BEING BRAINDEAD, I cannot remember the name of the Kreigsmarine
auxiliary cruiser (an ex- cargo-liner, I think) involved, but he did
sink an Australian light cruiser ("he" being the German warship) after a short
ranged engagement.
This hapened in the South Atlantic, at the height of the search for the
commerce raider (KORMORANT?) when the cruiser sighted him, and came to
investigate in a rather careless manner.
What followed was a classic naval rape. The raider opened fire at very close
range while the cruiser was basically rubber necking alongside, inflicting
severe damage and heavy casualties on her.
The cruiser (SYDNEY?) disengaged and fled over the horizon, where she
sank with all hands (I think all hands were lost- cannot remember for
sure).
Of course, I do believe the commerce raider was caught and sunk later on in
his cruise after sinking numerous merchant vessels (after
re-supplying from them) and sending several prize ships loaded with
prisoners off toward Germany. Again I cannot remember if any of the prize
vessels made it too prt safely.
DAWGFACE
> At 09:03 14/01/02 -0600, DAWGFACE wrote:
> BEING BRAINDEAD, I cannot remember the name of the Kreigsmarine
after
> a short ranged engagement.
This would be the HSK Kormoran, the Australian ship would be HMAS Sydney.
> This hapened in the South Atlantic, at the height of the search for
Close:) It was the Indian Ocean.
> What followed was a classic naval rape. The raider opened fire at
Actually the cruiser was challenging the suspected raider, when the Kormoran
could bluff no more, she opened fire with her concealed 6" cannon. But there
is no good explanation why the Sydney was placed in such a hazardous situation
and no one will ever know as all the crew were lost with the ship. The Sydney
returned fire and both ships were fatally damaged, Sydney was last seen
disappearing over the horizon ablaze and the Kormoran was abandoned and soon
blew up. As I said none of the 645 crew of the Sydney survived and 80 of the
crew of 400 on the Kormoran also perished.
The loss of the Sydney was a blow to Australia and because of the uncertain
fate of the ship it has been and still can be a tender issue for some. For
more info
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yorkhouse/c2-syd.htm
and
http://www.mm.wa.gov.au/Museum/march/shipwrecks/sydney/Sydney.html
Cheers
BEING BRAINDEAD, I cannot remember the name of the Kreigsmarine
auxiliary cruiser (an ex- cargo-liner, I think) involved, but he did
sink an Australian light cruiser ("he" being the German warship) after a short
ranged engagement.
This hapened in the South Atlantic, at the height of the search for the
commerce raider (KORMORANT?) when the cruiser sighted him, and came to
investigate in a rather careless manner.
What followed was a classic naval rape. The raider opened fire at very
close range while the cruiser was basically rubber necking alongside,
inflicting severe damage and heavy casualties on her.
The cruiser (SYDNEY?) disengaged and fled over the horizon, where she
sank with all hands (I think all hands were lost- cannot remember for
sure).
The Komoran was sunk by the Australian Light Cruiser Sydney late in 1941
-
in the Indian Ocean, which sunk following the engagement herself: I believe
the matter (the Sydney was lost with all hands) is still a matter of some
controversy in Australia. A good proportion of the Komoran's crew survived to
become POWs in Australia.
I seem to remember that the engagment went pretty much like this: The Kormoran
was a merchant ship refitted for raiding, with guns under tarpaulins and
shutters (I think it was disguised as a Dutch merchantman) The Sydney
approached within close range to challenge her The Kormoran (presumably
knowing she will not pass even a cursory inspection and unable to respond with
the proper Dutch codes) opens fire The Sydney returns fire crippling the
Kormoran's engine The Sydney limps away from the engagement, and the
Kormoran's captain orders her to be scuttled.
The Kormoran was a top of the line auxilary cruiser, with a good speed and
radar, and one of her important duties was laying mines (IIRC she had about
350 mines aboard) She also had several torpedo tubes, which were responsible
for the critical damage to the Sydney
Of course, I do believe the commerce raider was caught and sunk later on in
his cruise after sinking numerous merchant vessels (after
re-supplying
from them) and sending several prize ships loaded with prisoners off toward
Germany. Again I cannot remember if any of the prize vessels made it too prt
safely.
Of course the other Sydney (in WWI) was responsible for the destruction of the
Emden, My favourite raiding ship of all time
> At 3:45 PM +0000 1/14/02, Donogh McCarthy wrote:
Hows that for turn about?!