bradley's Head in Sydney Harbour, where it still remains and naval vessels continue to salute it as they pass. The second HMAS Sydney (this one) made a name for herself in the Mediterranean theatre in early ww2. She sank the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in one of the very first surface actions of that war, was dive-bombed and claimed as sunk by the Axis multiple times, bombarded several Axis ports and in general achieved quite a bit.. Sydney the third was one of the RAN's first aircraft carriers (later converted to a troop carrier) that served in Korea, Malaysia and Vietnam. Sydney the fourth ,a guided-missile frigate just recently scrapped, served in the Gulf Wars, East Timor and Iraq. Sydney the fifth is an air-warfare destroyer still under construction. HMAS Canberra also has quite a few well-deserved honours to her name, but (so far) there have been only three incarnations of her (including the current one)..

[@davidknowles2491]

@@7thsealord888 I stand corrected sir. :)

[@rudolfpeterudo3100]

Nice info I spent time on HMAS Sydney number 3 AKA (Vung Tau ferry). in 1969.

[@7thsealord888]

@@rudolfpeterudo3100 My respect to you.

[@RAFMnBgaming]

"So, how did it sink?" "Well, the front fell off"

[@ragtimesongs]

😂

[@tristanrainey5080]

Vale John Clark

[@grondhero]

That's funny. :) To be fair, though, there have been a couple of warships that had their front end fall off and they survived, by going _in reverse_ back to a safe harbor.

[@RAFMnBgaming]

@@grondhero do they make a beeping noise while they're doing that?

[@largol33t1]

@@grondhero And the Germans had the opposite problem! The stern of some German warships tended to be weak and even Bismarck suffered from this malady. All that thick armor, 15-inch guns and a single torpedo to the stern doomed her.

[@mycroft1905]

Thanks very much; terrific summary of the service of HMAS Sydney (II). Here Downunder, the loss of HMAS Sydney with all hands was an enduring mystery for most of my life, possibly Australia's most famous maritime mystery until resolved on 17 March 2008. So important is the story of HMAS Sydney (II) in Australian popular culture, that the discovery of the wreck prompted a prime ministerial announcement to the nation and and yet another Commission of Enquiry by the Department of Defence into the action with the Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran. For many of us Skips, the discovery and revelations were so important and moving an experience that they marked the close of one of life's eras, if you know what I mean? I imagine it was our equivalent of the discovery of the wreck of HMS Hood. A minor historical note: HMAS Sydney (II), the Leander-class cruiser, is pictured at 6:30 passing Bradleys Head in Sydney Harbour. The tripod mast in the foreground is from HMAS Sydney (I), the Chatham-class light cruiser of 1912 that sank SMS Emden, also an action that took place in the Indian Ocean. The mast is still there, an official memorial to all who served in the Royal Australian Navy and the nineteen RAN ships lost in service. To this day, naval vessels proceeding up Sydney Harbour must render ceremonial honours as they pass this point.

[@issacsmith3169]

When my father was posted to HMAS Warramunga last year, they were taking the ship around Sydney Harbour to test the engines, as they came past, they rendered honors, my father said that the ferry from Manly was pissed for the fact that Warramunga slowed down to honor the dead before the ship picked up speed

[@hoatattis7283]

Mycroft1905: I have seen the Mast but was unaware the RAN honoured it

[@timclaus8313]

The pictures of the Sydney wreck show a ship that was hit very hard by a foe with equal fire power. No shame to either captain for losing their ships. Could the Sydney have engaged at longer range? Sure, but then the captain may have been found guilty of an unprovoked attack. Hard to second guess a warship's skipper when the world-wide situation was so confused, especially in the Pacific, pre-Pearl Harbor.

[@hoatattis7283]

@@timclaus8313 It was not in the Pacific and the situation there had nothing to do with the Indian Ocean. No the Sydney captain got too close and from the wrong quarter. Losses to civilians did not come into it. We were at war and all shipping would have known the rules

[@mebsrea]

@@timclaus8313 IIRC, Sydney still had her main battery trained fore and aft when Kormoran opened fire. That was without question avoidable negligence on the part of Sydney’s captain.

[@JohnRodriguesPhotographer]

Very well presented truth about HMAS Sydney. The German merchant raiders performed some incredible feats in WWII,

[@marhawkman303]

Yeah, Kormoran wasn't even the only one to sink a warship.

[@Dreska_]

I grew up in Geraldton where the memorial is built. You can see it on the top of the hill from just about anywhere in town. There is a dome over it, made up of 645 steel seagulls, one for every soul on the ship. Its heartbreaking to think all those people died so close to home, only 200km from the shore, and nobody even noticed until days later. But its almost unbelievable how nobody survived. There was no catastrophic explosion, she merely burned & drifted & eventually sank, yet not a single person got picked up by a passing ship or a fishing boat - did they go down with the ship or might some have been saved if the alert went out sooner? Its one of those stories that doesn't have a satisfying ending. It never should have happened in the first place.

[@Deevo037]

Yup, a genuine tragedy. I've lived in Geraldton for the past 20 years and am also familiar with the memorial. In addition there are two very detailed scale models of the ships located at the Geraldton airport with the Kormoran model showing just how well armed the raider was. www.hmassydneymemorialgeraldton.com.au/

[@Dreska_]

@@Deevo037 thank you I didn't know that, I've lived in Perth for most of my life now, haven't been to Gero airport for 20 years or so since we just drive there for family visits. I should be up there for Christmas, my Uncle's house is on George Road practically right next to the memorial, maybe I'll find some time to walk there again. Young me couldn't have cared less, but standing at that memorial as an adult made me choke up despite having no military family history. Bunch of ordinary Aussie boys... After all they'd made it through and how far they'd travelled, they get killed by an enemy in disguise.

[@davidb3172]

I've been to the memorial. The statue of the woman pointing out to sea.

[@Zarastro54]

Brett Mitchell The Germans raked Sydney with gunfire before they opened up with their main guns and took out many crew. Some stray fragments probably perforated some life jackets before the fighting stopped. The Japanese sub thing is ludicrous.

[@Zarastro54]

@Brett Mitchell Wow, the "Duuh, were you there?" line is the dumbest, laziest way to deflect criticisms of an idea about an historical narrative. No, none of us were there, however, the *evidence we have* gives us a pretty good idea of what happened, and does not support the idea of a secret Japanese cover up. Furthermore, where did you hear that bullet hole riddled life vests were found anyway? Man, conspiracy believers have the nuttiest logic. It is "very unlikely" that a new captain made the mistake of coming to close to a disguised merchant raider, but it makes total sense that a secret Japanese sub was in the Mediterranean, sunk the Sydney, and machine gunned all the crew to keep them silent? Despite the fact that they were a sub and didn't need to murder survivors to conceal their identity, and there are no records of Japanese subs even in the area, let alone sinking Allied shipping.

[@jamesacland1041]

Would love to here about the exploits of HMAS Perth, the USS Houston and the patrol group they were attached to. They stumbled across a Japanese fleet of a couple dozen ships, possibly launching a surprise attack in Indonesia. They were asked to engage by fleet command but were outgunned immensely. They put up a fight but were inevitably sunk but had managed to shine a light on the pending Japanese attack.

[@ankles632]

A thing that bothers me about the Sydney story is the accusations made against Capt Detmers of the Kormorran. As late as 1998 books have been published that accused him of all manner of things including murder, shooting Sydney survivors in the water, Piracy, engaging in action under a false flag and lying about the site of the battle to prevent any rescue. We Australians are usually the type to acknowledge being beaten in a fair fight but for some reason that was not the case with Sydney. I think it does us great discredit that we cant recognize that Capt Detmers did an outstanding job and that his conduct before , during and after the battle was both honorable and courageous. Immediately after his capture he did give an accurate account of the details and expressed the hope that some survivors of Sydney would be found. Yes, 650 odd Australian sailors did die but they were beaten on the day, for whatever reasons we may never really know.That is no reason to falsely accuse a man who performed an outstanding feat of seamanship and combat. What is most shameful is the conduct of the Navy command and the politicians that resulted in great hardship for the families of the Sydney's crew.

[@paulmatters2641]

Ankles The legal position is interesting. Delmers had a case of piracy against the Sydney as at the time of the sinking Australia which had not ratified the Statute of Westminster and had no legal power to independently declare war until international law had no right for any of its vessels to legally intercept the Kormoran in international waters. The Australian Parliament passed legislation in 1942 ratifying the Statute of Westminster and then RETOSPECTIVELY declared war in Germany back to 1939. Thank God for many reasons that Nazi Germany was defeated.

[@hoatattis7283]

@@paulmatters2641 Go to buggery

[@paulmatters2641]

@@hoatattis7283 Moron

[@terrenceodgers5866]

Detmers was a Nazi, not a German - there was and is a difference you know!

[@darrenjpeters]

@@terrenceodgers5866 Provide your source for this information, sounds like bullshit to me. I have googled extensively after reading your comment, and am unable to find a link between Theodor Detmers and the Nazi party. Would a Nazi have rescued allied seamen after sinking their ships?. I highly doubt it. A bloke called Heinrich Detmers was a Nazi, in the SS, and involved with concentration camps, are you sure you do not have them mixed up?

[@geoben1810]

As a proud U.S. NAVY veteran I salute the brave crew of RNS Sidney. Whatever the circumstances, they performed their duties under fire and fought valiantly in the finest tradition of the Australian NAVY . At ease gentlemen, the crews of both ships have fulfilled their duties. ✌🏻🇺🇸

[@sarjim4381]

The Komoran had a year's experience at sea, sinking ten merchant ships and capturing another. Captain Detmers drove his crew mercilessly in gunnery practice, fast unmasking of the guns, and torpedo drills. Detmers was satisfied her could take on any British merchant cruiser he might run across. In addition to her heavy guns and torpedoes, he had what was probably the deciding advantage in having five 20mm guns to rake the superstructure of the Sydney while the Sydney's three quad .50 machine gun mounts, of which only two could be trained on either beam, weren't manned before the Kormoran opened fire. The interrogation of surviving Kormoran crew revealed that Australian sailors running to man the light guns were cut down "by the hundreds" according to one 20mm gunner. It's possible that was correct, and that many of the Sydney's crew lay dead or wounded as a result of the raking fire, the damage to the turrets and superstructure from the 5.9" hits and then from the torpedo hit. It's likely that a large percentage of her 650 crew were dead or dying before the engagement was broken off and the Sydney, ablaze from stem to stern, drifted away. At some point, the fires got to one of the magazines and caused the explosion dimly seen on the horizon by the Germans from their lifeboats. The ship probably sank within minutes. Given everything that happened before the ship began to sink, it's not difficult to believe the few surviving crew, having no lifeboats, since all had been destroyed in the fighting, got in the water and quickly succumbed to sharks and hypothermia since there were no attempts being made to rescue them. [Edit: I misspoke about a magazine explosion. It was more likely a boiler explosion, but even that is debatable. The most likely cause of her sinking was the heavily damaged bow finally detached from the rest of the hull allowing enough water in to sink her. As Chris Richards pointed out in his comment below, it's inaccurate to describe the Sydney as drifting away. She wasn't under control, but was still making some headway. That probably helped to eventually detach the damaged bow from the hull and increase the amount of water getting in the hull so she sank faster.]

[@7thsealord888]

As I understand it, based on when they recently found the wreck of HMAS Sydney, she was NOT sunk by a magazine explosion. It seems that she was underway when finally sinking (borne out by at least one of the Kormoran survivor accounts), presumably with what was left of her crew trying to keep her afloat long enough to reach the WA coast. But her torpedo-damaged bow suddenly gave way completely and ripped off the ship. With all the damage already sustained, this was the final straw for her ability to remain afloat, and Sydney sank very quickly thereafter.

[@sarjim4381]

@@7thsealord888 I've read different accounts of the explosion vs underway hypothesis. According to several of the officer survivors of the Kormoran, it appeared the Sydney wasn't under control when she drifted slowly SSE away from the Kormoran. I don't know what survivor would have seen the Sydney when she was sinking since she was below the horizon by then. It appears the bow section forward of the ASDIC compartment was partly torn away from the rest of the hull by the torpedo hit. It's just my own inexpert speculation that a warship on fire for over 6 hours will eventually have a magazine or boiler explosion.

[@bushyfromoz8834]

I have this vague recollection that the RN lost a Leander or two from separation of the bow from similar torpedo strikes due to a weakness in the hull created by the ASDIc equipment and the location of aviation fuel tanks. The captain of one ship being aware enough of the problem that when hit by a torpedo, he sailed his ship in reverse to port for repairs.

[@sarjim4381]

@@bushyfromoz8834 You might be thinking of the Neptune. She got herself into an Italian minefield and hit two mines. One caused no material damage, but another struck the bow and almost took it off. She was reversing out of the minefield but struck a third one that blew off her props. While drifting, she struck a fourth mine and capsized almost immediately, taking all but one sailor with her. I don't know of any other Leander class vessel that reversed her way to port though. The HMNZS Leander was hit by a torpedo in July, 1943, just abaft of A boiler room rather than at the bow, but the damage was severe enough that repairs took over two years and were only completed in September, 1945. All three Australian Leanders suffered bow damage due to torpedo hits in the vicinity of the A turret. It does seem as if the ASDIC compartment and aviation fuel tanks created a weakness in that section of the ship. Sydney and Perth were both lost to torpedo attacks. Perth, however, was hit by four torpedoes, so it's hard to attribute the bow hit alone as being fatal. Hobart was hit by a torpedo in the same area of the bow, but it was just far enough aft that the bow wasn't severed. Only by heroic damage control work was the Hobart able to limp into Espirito Santo for temporary repairs, but she did so bow first. I think it's fair to say that any Leander hit by a torpedo near the A turret was in big trouble. [Edited for my numerous typos]

[@Cragified]

@@sarjim4381 Leander class also wasn't like the U.S. Cruisers which followed the armored raft concept that the USN had used well before All or Nothing armor existed. Being that within the most protected part of the ship between the armored transverse bulkheads there should be enough buoyancy for the ship to remain afloat. This design principle saved several U.S. cruisers that lost their bows due to torpedo hits. If I where to make a guess I am going to assume most of the surviving crew was below deck trying to keep the ship afloat and powered because without power the fires couldn't be fought. With the bridge and likely all officers on it destroyed and dead no order was given to abandon ship. When the bow gave way it likely ripped thru any remaining traverse bulkheads between engineering and the torpedo hit. Here is a photo of the aft end of the bow of Sydney. museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/imagecache/wam_v2_page_full_gallery/photo-galleries/SYDNEY-DIVE-3-441.jpg www.navy.gov.au/hmas-sydney-ii-part-4 The massive influx of water into already compromised sections (The wreck has many 15cm holes) likely drowned or trapped many surviving crew before they could get topside through the still present fires. Kormoran on the other hand was actually scuttled as her commander concluded (rightly when the mines went off) that the fires could not be stopped from reaching the magazines and thus abandoned ship in an orderly fashion which let many of his crew survive the storm that night at sea.

[@rossr100]

How refreshing to click on a title like this and hear a human voice over rather than the current trend of robots. Great clip, thanks

[@sophiepaterson7444]

Something I always wondered was why the Sydney was lost with all hands even though she stayed afloat for some hours after the battle ended. Unless what happened was that there were survivors but they all perished from exposure after not being rescued. It just seems odd that the way it is often reported is that the ship went down with more or less everyone on board. Whatever happened, they were a brave group of men who never backed off from a fight. I admire the spirit.

[@davidhunter1538]

Sophie Paterson The torpedo that struck Sydney critically weakened the bow forward of the turret under which it hit. Sydney nearly a floating wreck, the surviving crew fighting widespread fires and barely seaworthy, turned away from the Raider and steered for the coast 200 miles away at best speed. The bow gave way after hours of travel and broke off suddenly. The engines drove the ship under in moments without warning. This account was compiled after the wreck was finally discovered.

[@scoobsm6994]

There is an excellent book on this action by Wes Olson titled Bitter Victory. As commented on in the video, the ships were close enough that the Kormoran could bring all of it's small calibre weapons to bear, raking the Sydney's superstructure. Along with the fires, this would have made short work of any exposed ships boats and liferafts.

[@marhawkman303]

@@scoobsm6994 there's also "The Raider Kormoran" which gives a first hand look from the perspective of Kapitan Detmers. The "final flare up" he mentioned(a few hours after the battle at 2100) was possibly the moment the bow broke off.

[@spookyshadowhawk6776]

I've seen a number of conspiracy theories about the loss of Sydney, the Reality is they let a supected raider get too close and came off worse from a ship armed almost as well as Sydney was. Why? Most car accidents happen close to home, because people let their guard down, feeling safer than they should. Useing a false flag until your close, then raising your Country's Battle Flag, has been Standard Practice for Merchant Raiders for centuries. The Captain and Crew of Sydney knew this, it wasn't the first Raider they delt with, I think being close to Australia, they felt more comfortable than they should have. The Germans knew they were in a fight for their life's from the beginning, by the time the crew of Sydney realized this, too much damage had already been done. A sad end for a brave crew, from the damage on the sunken Cruiser, they didn't have a chance.

[@peterson7082]

Pretty reasonable assessment.

[@terrenceodgers5866]

Having made myself aware of many of the facts that have been publicly put out and having worked in both military and police positions over my working life, these kinds of inexplicable incidents are generally caused from human error. Personally, I put the blame for Sydney's loss squarely on the shoulders of the commanding officer at the time, Burnett. A question it seems that never gets raised concerning why Burnett would close with a possible enemy ship is - why wasn't the Walrus aircraft launched to recon and identify the targeted 'merchant vessel' before closing in with it? After all, that is why the Sydney had an aircraft that was to be used in incidents such as that which eventually sank the ship and all hands. What a needless loss that no one seems to want to address!. If the commanding officer of the Sydney had somehow managed to survive the engagement, what would have been his chances in an obligatory Naval Board of Inquiry I wonder?

[@greenflagracing7067]

most accidents happen close to home because that's where most miles are driven.

[@graemesydney38]

The Sydney was lost because the capt. was an overconfident idiot who broke every tactical rule in the book. There was no need to close in as he did. The cast should have known his advantage was the range of his main guns and stay out at that range until he knew what he was dealing with.

[@7thsealord888]

@@graemesydney38 ,The captain by my reading was competent enough, but tended towards playing it safe and by the book. There are strong indications that he had not been warned of any enemy activity in that region, and there are suggestions that when they encountered the Kormoran, he had cause to believe that the other ships was a raider supply ship - less armed and having been caught before under similar circumstances. Also, certain German eyewitness accounts refer to the Sydney's aircraft being readied for launch as she approached, suggesting that she was looking for other ships nearby. That there was at least one error in judgement seems very clear, but mainly in hindsight - we have absolutely no idea what the mindset on Sydney's bridge was at the time, or what the captain's focus was on.

[@RedXlV]

Speaking of HMAS Sydney, can we have a video about the SMS Emden's epic raiding cruise and her end at the hands of the original HMAS Sydney in WW1?

[@bowenwalker2087]

I would love to hear about the HMAS Sydney 1 also

[@jyralnadreth4442]

That was an epic event :) both Emden and her Sister Dresden were ultimate pains in the Royal Navys ass in WW1.

[@michaelgrenz932]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/gp6wopeaotihgck

[@johnphillips519]

I used to live on Cocos Island and i have some machete's made out of the steel hull of the Emden

[@myopiniongoodyouropinionbad]

@@johnphillips519 that's actually really cool

[@rollosnook]

Fantastic podcast. Something very eerie about the crippled Sydney limping off into the dark, plunging to the bottom. Any sailors who made it to the water were probably taken by sharks. I remember in a 1943 diary, 9000 Japanese troops were sunk in shark-infested waters. A study of the number of people taken by sharks in WW2 would be shocking I'm sure.

[@davidrutherford6311]

Another sad tale for survivours was USS Indianapolis, where the survivors were left for about 4 days in shark infested waters. Many clinging to wreckage and not in rafts and without supplies.

[@paulstewart7529]

salute to the crew of HMAS Sydney your efforts in the war will never be forgotten

[@thebushwolf710]

"The MK I Human Eyeball" Absolutely brilliant XD

[@roryross3878]

A very common term in naval wargaming, some gaming systems actually list it under the sensor equipment.

[@TheDalhuck]

It should be Mk1Mod0, unless they're wearing glasses, then it's Mk1Mod1.

[@jrt818]

Goes back to Churchill and the Battle of Britain at least.

[@davidberriman5903]

It is not limited to the military world. I don't know about elsewhere in the world it was and probably is still used quite commonly here in Australia.

[@jrt818]

@@davidberriman5903 Polynesian navigators have added jet contrails to their traditional navigation techniques. Something of cheat but fair play.

[@vicmclaglen1631]

You've got to hand it to the pluck of the German crew to an extent here, having the balls to open fire point blank on a proper cruiser from a merchant raider. Yes, they had all the advantages possible in doing so, but how many naval crews of the world would have done so at the time? Some, to be sure, but it takes serious grit to hold fire and ambush a true and deadly warship like that. And they pulled it off, effectively, as at the point of the Sydney closing on them their time was up one way or the other. Destruction, capture, defeat were certain beyond any reasonable doubt. The Kormoran achieved everything it was practically possible to have achieved, this being war.

[@adamroodog1718]

My great uncle posted off sydney after all the excitement of the med campaign just before her last cruise. The first he heard that it was lost with all hands was that an officer in the military police in Alexandria picked him up for having a hmas sydney tally band on his cap. I always thought it was a shocking way of finding out all your mates were dead, but theres no real good way i spose. His other claim to fame was serving on 'HMAS Whang pu' the ship with the strangest name in R.A.N history. For the curious i think it was a repair/submarine tender that they nicked from hong kong

[@realkirt]

5:45 "Having failed to become the first warship to shoot down another planet..." I was unfortunately beginning to take a drink of Pepsi at the moment he said this and I nearly became a fountain DAMN IT DRACHINIFEL why do you have to be so awesome!!! :D

[@artistjoh]

We should never forget that this was the second Sydney, and the first was also a remarkable ship. Brave men in brave ships. In the whole 20th century only 3 Commonweath ships were awarded battle honors. One was Canadian, and the other two were both named Sydney. The first Sydney also had an encounter with a German raider in the Indian Ocean and succeeded in destroying the Emden at the Battle of Cocos in 1914. The Emden had much greater range than the Sydney, but the Sydney had bigger and more accurate guns. As a result the Sydney sailed directly into fire from the Emden for 10 minutes before it was close enough to open fire. The German salvos were arriving every 6 seconds and they scored 15 direct hits on the Sydney. Once the Sydney was close enough to open fire Its shells were devastating. I often walk past one of the guns from the Emden which is located in Hyde Park near my apartment. It is a constant reminder of the courage of those Australian sailors, and the large loss of life the Emden suffered with 134 dead while the Sydney lost 4. They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old; Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. Lest we forget.

[@Deevo037]

Remember "That three funnelled."

[@marhawkman303]

hmm... well... Kapitan Detmers certainly remembered the Emden, that's for sure.

[@edjacobs6897]

Sorry , Emden didn't have bigger guns, Sydney' s main guns were 6 inch , Emden's were 10.5 cm ( 4.1 inch) , max range 7000 - 8000m , Emden's to top speed was 23 knots however in a trail accomplished 24 knots. Sydney reported could do 27 knots . Glossop used his advantage to defeat the Emden, said with great respect. RIP to both valiant crews

[@artistjoh]

@@edjacobs6897 As I said in my comment, the Chatham-class Sydney had bigger guns. British intelligence had collected incorrect (and possibly "planted" misinformation) that the Emden's guns had a shorter range than the British 6 inch guns on the Chatham-class. Thus Glossop assumed as he chased the Emdem that he was relatively safe and was in for a major awakening. What British intelligence failed to uncover was that the 4 inch guns on the Emden were designed with a much greater than usual elevation range (up to 60 degrees) and thus could easily reach the optimal 45 degree relative to the horizon elevation to maximize range no matter what angle of listing the ship was experiencing due to seas or manoever. Thus, even though they were smaller, they had a range up to ten miles, while the Sydney's larger guns had a range of about six miles. In addition to greater range, the Emden also had more main guns than the Sydney had (10 vs 8). Balancing that is that the British guns on the Sydney had greater accuracy once in range, but it still required immense courage to continue sailing the Sydney toward the Emden once discovering the surprizing range of the Emden guns. However, the advantage of greater accuracy was eliminated once an Emden shell took out the aiming mechanism. From that point on the Sydney guns were fired by dead reckoning and the experience of the gun crew to make fine adjustments once seeing where their shells landed. Courage and first rate training were the key elements in the defeat of the Emden rather than gun size, but once those six inch shells started hitting the Emden the effect was devastating, as seen in photographs of the ship after the battle.

[@edjacobs6897]

@@artistjoh According to von Muller he opened fire when the range finder indicated 9.800 yds about 6 miles, Sydney changed course at 13000 yds but von Muller did not open fire? although as you state he could quite easily have done so , why not ? I'm not sure about "courage" , Emden would have been attacked by any ship that may have intercepted her, she had become a "scurge" although I don't doubt the efficiency that was displayed. Sydney replied immediately after the Emden, having got her course parallel but failed initially to range the Emden. This is because , as von Muller learnt later; that a shell had hit the forward range finder but did not explode.( Sounds like Kormoran to me ) After changing course Emden received, quote " a good deal of damage. von Muller makes 5 points as to Sydney gaining superior fire power, they are in his official report to the German Admiralty. The "experience " of the gun crew is debatable , had Sydney been in action prior to this conflict? except for training drills which in no way prepare anyone for combat. Emden's crew would have had more experience so what is the decisive factor? as v Muller says - "the range at which the fight had to be carried on ,especially at the beginning, marks the outer limit for any effective use of the 10.5 cm gun: the possibility of scoring accurate hits with the 15 cm gum is at long and medium ranges better than those of the 10.5 Cheers

[@stevenmoore4612]

You don’t want to mess with the land down under! The Leander-class were a beautiful group of cruisers!

[@Jack2Japan]

Love this channel. Never heard the tale of the Sydney before. Was shocked when she went down with all hands. Good history and good storytelling.

[@IC3XR]

This makes me proud to be Australian, Sydney sure did have an exciting and successful career❤️

[@Drachinifel]

I think the highest praise comes from the fact that a British Admiral near enough demanded more RAN ships for his command on the grounds of the excellent performance of the ones already there.

[@IC3XR]

Indeed

[@patrickols]

Proud how they attack the planet Venus? Only Australian would try something like that :-)

[@IC3XR]

Patrick Ols Screw Venus, they shot first 😂

[@grumpybastard5744]

The rest of the world may have forgotten but Australia has not. As an aside, my uncle, Edward Mackie Smith, served as a Sub-Lieutenant on the Sydney, only missing the final cruise because he was badly injured. He went on to work as an electrical engineer on the Snowy Mountain Scheme.

[@markvines7308]

Good ol Aussie Navy, kicking arse and taking names on a cosmic scale 🌏🌟🎆

[@markvines7308]

@ASCALON It was an off the cuff remark mate, I am a carer for a second generation naval vet. I'm more than well aware of the story of the Sydney.

[@hutchycup223]

My Dad, one of thousands enlisted for "the duration of hostilities,'" served on Sydney's sister ship, HMAS Hobart, as a Supply Rating. Hobart itself came within a whisper of sinking when struck by a Japanese torpedo in July 1943. Hobart's crew were very aware of the loss of Sydney and it's other sister ship, HMAS Perth, in the Sunda Strait. Naval service in those contested days being a dangerous business, those men made sure their "coffin fund" - their servicemen's life insurance - was paid up!

[@leifkhas7425]

Wow! It's engagement with the German Merchant Raider would make a great film if done right!

[@stuartquin8390]

Not a great ending though

[@nudibanches]

@@stuartquin8390 Germans might like it...

[@somewhere6]

There was a movie made about the Atlantis but the adventure of the Kormoran is also worthy of a film.

[@terrenceodgers5866]

@@stuartquin8390 - the incident did not end with the sinking - think about it. This story is still being told.

[@N0rdman]

"Shooting down an entire planet" should certainly been a task worthy the annuals of naval warfare! I must confess I had a good laugh this time. Cheers!

[@oldedwardian1778]

ANNALS, NOT ANNUALS.

[@peterlovett5841]

Well presented video on the ship. Interesting aside, the photo at 06:15 of the ship shows her sailing past a tripod mast which was from the first HMAS Sydney which sank the German light cruiser Emden in WW1. That HMAS Sydney was scuttled off the heads to Sydney harbour as part of the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922. The mainmast was taken from the ship prior to scuttling as a memorial to its deeds.

[@rickkennett3192]

You're thinking of the battlecruiser HMAS Australia. She was the one scuttled off Sydney Heads in 1924. The WWI cruiser Sydney was scrapped in 1928 in Sydney.

[@peterlovett5841]

Bugger, you are correct. My bad but the scrapping was due to the Washington Naval Treaty - I think.

[@yalelingoz6346]

Thank you for this video. I knew a lot about Sydney's final battle, but nothing about her earlier war career. I'm glad that's rectified now. =)

[@rifleman2c997]

When they said Aim for the stars, the Crew of the Sydney took that literally.

[@davidcool5189]

Given the reputation of the Australian fighting man of the era, I'm surprised that Venus wasn't shot down.

[@newobanproductions999]

2:42 For those who didn't know, the seven years it took to build HMAS Adelaide (I) earned her the nickname "HMAS Longdelayed".

[@ronnieince4568]

New Oban if she has been being built by Ferguson's in Scotland are would not have been finished yet -they are the most incompetent shipbuilding in the planet -over 7 years late ; still not finished and 3 times the price -if they had been building the Ark Noah would have long since drowned! !!

[@newobanproductions999]

@@ronnieince4568 HMAS Adelaide was built in Cockatoo Island Navy Yard in Sydney, Australia. Wasn't entirely their fault as they had material shortages and tbh, she was the yard's first ever ship.

[@ronnieince4568]

@@newobanproductions999 yes I know -but Scottish shipbuilding is today a total disaster -not material shortages but management and worker incompetence on a simply unbelievable scale. .Ferguson's put the F in F*****g Incompetence !!!!

[@IgnoredAdviceProductions]

I didn't have much respect for her at first, considering she was sunk by a converted merchantman while her sister Perth took on half the IJN along with Houston. This video changed that.

[@terrenceodgers5866]

Funny how a little unknown history, when learned, can change one's perspectives.

[@deetroittony]

Good morning from Detroit everyone. Great episode as always, well done

[@vanionsteele]

Great video mate, thanks. Love to see videos of the County class cruisers HMAS Canberra & HMAS Australia.

[@B1900pilot]

In somewhat contemporary times, I was on shore patrol from the USS Kitty Hawk and had to assist in sorting out a “disturbance” created in the Hard Rock Cafe between US sailors and sailors from the RAN...Got everything calmed down and Aussies/Americans were once again on the same side.

[@neilpemberton5523]

You should read up on the Battle of Brisbane, a street battle between US serviceman and Australian serviceman and civilians on 26 & 27 November 1942, in Australia's northernmost state capital. Hundreds of the combatants were injured and one Australian soldier died. In the weeks before the 'battle', up to 20 brawls a night were happening between Aussies and Americans. Several deaths and injuries had also already occurred in shooting and stabbing incidents throughout the state of Queensland. Of course, nearly all of this was not reported at the time. There were further (smaller) riots in Queensland afterward, in and in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. About 12,000 American servicemen married Australian women by the end of the war. In 1945 and 46 no less than nine "bridal" trains travelled around the country picking up war brides en route to being shipped to America, no doubt leaving behind a good many still-angry Aussies.

[@Mustang_Dan]

My god this one was truly shocking. When the Sydney pulled up I was like "oh shit the Sydney just told me to hold her drink" but it was the merchant raider ship's drink that needed to be held sadly.

[@brockbayley5279]

VERY ANGRY AUSTRALIAN HERE

[@benwilson6145]

For an excellent book on the finding of the Sydney try "The Search for the Sydney" by David Mearns. David has located dozens of ships including re-finding the Bismark and finding the Hood, Musashi, Derbyshire, Centaur and Rio Grande.

[@terrenceodgers5866]

Yes, it is an excellent and highly detailed work. Well worth the money!

[@roscoewhite3793]

The supreme irony of the Sydney-Kormoran action is that Sydney's crew ensured their doom by sticking to their guns, doing their duty, and inflicting fatal damage on the raider. "If blood be the price of Admiralty, my God, we ha' paid it full!"

[@marhawkman303]

well... they should have had all the guns manned before getting into firing range. "Straat Malakka" talked about a raider... you'd want to be prepared.. even if that raider was a mile away.

[@23draft7]

Aussies and NZ (Kiwis) were excellent fighters. They do not get enough recognition, sadly. Would like to see more on them along with the Indians, Canadians who all don't get enough recognition. Both WWl & WWll. One battle doesn't win a war, either does one country. Been to both countries (Australia & NZ) and they have a total respectful day, every year like US & Canada & England do. Anzac Day. God 🙏 bless ALL our Allies.

[@IamZim11]

Since you're doing British Dominion warships could you do the HMS New Zealand (1911)? She served in the Grand Fleet throughout the war and participated in all the major battles without blowing up like her sister battlecruisers.

[@NumericCubic]

Your voice mixed with your superb humour equals hilarity of monty python levels, excellent stuff .

[@jona.scholt4362]

The Treaty Era or Between War Era of cruisers made by the Royal Navy are all pretty handsome vessels. The County Class, Town Class, Leanders, Arethusa Class, Yorks, etc. They have great lines and the three stacks on the County's are exceptional. They somehow even make the standard two stacks stand out. And when you put them against the utter disaster the Pensacola's looked like, with their short bows, hilariously placed B turret and general clutter on the decks, the British cruises look even better.

[@chrisnorman1183]

Thanks so much for this one! Requested a few times and so happy you finally made it :)

[@Pablo668]

Great vid. Yeah unfortunately there were many Australians who couldn't accept that the original story the German sailors gave is actually what happened. Occams Razor and all that.

[@Deevo037]

Indeed, many people, especially those in the military, found it hard to accept that a frontline warship had been taken down by a "tin pot raider".

[@UnintentionalSubmarine]

Well, first off it shouldn't really have been a contest. HMS Devonshire did the right thing only three days later when she met Atlantis. Yes, bigger cruiser, bigger guns, but the same approach could have been used. Secondly, while the British approach to auxiliary cruisers was more as a stopgap, reserve or filler, the German approach was much more serious. Thus to the Australian eyes Kormoran might have appeared as a dismissable opponent, while in actual fact she was quite a bit more dangerous. Different doctrines at play, and only their own doctrine was really understood. And even so, she did sink to Sydney.

[@Pablo668]

Yeah, Sydneys approach to this situation/contact was way too casual. They paid a big price in the end.

[@SvenTviking]

Deevo037 Tin pot raider with a good crew given all the opportunity in the world and able to get the drop on the Cruiser.

[@SvenTviking]

michael green The Wreck says not. And you can’t argue with the bloody wreck. Fact is, the Sydney!s Captain was probably tired and in need of leave and thought he was pretty safe, 10,000 miles from the war zone. He gave the Kormoran all the opportunity in the world, heaved to too close and the Kormoran’s crew were well trained and well armed. HMS Cornwall an 8 inch gunned heavy cruiser was nearly sunk by “Pinguin”. That raider stuck a shell through the cruiser’s bow, causing electrical failure. Her Walrus aircraft was damaged, the telegraph between bridge and gun turrets was severed and her steering gear damaged so that she was out of control. A fire was also started. Cornwall had to retire at speed to repair the damage before returning and destroying the raider, which had fired 200 shells at Cornwall to the cruiser’s 136 in return. These raiders were very well trained.

[@soldiert0144]

thank you for making a video on the HMAS Sydney. my great grandfather was on that ship when it was sunk

[@danechapman1736]

Same god bless them they were probably mates

[@stevenjames8397]

My school friend's father served on the Sydney. His father's lineage went back to the ship the Bounty. My friends father got appendicitis and missed the last mission, something he regretted and something his wife never understood. Years later I was dating a girl whose uncle had served on the Sydney during the Sydney's Mediterranean operations. He kept a personal diary and took pictures of the Sydney attacking an Italian ship and some pictures of being attacked by Italian and German planes. Some of the stories in his diary were most interesting, especially, whenever the Sydney returned to Australian ports. Pregnant women would turn up at the docks looking for a crew member. Sydney's crew allocated as port guards would deny such a person was on the ship.

[@gregorybirtles-crute6065]

Very well done. I loved the reference to shooting at the planet Venus and whilst the captain did make a mistake getting so close, possibly as he was looking at boarding the ship it really was an even fight with surprise being he deciding factor but a wolf in sheeps clothing was removed from the war

[@adamskinner5868]

thanks, that was excellent, love the history and the way you tell it and will obviously be watching them all, thanks again.

[@TheAmir259]

As sad and tragic as it was, the experience was necessary to avoid any more of such losses, which can be seen in examples such as HMS Devonshire vs Atlantis

[@scipioafricanus4328]

Earlier in 1941 HMNZS Leander had actually done the same mistake of closing to point blank rang of the Italian commerce raider Ramb 1. Leander was exceedingly lucky to only suffer slight damage.

[@hellavadeal]

I remember a story of a ship chasing Venus . I remember friends thinking it was a UFO and went chasing it. Those planets are tricky adversaries.

[@alanstevens1296]

Not tricky, just that Venus is far brighter than any star, almost unnaturally bright in comparison.

[@vikkimcdonough6153]

11:26 - Actually, _Sydney's_ turn to port was likely deliberate. The torpedo hit blew a hole clean through the ship and would've resulted in relatively equal increases in drag on both sides, and any damage that knocked out her steering gear would've caused the rudder to center (keeping the ship moving in a straight line), rather than turning.

[@johnfisher9692]

Great video too many forget Australia had a small but effective Navy that did excellent work during both wars. The sinking of the Italian cruiser was an example of good training, and teamwork between the Sydney and the DD's. The Italian's boasted about the speed of their cruisers, but that was obtained only during trials which were run in unrealistic conditions. Sometimes without even the gut turrets installed. At sea and fully outfitted for war they were only slightly faster than British built cruisers. The loss of the Sydney was a tragedy born of human error, but that happens in both war and peace.

[@AusExplorer]

Just FYI, it wasn't even that small, it was something like 5th or 6th largest, depending on which date you pick. [after the french navy got sunk or before.]

[@PhysicsDude55]

What an interesting service of a ship I'd never heard of! Here in the US, pre Pearl Harbor actions tend to get ignored in history, especially in the south pacific. Thanks for making this video.

[@AKAKDOG]

I just love these old pictures. Thank you for sharing this video.

[@carlbusque1856]

Just love your work, informative and entertaining. You have some great lines in there... was unaware of this ship’s history. Thanks

[@psychalogy]

You know they're taking this whole 'War' thing seriously when they run the magazine on a cruiser completely dry... twice!

[@101gaminglegion7]

Thank you for finally doing a video on sydney

[@peterb666]

A very good telling of the story of HMAS Sydney. Thanks.

[@chrisbilham7587]

Sydney was not the only British/Commonwealth ship to be sunk after getting too close to a suspicious merchant ship and then being taken by surprise - Alcantara v. Greif in 1916. Both ships sunk, but most of the crews survived. The CO of Cornwall was criticised for taking his cruiser too close to the Pinguin but got away with it. Best practice was to remain at a safe distance and send one of the ship's boats over to check it out. I believe that the Sydney had the largest ship's company of the RN and Commonwealth navies to be lost without a single survivor. RIP.

[@williameddlewis4625]

Grate video with excellent commentary, I particularly enjoyed the engagement with venus and the AAA made up of angry australian curse words.

[@lycossurfer8851]

Nice story. Since German Raiders were mentioned, can an episode on them be done?

[@Drachinifel]

I have a special on them planned for next year at some point.

[@UnintentionalSubmarine]

Oh dear, the amount of daring and outright bullshittery (as in pulling people's legs) they were up to in especially WWI is astounding. I get the feeling the Germans went about their country finding the best card players and greatest con-men they had to offer. SMS Seeadler managed to convince a boarding party she, and her crew were Norwegians, while also keeping her guns hidden from them... A boarding party! "Nono, these aren't guns, they are stout pipes destined for a steel mill." Or SMS Möve that just nonchalantly sailed through the English Channel, challenged multiple times and even saluted once. Making sure to be friendly to close in ships and ignoring ones further out, creating confusion. And that was just the breakout.

[@vollelektrolysierer5773]

@@UnintentionalSubmarine Did you know Schiff 33/HSK 5 "Pinguin" managed to capture (!) a whole Norwegian whaling fleet in January 1941? All three fabric ships and eight of the eleven catchers managed to reach occupied France after all German raiders in the Indian Ocean had to work together to form enough prize crews...

[@TremereTT]

@@Drachinifel please include the SMS Seeadler ! My favorite German Raider of WWI.

[@timclaus8313]

Wouldn't necessarily expect to run into a German raider in the Indian Ocean.

[@LudetheDude1]

Interesting WW2 episode I was unaware of. Thankyou for raising people's awareness of this.

[@fortawesome1974]

I was in the Australian Infantry but I'm really enjoying all your videos!! OMG I laughed so freaking hard when you said "Having failed to be the first warship to shoot down another planet!!" LMAO!!

[@simmonsjn8]

Man I would like to see one of these videos about the Kormoran. It sounds like a real handful!

[@jazeroth322]

Busy little ship! Love these story’s u bring to us!

[@madsnoop7]

Lest we forget .Pop was on HMAS Shropshire

[@silenceoftheyams5969]

Many years after sinking Bartolomeo Colleoni, while on a NATO exercise, Captain Collins found himself with a group of Italian naval officers. Growing excited after learning he was Australian, one said “ we love the Australian Navy, when they had to steam away, they gave us a boat and we got back to Italy! “ ( R. Hough, The longest battle, p 209. )

[@Shloomy_Shloms]

I can imagine the crew weren’t too optimistic about finding a ship named “Atlantis” lol

[@sugarnads]

Thank you. Thank you. Sydney you will NEVER be forgotten.

[@kennysommers8904]

HMAS Sydney gave her all and she was not alone in that HMAS Perth, HMAS Yarra and HMAS Armidale. Recently one of the crew of HMAS Armidale was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions during her sinking.

[@crazysithslave]

Please do some more Aussie ships! My grandfather was onboard the HMAS NIZAM (G38/D15), she had an interesting life and was well travelled, she had many battle honors, my grandfather was always super proud to talk of her 👍

[@MikeKye200]

Poor decision by Sydney's commander to pull up alongside the "merchant"; should have kept it ahead with all guns trained until identity of the "merchant" confirmed.

[@bigyin2586]

MikeKye200 a very poor decision by her captain. Embarrassing to the RAN.

[@matthewrobinson4323]

Awesome video, as always. Sad how she was lost with all hands

[@rianklinger2912]

NUSHIP Sydney was launched in 2018 and is currently awaiting commission into the Royal Australian Navy to continue this amazing legacy.

[@korbell1089]

outside of the tragic loss of life I wish the Sydney had survived because it was a CHARACTER!!