Search for the Sydney

How Australia’s Greatest Maritime Mystery Was Solved

On 19 November 1941, HMAS Sydney encountered the German raider Kormoran in the Indian Ocean off Western Australia. The violent battle that ensued left Kormoran destroyed. Sydney was glimpsed sailing off the horizon, on fire, shell-damaged and suffering a torpedo hit to her bow. It would be 66 years before anyone laid eyes on either ship again.

′We just found Sydney. We′ve got it. It′s absolutely crystal clear. She′s sitting upright in a small debris field. There′s no doubt about it. The Prime Minister or anybody else can announce it. We have found HMAS Sydney.′ This is the full and official Story of Finding the HMAS Sydney.

For sixty-six years it was Australia′s greatest maritime mystery: what happened to the ′pride of the fleet′ HMAS Sydney – was it beaten in a fair fight with the German cruiser Kormoran, or was there treachery involved? Could the Kormoran′s survivors′ account of the battle and its aftermath be believed? Why were there no survivors from Sydney? And where was the wreck?

Author : David Mearns

Hardback : 264 Pages

SKU: P7630

About The Author:

David Mearns is a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and the Explorers Club. The Sinking of HMAS Sydney: How Australia’s Greatest Maritime Mystery Was Solved is his second book; his first, Hood and Bismarck, co-authored with Rob White, was nominated for the prestigious Desmond Wettern Maritime Media award. His book The Shipwreck Hunter was published in 2017. David and his company, Blue Water Recoveries Ltd, have located twenty-one major shipwrecks, including the hosptial ship Centaur and the Vasco da Gama fleet, and have been awarded three Guinness World Records, including one for the deepest shipwreck ever found at 5,762 metres. David currently lives in Sussex with his wife, Sarah, and their three children