This is a really excellent book that goes into a fair amount of detail as to how the encounter took place and answers many questions as to how the Sydney allowed a lesser gunned raider to get so close as to cause a total loss of the RAN ship.

 

link

How did a merchant ship raider managed to damage a cruiser to the degree that it sunk and lost all her crew?

It appears that the Aussie Captain allowed the Sydney to get very close without formal ID of the raider.

 

It also seems from accounts that the raider was using the name of a Dutch (IIRC?) merchant, however, British merchant charts/procedures would have given the Sydney a heads up that had it really been the Dutch vessel in question, then it should not have been in Aust waters at the time anyway.

 

This info seems to have been ignored and as radio comms were silent, then no formal ID acknowledgement to HQ on the matter seemed to have taken place. Obviously, the RAN Captain thought the vessel innocent enough to allow his light cruiser to get within spitting distance of the Kormoran and her broadside.

 

As to the loss of the vessel, well once the Kormoran had started to blast the Sydney's superstructure, comms and gun directors etc, it was pretty much over red rover. The lack of survivors can be put down to having the life rafts clustered around the same location amidships (not very bright!) and the physical location out in a trecherous part of the world. Anyone who has sailed a boat out when the Fremantle Doctor is in town knows all to well!

 

The final nail came with a tragic comedy of errors found everywhere in war time where radio silence, misinformation and lack of resources hampered attempts to realise the ship was missing and then to respond once the alert had been given.

 

All too tragic, but that is war for you.

 

 

 

Always wondered as to how a well-handled ship {Mediterranean service record] of an excellent class [Leander] like the HMAS Sydney could be surprised and overwhelmed. I never understood it.

Herald