digg

Join DiggAbout

Digg Townhall Tonight!
Tune into the live Digg townhall tonight at 5:00pm PST/8:00pm EST.

HMAS Sydney found

news.com.au — THE wreckage of HMAS Sydney, sunk off the West Australian coast in 1941, has been found. The Sydney's entire crew of 645 went down with the ship in the Indian Ocean and its location has been a mystery for 66 years.

show profanity settings
expand all
  • dtele, on 03/17/2008, -0/+32History of the infamous battle between HSK Korman and HMAS Sydney in 1941:
    At about 4pm on 19 November, somewhere west of Shark Bay, Western Australia, Sydney sighted a merchant ship about 20 kilometres away and challenged her. The other ship identified herself as the Dutch ship Straat Malakka. She was, in fact, the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran. According to survivors from Kormoran, Sydney closed to within 1,000 metres, and was surprised and overwhelmed when the crew of Kormoran opened fire with concealed artillery and torpedoes. Kormoran was also badly damaged in the ensuing battle and had to be abandoned. Survivors from Kormoran reported that Sydney was last seen heavily on fire and down by the bow. The ship and her 645 crew members were never seen again, untill today..
    • pwner84, on 03/17/2008, -0/+5Although this is set in stone, we can still learn from the past. Survivors of the Korman have come out and thanked the Captain of the HMAS Sydney for their lives. ""Whenever we came across an unidentified object, it was standard practice to fire a shot at 5000 metres across its bows. We on Kormoran were all expecting Sydney to do the same, but it never came … And that is Burnett's crime - he closed an unidentified ship to within 900 metres. When Sydney did ask us for our secret call signal, the only answer we had was our guns." - Ludwig Ernst, 89, the president of the Kormoran Survivors' Association.
  • bapplebo, on 03/17/2008, -0/+31Dugg because I'm Australian and this is huge news.
    • pwner84, on 03/17/2008, -6/+3Any love for us Germans?
      • goodgame, on 03/17/2008, -0/+8Considering that it was the Germans who sank the ship..
        • Jocheim, on 03/19/2008, -0/+0Well Germans from my experience in Berlin, Munchen and Frankfurt are a lot nicer, friendlier and polite than Australians, for one Germans do not have over inflated egos, pride themselves on military prowness and they have perfect manners....
      • pwner84, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6Interesting insights you achieve when you pose. I am actually Australian, from Perth (the ship sank off our coastline). Regardless, the attitude the Digg community has is very poor. German sailors simply took the orders given to them by their command. They had NO CHOICE. Both sides should be equally respected. Do you think us Australians should have NO respect for the dead U.S. soldiers in Iraq.. because they ALL obviously WANT to be there RIGHT? think about it before you speak and act.
        • gak001, on 03/17/2008, -0/+2True, but you certainly could have put it much better. "Any love for us Germans" doesn't exactly command the respect that you're looking for.
      • Kythas, on 03/17/2008, -0/+1Als Amerikaner ehre ich deutsche Kriegtote.
  • gwynne007, on 03/17/2008, -0/+29My Great Uncle perished with the Sydney. I am named after him. RIP David Gwynne and all crew.
    • ConeOfSilence, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6respect to your great Uncle and all those Australians who gave their lives in WW2
    • pwner84, on 03/17/2008, -3/+2So if I put two and two together... your name is also David Gwynne.

      MYTH BUSTED!

      lol just a bit of humour

      Anyway RIP and peace to all those involved.
  • shitdigga, on 03/17/2008, -0/+15Rest In Peace lads of HMAS Sydney and those lost on HSK Kormoran.
  • Cubedude04, on 03/17/2008, -0/+9Glad it was finally found. RIP all on board
  • ConeOfSilence, on 03/17/2008, -0/+21They shall not grow old as we who are left grow old.
    Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
    At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
    WE WILL REMEMBER THEM.
    • Timmyftw, on 03/17/2008, -2/+6...LEST WE FORGET

      That is much more moving here compared to an RSL full of people staring at their poker machines while standing and maybe around half taking part in saying we will remember them
  • VJ4mes, on 10/15/2008, -0/+8It's a great thing that this ship was found, no doubt it's a significant event for Australians everywhere. Rest In Peace to them, they went off and fought in a foreign war, that alone was tough. Though giving your life defending your country and way of life for all your friends and family back home just goes beyond all measure.
    RIP you mighty sailors!
  • adml_shake, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6I look forward to seeing the dive on the history or discovery channel, I love watching them go down and video tape these old WWII ships.
    • pwner84, on 03/17/2008, -0/+4It's going to be interesting to see.

      Mind you its 2500 meters underwater.. and has vertically sunk into the sand.

      Half is up in the water and half is buried under the seabed.

      Hopefully some long lost artifacts of those who went down with the ship can be found.. should be very interesting anyway.

      RIP all crew involved, German and Australian alike.
  • hassmaschine, on 03/17/2008, -0/+5This is a fantastic find, I'm glad some peace can be reached by the families of those involved.
  • Norris667, on 03/17/2008, -0/+6This is a genuinely great discovery. finally some closure for those indirectly involved
  • smiley2billion, on 03/17/2008, -3/+154 8 15 16 23 42
    • frooo, on 03/17/2008, -0/+2And the Supplementary numbers are 7 and 18?
  • pwner84, on 03/17/2008, -0/+3Hope this brings closure to the families directly involved.
  • shandy28, on 03/17/2008, -4/+2I love how everybody in Australia (or at least Perth) has suddenly become a maritime historian in the past day.

    But this is a great moment in Australian history.
    • Cubedude04, on 03/17/2008, -0/+2I'm from Perth and no one I know is walking around with an inflated sense of maritime history.
  • EnvisionImage, on 03/17/2008, -1/+6In other related news a Mr. Charles Widmore just donated a substantial sum of money to the recovery....
  • pwner84, on 03/17/2008, -7/+1Germany was evil back in the day.. so we should not care about their dead. Right?

    The U.S. is evil today.. killing the innocent, illegitimately invading countries, stealing resources, corrupting governments, revoking privacy laws... so when a U.S. Soldier dies in Iraq should we care?

    That soldier obviously agree's 100% with Bush as did the Nazi soldiers did with Hitler.

    So who gives a ***** about the U.S. Iraq casualties? Right?

    Just have a think about it yanks
    • Elphantman, on 03/17/2008, -2/+1I love George Bush
    • Kythas, on 03/17/2008, -1/+3Hmmm. As a former American soldier, I honor the fallen soldiers of every country, including Germany. You may not believe it, but the majority of American soldiers believe in the mission in Iraq today. The US is not an evil country and I'm sorry you feel that way.

      I've seen incredible acts of bravery and honor committed by American soldiers towards Iraqi soldiers wounded in battle, including a US Army combat medic risking his own life and braving enemy fire to rescue a wounded Iraqi soldier so he could treat him. American soldiers don't kill for the sake of killing - we kill only when it's required. Believe me, we take no enjoyment from it but do it because it's our job. We, as soldiers, honor and respect all soldiers, including the enemy.

      However, notice I said "soldiers" and not the terrorists who kill innocent women and children in their unholy jihad. Those bastards are the ones who are truly evil.
      • leandrotami, on 03/17/2008, -0/+0There wouldn't be a battle if it wasn't because your country decided to start a war against a country, even though the UN didn't approve. All those thousands of soldiers and innocent people from both sides most probably wouldn't be dead today if it wasn't because of that. I agree with you in one sense, though, that perhaps some individuals may be just like what you said, however I do not like generalizations under any circumstance, so I will keep my doubts.By the way, 'soldiers' also kill innocent women and children, just like the Germans and just like your own, sometimes as the result of an accident and some other times deliberately.
        I just cannot blindly believe you when you simply say 'the US is not an evil country'. I need to reach that conclusion by myself, and considering all that I see and hear every day, I'm afraid to tell you that I'm far from it.
  • shitforbrains, on 03/17/2008, -1/+2They should leave both of those boats alone. They're graveyards. Take your pictures and leave the bits and pieces be.
    • Exarchos, on 03/18/2008, -0/+1That's exactly what they're doing:

      "We are going to be working in very deep water. Some times things don't quite go to plan so it might take us a while to get some proper photography.''

      Mr Graham said there were no plans to raise the Sydney because of the depth of the water and because both vessels were considered war graves.
  • Jocheim, on 03/19/2008, -1/+0Yes finally the Sydney mystery semi answered. I say semi a no one for certain will know for sure.
    As a country you Aussies are so patriotic, fabulous, only problem is no one, had any interest, let alone knew much about the HMAS Sydney, until a few days ago, I lived in Brisbane, and have been interested in this subject since a youngster, I found ONE book on the subject in the Public library, hell now there will be dozens.
    Cant wait to see the Australian History channel's work of fiction on this one. Personally I believe the Sydney was and is a course for some embarrassment for the Australian Government. A fully fledged fighting Light Cruiser disappearing after a engagement with a Auxiliary Cruiser, (albeit quite well armed) and without a trace, only perhaps, supposedly a raft, (In the War memorial museum in Melbourne) - until now. No wonder no one has touched the subject.
    Be interesting to see what is dredged up on the 'Glory to all Australia's military matters' (aka The History Channel).
    I hope the memory of the sailors on both vessels isn't bastardized too much by the slant on history, which undoubtedly and sadly come out over the coming months.
    At least these fellows have a known grave now, and one hopefully that will be left alone.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.