The Wreck of the Kormoran - A Raider That Sank a Cruiser

As a follow-up to my video on HMAS Sydney, last weekend, we have the wreck of her final enemy. The German raider, Kormoran. A ship that, by all rights, should never have been able to sink Sydney. Through deception, surprise and a lack of proper protocol on the Australian ship, the Germans succeeded in sinking her.
Sydney, however, got off fatal hits of her own. Kormoran would sink, blowing up in the process. Her wreck would, eventually, be found in 2008. At a depth of 2,560 meters (or 8,400 feet) beneath the surface, since it occurs to me that I forgot to put that in the script.
Her wreck is in...an interesting mix of absolutely terrible, blown apart debris, and some of the most intact paint I've ever seen.
Timestamp:
0:00 - Introduction
3:48 - Wreck
Pictures:
www.awm.gov.au/
Video:
• Photogrammetric 3D mod...

[@SIXPACFISH]

The paint still looks good because every time her disguise was changed. She got a new paint job over the old one. There's no telling how many layers of paint that ship has on her.

[@Graf.Heinrich.Von.Darkholme]

the kormoran deserves a movie, they have a really interesting run till HMAS Sydney Encounter

[@robwernet9609]

This is my favorite of all the remarkable wrecks coveted on this channel. The ship itself, its story, taking on a cl and winning (more or less), the hidden weaponry and how proficient the crew was at using those weapons, and my absolute favorite part...the artwork on the weapons and tallyboard! Would make for a great mini series or movie even.

[@Brumbieman]

That gun at 5:30 is haunting - the ends of the barrels are rusting because they fired so many rounds the heat blistered the paint

[@navyav8r653]

This ship wreck is amazing. At 1st I wasn't thinking Id see much. The kill list photos on this wreck and the trench art on the guns are the best thing ive seen in a long time

[@benjamintowns9798]

I would love to see the Atlandtis if they ever find it. It was a very successful Raider. The CO survived and wrote a book.

[@alephalon7849]

Perhaps one day someone can revisit Kormoran and see how she's fared since her discovery. If nothing else, she helped discover Sydney's wreck, making it possible to find out just what happened to her opponent.

[@paulroustan3643]

Everyone knew what happened to Sydney, just that it was hushed up because it was a embarrassment failure of simple protocol the captain didn’t adhere to

[@MrGoesBoom]

The gun mount 'Linda' reminds me of one of the things I've always found fascinating about WW2. On all sides crews did stuff like name their guns, planes, tanks, etc and had artwork and such on them....which is something that's disappeared ( afaik ) in the modern age. Always thought that personalization and...not sure individualism is the right word but it's what comes to mind as well as pride in their machines was a neat and humanizing element. These weren't just faceless mooks on all sides, it was people, often young men.

[@michaelleslie2913]

Atlantis would be a great follow-up if they could find her , Captain Rogge's book reads like a fiction adventure but he comes across as a old school privateer gentleman ship master . Great video look forward to more.

[@Vaul_Fusbin]

thankyou sir for bringing these wrecks to life

[@robwernet9609]

What makes the tally board even more impressive is what seems to be shrapnel damage around it

[@kurtman752]

Kormoran one hell of a merchant she sank a warship!!

[@para1324]

Excellent. Thank you for your research and bringing history back. 👏

[@jjohnsonTX]

Looks like they racked up an impressive record, before running into Sydney.

[@stephanbrunker]

One reason for the good preservation of the paint was that the paint was very fresh. The ship changed its disguise several times during its mission, which included repainting. So you have several layers of fresh paint, which is a plausible explanation for the good preservation of the paint. Until the wrecks were discovered, nobody believed Kormoran's crew, that a raider could sink a cruiser without treachery. Apart from being disguised it was a remarkable feat of tactic, to be able to get in close enough range to bring those small weapons (the 37 and 20 mm) to bear with a devastating effect, disabling the bridge and suppressing the torpedo tubes on Sydney. That being said, even on a battleship the bridge is not armored aside of the conning tower, which many capitans refused to use in favor of having a better awareness. Which is a terrible weakness at such a close range.

[@user-sg8hb8zi4x]

The history of the Sydney is really sad

[@TOO_TALL305]

At least they identified the unknown sailor

[@Ah01]

It sure is. 😢 The whole crew paid the ultimate prize from their captain`s careless approach, underestimating the lethal nature of a german raider. One just cannot bring his ship on a point blank distance from an unknown, suspicious ship. The action took place on all german terms when there was absolutely no need for that.

[@user-sg8hb8zi4x]

It's sad that everyone paid the price for that.@@Ah01

[@snebbywebby2587]

They still took Kormoran with them though

[@Ah01]

@@snebbywebby2587 Yes they did, but that was a close call. X-turret had just enough time to deliver two well aimed salvos, the other three failed to do that.

[@Brock_Landers]

Thank you bud. I have always wondered what happened to Kormoran once she left the surface, but I still would've liked to have seen Sydney be the victor in this battle. Still, Theodor Detmers and his crew fought hard to protect their Q-ship, but they fought in vain. I could still never imagine a Q-ship conquering even a light cruiser in any way.

[@Tiberiotertio]

There are folks who would have rather seen Kormoran be the one that could have sailed away.

[@SIXPACFISH]

What matters most in a navel battle are the crews. Sidney's crew were obviously a pack of slackers with incompetent leadership who didn't have their ship ready to fight. While the Kormoran's crew were hardened veterans with leaders who knew how to get the most out of their men and ship. The first punch is what wins most fights, and Kormoran landed that punch. Then kept on landing them.

[@johnmcmickle5685]

Looking at those 15 Cm guns if Sidney had kept more distance those concealed guns might not have been much use due to lack of ability to elevate those guns. But Sidney should have exercised more caution and been at general quarters with weapons loaded and trained when it approached.

[@celticman1909]

That paint the good old fashioned lead type.

[@jeffblacky]

Excellent gunnery on the raiders crew 5.9 inch guns with a quick loading chain of men on standby with shells ready to load Surviving gun crews believe with rapid firing of the board side 5.9s they shot 15 to 18 rounds within a minute The cruiser for the first few brief minutes couldn’t do a thing Complete surprise

[@robwernet9609]

Holy cow that's fast

[@shopdog831]

I think this is the first time ive seen a wreak of a germanraider

[@HM2SGT]

23:40 that ships sunk tally board is really something!

[@celticman1909]

Would have made a thrilling movie 🎬 scene. I remember some B&W films of early WWII "Q" type ships that like this raider, looked like a harmless merchant man from a distance but could quickly reveal weapons to bring to bear on an unsuspecting U-boat that didn't want to use an expensive torpedo if her deck gun was sufficient to sink the targeted vessel. In the later half of the war the days of surface deck gun use for U-boats were over and were removed to save weight and drag.

[@catezerbes4496]

The memorial at Geraldton is powerful

[@facubeitches1144]

Nothing lasts forever - unless it sinks in the depths of the Great Lakes or the Black Sea - then it sticks around for quite a while.

[@johnmcmickle5685]

If find it odd that the below the waterline torpedo tubes did not ahve outer doors for reloading.

[@daviddrake9135]

I need to look up some of those ships on the kill tally just for fun lol

[@scharnhorst_42]

Look, ima go ahead and say this. That sonar image looks rather phallic.

[@lukasito100]

The kill list is amazing. Such preserved !

[@Brock_Landers]

What's truly sad is that Captain Detmers was interned as a POW. He escaped prison camp with a score of other war detainees, but he was brought to a hospital a week later after suffering a stroke. He was ultimately released in 1947 and survived until 1976.

[@petergraves2085]

Just exactly what is "truly sad" about an enemy of the allies being kept as a POW ? And he was not "interned" - that is what happens to enemy civilians.

[@Tiberiotertio]

@@petergraves2085 Yeah like the enemy Sidney, think we love your lot?

[@SeraiNephthys]

A pop filter would help enormously with the quality of your audio, other than that good stuff enjoyed watching.

[@oldnick4707]

Even though it was scuttled, I would imagine that some Sailors died on this ship, RIP. That being said and with the realization that she is probably better as a war grave, am I the only one that thinks that it would be neat to see Linda in a museum? Lol

[@Constance_tinople]

Aye good riddance to Nazis

[@Constance_tinople]

@@HarborLockRoad I’m referring to the dead Nazis, make a museum of the gun itself all the way. I like preserved historical artifacts. Not monuments though. The difference being telling history vs glorifying the evil in it. Confederate cannon in museum? Good. Confederate statue in a public square? Bad

[@harrylor66]

@@Constance_tinople It's not the Nazis, it's the GERMAN NAVY - the KRIEGSMARINE!🤨😁 [ˈkʁiːksmaˌʁiːnə], lit. 'War Navy')

[@oldnick4707]

@@Constance_tinople, I concur with your opinions here definitely. I make a distinction, though, between the 'SS', (actual Nazis), and the common german soldier and sailors etc.. Most people in Germany just got shoved right along It seems. And I don't think so poorly of most of them, but the SS excetera I certainly do, so I say RIP to these sailors and those of the Sydney.

[@itstitanictime2002]

In Hindsight maybe a surface raider should have the ships it's gonna disguise as and theor secret codes.

[@billgriffin835]

Hope the scavenger who looted Prince of Wales and Repulse never find either of them.

[@user-bd3ds4ev5f]

They can’t. The wrecks of Sydney and Kormoran are too deep

[@Ah01]

There is much less loot for the thieves, so not very tempting target.

[@stevea4771]

Just shocked having watched hmas Sydney had not one single survivor given the ship did not, like hms Hood not sink rapidly

[@johnsepulveda443]

Yeah the captain of that cruiser is directly responsible for his crews death he ignored the telegram telling him not to approach any unidentified ship's to closely because there was a raider in the area

[@maryfitzgerald4812]

I didn't know that.

[@Ah01]

Yeah. But the admiralty instructions were somewhat ambiguos. On one hand, one was to avoid getting too close, and on the other the vessels were supposed to be caught before being scuttled, which could not be done without getting close. Burnett chose to follow the latter, and there was also the problem of fading daylight, having not enough time to get to grips with situation from the long distance.

[@petergraves2085]

And the 317 surviving crew of the Kormoran resolutely refused to say how they destroyed HMAS Sydney (II). Despite being rescued by their enemy - Australia - and being able safely and securely to sit out the remainder of the war, as POWs. Not the greatest exploit of the WW2 Kriegsmarine.

[@SvenTviking]

They don’t have to. Name, Rank and number is all you have to reveal.

[@MrRjh63]

My guess is besides them not wanting to openly talk to the enemy they also didnt want the Allies to know how their class of ship attacked/operated so as to not compromise the other raiders out there.

[@Ah01]

As a tactical result that action was a shining victory for the kriegsmarine, on strategic level for the allies, which were more than glad to get rid of an enemy raider. The crew of hmas Sydney, their families and relatives paid very heavy price, but overall the allies could trade a light cruiser to a raider and be winners strategically. German raider campaign was fading fast as the counter measures started to take effect. Of course those measures meant a huge waste of effort, taken away from other theatres of war, as was the original german idea behind the campaign.

[@Ah01]

Eventually they did produce a plausible version of the events of the action, though.

[@charlesmiles9115]

😊😊😊😊😊😊❤❤❤❤👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@kellyschram5486]

Sorry but what be wrong with bring her gun up and put in a museum.

[@shawngrothe2686]

War graves (which is typically what a naval wreck is) are protected. Lot of red tape to recover objects, not to mention the expense.