Kormoran
Posted: Tue Aug 11, 2009 11:15 pm
An inquiry into the loss of HMAS Sydney in 1941 has found it's captain behaved inexplicably when he brought the warship too close to a German raider.
In the naval equivalent of point blank range the disguised German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran engaged the Sydney and sank it off the West Australian coast on November 19th 1941.
Commissioner Terence Cole,in presenting the commission's report today,said captain Burnett clearly made errors of judgement,but had NOT acted negligently.
It is likely 70% of Sydney's crew died during the battle with the wounded survivors all lost when the vessel sank suddenly.
Mr Cole concluded that the accounts of the battle given by German survivors of the Kormoran were generally true.
The inquiry,conducted over 33 days of hearings and which considered 250 submissions,examined numerous conspiracy theories relating to the loss of Sydney.
The conspiracy theories included claims that Sydney was sunk by a Japanese submarine ahead of Japan's entry to the war and that Sydney survivors were machine gunned in the water.
Mr Cole said the loss of the powerful modern warship with a distinguished wartime record to an inferior German vessel created a controversy and raised questions that endured for almost 70 years.
A key issue was why Captain Burnett approached so closely to a vessel of which he should have been suspicious of,negating the advantage of his superior speed and gunnery.
May God have mercy on them.
In the naval equivalent of point blank range the disguised German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran engaged the Sydney and sank it off the West Australian coast on November 19th 1941.
Commissioner Terence Cole,in presenting the commission's report today,said captain Burnett clearly made errors of judgement,but had NOT acted negligently.
It is likely 70% of Sydney's crew died during the battle with the wounded survivors all lost when the vessel sank suddenly.
Mr Cole concluded that the accounts of the battle given by German survivors of the Kormoran were generally true.
The inquiry,conducted over 33 days of hearings and which considered 250 submissions,examined numerous conspiracy theories relating to the loss of Sydney.
The conspiracy theories included claims that Sydney was sunk by a Japanese submarine ahead of Japan's entry to the war and that Sydney survivors were machine gunned in the water.
Mr Cole said the loss of the powerful modern warship with a distinguished wartime record to an inferior German vessel created a controversy and raised questions that endured for almost 70 years.
A key issue was why Captain Burnett approached so closely to a vessel of which he should have been suspicious of,negating the advantage of his superior speed and gunnery.
May God have mercy on them.
; a little complement.................................
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