Wreckage of HMAS Sydney found off West Australian coast

Alison Rehn with AAP
March 17, 2008 09:30am

PRIME Minister Kevin Rudd has confirmed the wreck of the HMAS Sydney has been found more than 2km underwater off the coast of Western Australia.

Speaking at a news conference about 9.20am, Mr Rudd said the discovery was a time to reflect on the bravery of all the souls lost on board. The ship was found using a high-resolution geosounder to examine deep water off Western Australia. Early images show that the ship's hull remains largely intact and upright on the ocean floor.

"This is a historic day for all Australians and a sad day for all Australians as we confirm the discovery of the HMAS Sydney," Mr Rudd said. "I'm advised that the HMAS Sydney was found 12 nautical miles from the Kormoran some 8 nautical miles from the principal battle site and at a depth of 2470m." "The Australian Government hopes that the discovery brings some closure to the 645 families who lost their loved ones in this tragedy in 1942." The HMAS Sydney was found yesterday, but the discovery was confirmed this morning. Mr Rudd announced an interim environmental protection order to prevent the sites from being damaged, and he said that the site would be considered as a tomb to be "treated with complete respect". A remote submersible equipped with cameras and other hi-tech equipment is expected to assess the site early next week.

The HMAS Sydney sunk off the West Australian coast in 1941. Mr Rudd said that the German Government had been informed about the discovery.

Chief executive of the Finding Sydney Foundation, Bob Trotter, earlier said his organisation was "pretty confident'' evidence of the Sydney wreckage had been found. He said the organisation strongly felt that the site should remain undisturbed.

Mr Trotter said traces of the Sydney had been found in the field of action where the Australian cruiser and the Kormoran engaged on November 19, 1941. "The search ship and its sonar have found very large pieces of wreckage about four kilometres from the wreck of Kormoran which don't appear to be from the Kormoran, therefore are more likely to be from the Sydney."

"The (search) ship is out there now doing passes over the wreckage and in that area up to 10 kilometres away from the Kormoran because that's where we believe she (HMAS Sydney) must be, given the evidence of the last sighting of the Sydney in 1941 by the German survivors.'' Mr Trotter likened the search for Sydney as climbing Mt Everest. "Now we're on our backsides sliding down.'' Ean McDonald, a signalman onboard the Sydney until 1939, described reports of the finding as "momentous news''. He queried whether the location of the Sydney and the Kormoran had been kept secret by "hierarchy''. "There's always been that side of the mystery,'' he told ABC Radio.

Mr McDonald said the Sydney would have been sending out signals during the pitched battle with the Kormoran.

"There is this conspiracy theory which a lot of people hold.'' The Sydney's entire crew of 645 went down with the ship in the Indian Ocean and its location has been a mystery for years. The wreckage of a German ship - the merchant raider Kormoran - believed to have sunk the Australian warship was found yesterday.The Kormoran was found in 2560m of water, about 240km off Shark Bay, 800km north of Perth. Debris has also been found from what is believed to be the battle site. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, announcing the discovery at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra yesterday, welcomed the breakthrough as a "big step forward" to solving the 67-year-old mystery. "We are now one step closer as a nation towards hopefully finding the Sydney," Mr Rudd said. Australia's most enduring maritime tragedy happened on November 19, 1941, when the Sydney was sunk with 645 crew lost. It had been returning to Fremantle when it met the German raider disguised as the Dutch freighter, Straat Malakka.

A battle ensued from which neither ship survived. Eighty men from the 397-strong crew of the Kormoran perished. Ted Graham, chairman of the Finding Sydney Foundation - the group set up to find the Australian warship - said he had an inkling last Friday that his team had finally located the Kormoran. Mr Graham said the search team had also found debris from what they believed was the battlefield site, at a depth of 2740m.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Russ Shalders said the navy was jubilant at the find. "It's unfinished business," he said. "What has now been found will allow us to proceed towards finishing something that has been a mystery - Australia's major maritime mystery."The team has narrowed the search to an area of 300 nautical miles. Australian embassy staff in Berlin were yesterday alerting the German Government to the find. Germany will retain ownership of the wreckage.

West Australian Nick Walden said it had been an anxious wait for news since the Finding Sydney Foundation search team left the Geraldton port two weeks ago. Mr Walden, of Geraldton, never knew his uncle, Albert Hollington, who was an acting leading seaman aboard the Sydney. "I'd like to see them have a look and work out exactly what happened so we can put to rest all these stories," Mr Walden said. Many theories about the fate of Sydney's crew have surfaced over the decades, arising from a struggle to understand why there were no survivors.

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