In November 1941 the HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran engaged in a fierce gun battle that left Kormoran crippled and Sydney lost with all hands. This documentary film explores the events of that fateful day and attempts to explain how the Kriegsmarine’s auxiliary cruiser Kormoran was able to engage and sink the Royal Australian Navy Leander-class light cruiser HMAS Sydney.
Sydney’s 6″ Gun turrets were 3D-modelled by friend and Patron of the Oceanliner Designs channel Mr Bailey Pottebaum whose brilliant work can be seen here;
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Oceanliner Designs explores the design, construction, engineering and operation of history’s great ocean liners – from Titanic to Queen Mary but not forgetting the likes of Empress of Ireland or Chusan. Join Mike Brady as he uncovers the myths, explains the timelines, logistics and deep dives into the lives of the people and ocean liner ships that we all know and love.
0:00 Introduction
0:55 War breaks out
2:58 Commerce raiders
4:30 Kormoran: The Hunter
9:21 HMAS Sydney; The Pride of Australia
16:17 The Chase
21:25 The Battle
26:36 The Loss
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Good day Mike , I had to comment on this video , you choose a fantastic story to make a presentation on and you did an award winning production on it . Thanks
hey Mike, can you please email me back about an order i made back in August… Cheers!
There's something magnificent about that old recording "Road to Gundagai", mate… love it. By the way, have you done a story about the Hospital ship Centaur, sunk off Caloundra?
The Kormoran was most famous of the commerce raiders of the Kriegsmarine operating in the Pacific. Otherwise the Kriegsmarine raiders in the Pacific were unsuccessful. One classic example is the Michel, which has the dubious honor of being sunk by an American submarine.
Great video
Very well done and quite neutral description.
Minor quibbly: The gun shown at Minute 29 should be "one of Kormorans 15cm guns" since she carried the heavier caliber. (6 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 C). That is what enabled her to disable HMAS Sydneys turrets etc, she had a cruiser caliber main armament
Rest in Peace all sailors… your story has been retold with a clear tale… the sea takes care of its own.
Can anyone tell me the song that plays at 12:00 ?
Try to find the movie "Under ten flags" or the book "The German Raider 'Atlantis'". Well told stories of a German commerce raider, with a bent towards the German side of things.
This battle didn't tell in German media in documentary during my time in school. Your documentation is really good and well documented. 👌😏
So senseless. All these men – dead! One day a hero, the next day dead!
No survivors? Didn't they have any kind of lifeboat or at least livesaver?
Beautifully put together, script, music and narration. (The starlit sky as the souls left, for example…) Thank you!
Best video I've seen you do.
Und wie immer die Frage: wofür starben sie? Wozu das alles?
This was a sad story. It’s almost like the Australian Navy forgot it was at war.
Holy moly
1)Love WW2
2)Love ships
3)Great animating and commentary
Could you possibly do a vid on what if the rmmv oceanic was fully completed? That would be great
Tom fisher was former crew of Sydney he was transferred off the ship he was only crew member who remembers the cruiser
Near speechless I am. Not aware of this battle, of this German disguised commerce raider. Fine telling. All hands lost was a disaster surely not common. This NZ man is still silent on this…. the Hood opening fire with only forward turrets available, yet 3 men survived that tragedy. Bismark destroyed yet 93 survived of near 2000 compliment. RIP magnificent Men. War and the Pity of War.
Could you try Wilhelm Gustloff i love ur videos including that of the fictional one and Wilhelm Gustloff
Would be great in this kind of style
Thank u
Wonderful account..the crews in the rear two turrets were beyond brave…
I wonder why no indication was given as to the depths both wrecks are sitting at being that an expedition had taken some photos of both, a little detail I'd have been interested in knowing among others. It's also very strange that Nobody survived from the Sydney at all, not even one.
The Kormoran crew was experienced. They were specially chose from normal crews. They drilled on the gunnery and stealth portions of the ruse. Some of the other raiders used their spotter planes to tear off the radio antennas of ships they spotted. They might start the lowering of a life boat as they neared. Kind of a "panic party". They didn't use up much in resources and may have been more successful than the capital ship raiders of the German Navy.
This was EXCELLENT! Please, more videos like this, absolutely fantastic production and a pleasant departure from the usual. I would bet more warship stories will attract you many more viewers.
Keep up the great work, and thank you for telling a story I never knew 🇦🇺
– from NC, USA
I have read reports that after HMAS Sydney turned, she fired torpedoes which hit Kormoran?
Incredible job with this video. From the narration to the animation everything was great. Keep up the great work!
Thanks! Very well done.
I never heard of these ships of course I've heard of graff spee but this ship was quite effective for what it was and much more cost effective than a pocket battleships (battle cruiser really). Obviously it's good the allies won The war but this ships story was interesting. Burnett just screwed up the Sidney had every physical advantage even after they were fired on they should have destroyed the kormaran I heard the Sidney had a green crew when it was distroyed.
Inexperience can be a Costly mistake
Where's that idiot over yander harpin' "out of site, out of mind, this aint important since it aint in my gimped news feed?"
Wish he would. Pretty sure if they lived in this or other countries were it was in the history books at least, they would properly be singing a different tune.
Just sad. Even worse how it played out
rly good ship vibes
Simply your best video yet. Such an unnecessary loss of live..
Drain the ocean did a episode of this
There are emany mistakes in this account. This is the German account of what happened and the wreck evidence refutes the narrative.
Regarding Kormoran and Sydney. There are a is a serious inconsistency in the German Testimony with the wreck evidence. Namely that A and B turrets were not configured for firing in local control at the time that they were knocked out. This is a key piece of evidence.
Before going into that detail, I just want to mention that I believe that Captain Burnett has been maligned for many years. I believe that he was under orders to capture an enigma machine and the code books for the rotor settings. I believe that the Pacific theater used different settings to Atlantic.
The RAN had been practicing “Anti scuttling” procedures whereby they would approach a suspect enemy blockade runner and put a boarding party on it. The stated job of the boarding party was to close water cocks and bulkhead doors in order to save the ship. However I believe that this was a cover story. Only senior officers would have been made aware of enigma and I believe that the true purpose of the anti-scuttling procedure was to seize the enigma and rotor setting book.
Before the action commenced, it was clear that the crew of Sydney were suspicious that they were dealing with a blockade runner. Kormoran had transmitted a portion of a distress signal and did not know the call sign identity of Straat Malakka (the ship she was impersonating) When the Sydney ordered Kormoran to stop engines, the Germans had an opportunity to use their submerged torpedo tubes (once their speed dropped to 3 kn)
These tubes were loaded with Electric wakeless torpedoes (likely to be an early version of the G7e). These torpedoes were guided by gyroscope and could be launched at any angle. They would then turn to the angle setting in the gyroscope. Note that there have been numerous mentions of Kormoran making a course adjustment in order to fire the torpedo. This story has its basis in German testimony and as far as I am concerned it lacks credibility because it was a redundant maneuver. If it happened, there is likely an alternative explanation such as a feigned battle manouver.
I have attached a spreadsheet with some torpedo approximations. If Kormoran had fired the torpedo after unmasking, then the Sydney would have has enough time to fire 11 full salvoes at the Kormoran from point blank range. Not many of these shells would have missed. I believe that the evidence indicates that Kormoran had fired the torpedo before unmasking (a war crime) then waited until just before the strike before unmasking.
The Germans stated in their testimony that the torpedo blew the roof off A turret which then jammed B turret. They also stated that their 37mm guns were firing on the bridge and knocked out the director early in the battle. This is given as the reason for Sydneys ineffective fire.(Kormoran was only hit by 3 shells)
The wreck evidence does show that the roof was blown off A turret. So far consistent with the German story. But, the ports for the turret sights are closed. If the German story was true and the main director was knocked out early in the battle, then is turret would have been firing in local control with open sights. It is obvious that this turret was firing under director control when it was knocked out by the torpedo strike. It then stands to reason that this turret was disabled and its crew killed at the very start of the action and not some 90 seconds later. The torpedo had to have been fired before kormoran unmasked.
The kitchen staff gave testimony that the torpedo was fired before Kormoran unmasked. Only a few on board would have known when the torpedo was fired, hence most of the crew did not offer testimony about the torpedo. Turret A was damaged by the torpedo hit just as the Germans have testified. The turret roof was blown off. The sighting ports for A turret are closed meaning that it must have been firing under director control when it was knocked out. The wreck evidence is conclusive, this turret was firing under director control when it was disabled by the torpedo. Either the Germans lied about when the director was knocked out, or they lied about when the torpedo struck. Given that Sydney did not fire 88 shells at the Kormoran, I am inclined to conclude that they lied about the torpedo.
A Turret
B turret has received a direct hit from a 5.9 inch shell. This has blown off a roof panel and is likely to have blown open the lower sighting ports. This turret was jammed by the roof of A turret during the torpedo strike and did not fire for the remainder of the action
B Turret
X turret was properly configured for firing in local control. This is the turret that hit kormoran 3 times. One of these hits ruptured an oil line and started an engine room fire that eventually too control can caused the loss of kormoran. Kormoran also had 300 mines on board. Once these were threatened by the fire, Detmers ordered abandon ship.
X turret
Y turret was also configured for firing in local control.
Y turret
Some of the graphics in this vid are really good. But there are some bizarre weaknesses.
The muzzles of the 6 inch guns on the Sydney are belled out. Naval guns on the Sydney were almost straight, tapering down slowly. There are many extant photos of the Sydney which show the exact shape of the 6 inch barrels.
The best two references to this engagement are David L. Mearns' beautiful book containing many pictures of the Sydney where it rest on the sea floor. And Tom Frame's book "HMAS Sydney" of which the latest edition contains additional chapters related to the discovery of the wrecks on the sea floor.
The A turret of the Sydney was hit directly between the two barrels of that turret with the second round from the Kormoran. The germans had been practicing and Detmers had instructed each gun crew to focus on one target on any enemy ship, hence the bridge was destroyed with Kormoran's second salvo.
Given the totality of the loss of Sydney's crew and the fact that Sydney drifted away burning from stem to stern and low in the water, and finally sinking after several hours (evidenced by the Germans who witnessed the extinguishing of the glow over the horizon) it is likely that hundreds of the crew were killed or disabled in the first few minutes. Fire would prevent any coordinated effort to stay afloat. As the Sydney settled in the water many would drown. Surviving sailors would be as preoccupied with the wounded as much as they were with staying afloat. When the bow broke off, the remains of the hull slipped below the waves quickly. If any sailors managed to abandon the ship in those last moments they did so without life boats and were lost to the sea in the days that followed.
And my final comment. I cannot understand why this amazing war story has not been dramatised by Australian movie makers. The only two excuses I can think of are 1; Australians are not proud of losing their most famous warship and all its crew in one engagement with a "freighter" and 2; The facts of the engagement are witnessed only by the enemy of the time as no individual from the Sydney survived to tell another story.
What happened on the bridge of Sydney to bring it so perilously close to Kormoran is not know, but I'm sure the script writers are capable of dramatising the engagement without making any guesses at what happened on the bridge of the Sydney. That is part of the story, part of the mystery.
Second, the statements from Detmers crew was not believed at the time as they were the enemy. But when the wrecks were discovered it confirmed their stories.
The A turret has a 6 inch hole between its barrels. The bow was separated from the hull by a torpedo.
The life boats lay on the sea floor near the Sydney. They went down with the ship, they were not shot up on the surface by the raider or a jap sub as some have suggested.
Detmers and his crew told the truth. Making a dramatic reenactment, sticking to the facts would do honor to the Australian sailors who lost their lives so tragically.
I remember reading Mearns' book for the first time. My father who was in the navy, but played a small part, described to me the sound of a 6 inch gun being fired. It shook the entire vessel. As the narrator said, these guns could hurl a 6 inch shell 26 km. Here was the Sydney and the Kormoran trading rounds at 1000m. That is rather dramatic I would guess.
Somebody in the Australian movie industry should champion the making of a movie about the loss of the Sydney.
I would like to add to my previous (epic) comment that even though I start with a criticism I think the video is overall very good. It sticks to the facts without over dramatisation (a la Hollywood).
And I think this is the main point in my previous comment. The facts as far as they are known are very dramatic and deserve to be retold in the form of a movie. Am I the only one who thinks this?
Anyway I guess the first thing to do would be a script and storyboard of the story of the Sydney.
Start with the actions in the Mediterranean Sea. I am not a script writer but I see the potential.
I’m still trying to look for the song one of these sailors made. The sailor Edward McHaffie made a song called ‘dream of Australia’ in 1936. His song is in the Shrine do remembrance Australia yet I can’t find his song online
if it took hours to sink why did nobody survive?
Narrator says 37 mm AT guns, shows 75 mm PAK gun in the animation.
22:28 That's a 75mm Pak 40 though, not a 37mm Pak 36.
very sad
Thanks mate. For your comment on HMAS Sydney. Isaw an interview with Ted Briggs , one of the three survivors from HMS Hood.Very sobering indeed.
It's not what you have. It's what you do with what you have. Russians are prime example have 80s era tech and still can hit hard with it
Is any body here from the stream does any body know prinz Eugene
you should do a video on the battle between RMS carmania and SMS Cap Trafalgar
the only direct armed conflict between two ocean liners in history