A Brief History
On November 19, 1941, HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran sank each other off the coast of Western Australia, with the loss of 645 Australians and about 77 German seamen. The battle was Australia’s all time largest loss of life in its entire naval history and the largest Allied warship lost with all hands in World War II. For conspiracy theorists, what really happened has remained a controversy for over sixty years!
Digging Deeper
When we think of World War II’s naval battles, we tend to envision German submarines in the Atlantic or the epic battles pitting Japanese and American aircraft carriers against each other in the Pacific. Yes, we might also imagine some of the fierce confrontations between the German battleship Bismarck and its British rivals. Yet, how many are aware that German vessels also made it as far away from the European theater of the war as Western Australia?
Such a journey occurred in Autumn 1941 when the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran battled the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney for a half-hour long engagement off Dirk Hartog Island, Western Australia.
Kormoran had departed German waters late in 1940, under the command of Fregattenkapitän (Commander) Theodor Detmers for the Atlantic, where she sank seven merchant ships and captured an eighth. By April 1941, the raider sailed to the Indian Ocean in late April 1941, where she intercepted only three merchantmen. Kormoran encountered Sydney in November 1941 . When the battle raged, each ship fired multiple salvos as well as torpedoes on its opponent’s vessel. After a fierce fight, the ships separated from each other, being a good 10,000 meters or 30,000 feet apart when they would both sink. 645, including the commanding officer, were lost with Sydney. Kormoran lost 82 killed. 317 survivors of Kormoran were subsequently captured. Among those captured included Detmers, who unsuccessfully tried to escape Australian captivity with other members of his crew. Despite being in captivity for the remainder of the war, he was awarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross in December 1941 and even promoted in 1943.
One could argue that given these numbers and the fact that Detmers was regarded as something of a hero in Germany that Germany technically won a numeric victory of sorts. Moreover, Australia did suffer something of a psychological defeat as the loss of so many men did hurt their morale, but again, the combat was mutually destructive in that both ships were lost and both crews were either killed or killed and captured. As such, with both ships lost and all hands removed from further participation in the war, we could also argue that neither side truly “won”.
Despite the battle having occurred in 1941, the two wrecks were only located in 2008, over sixty years after one the deadliest naval encounters in Australian and even all of Allied history during mankind’s deadliest war.
Question for students (and subscribers): Has anyone in your family served in the Navy? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
If you liked this article and would like to receive notification of new articles, please feel welcome to subscribe to History and Headlines by liking us on Facebook and becoming one of our patrons!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
In addition to the more standard, straightforward accounts of the engagement, conspiracy theorists have alleged that Australia attempted to cover up the loss of the Sydney among a host of other as of yet unproven claims about Germany violating the laws of war, some Australians actually surviving the ship’s sinking only to be subsequently killed, and even the Empire of Japan being involved prior to their official involvement in World War II against Australia. For more on these theories, please see…
Hore, Captain Peter. Sydney, Cipher, and Search: Solving the Last Great Naval Mystery of the Second World War. Naval Institute Press, 2009.
Montgomery, Michael. Who Sank the Sydney. Hippocrene Books, 1983.
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="720 http://www.crackedhistory.com/?p=720">63 Comments
I do think that there might be more to this story than what we are told! It seems interesting that it was only recently that the site was found in 2008 when such a big battle happened sixty years ago.
I think that there is probably more to the story than we are too believe. It seems suspicious that the ships were only found in 2008. It also seems that there are a lot of details that are missing from the whole story which leads me to believe there is something not being told.
It seems that chunks of the story are missing. Why were the ships found sixty seven years later? Why didn’t someone find them sooner? This all seems bizarre to me and makes me feel like the Australians were covering up for something much larger.
I agree. It seems peculiar that these ships were found so much later. It makes me wonder if the Australians were behind something of bigger nature.
I think that their is more to the story that we are not being told. It seems very strange to me that it took so long to find the ships. There must be more details to this story that are being kept from us.
I agree that there are missing pieces of information, but I don’t think it has to do with the length of time finding the ships. Even the Titanic wasn’t exactly found for 73 years. What does seem to be missing is why were German ships in Australian waters? What took place that allowed the ships to be further apart and how did that many Germans survive as compared to zero Australians. If there were survivors, what happened to them? That is what seems to be missing for me. Is that what the conspiracy theorists truly asking?
Possibly one of those great mysteries of WWII that we will find out much later, or never know for certain. After reading this, I am a little baffled. From what we do know, some things are not adding up but at the same time, it is all we have to go on. I would not be surprised if we find out a few more details about this event in later years. Is there more to the story? Absolutely. Will the cracked case solve the mystery? Probably not. But still, this even definitely influenced how militaries operate their navy after the fact.
I think there has to be some missing pieces to this story. The fact that there were so many Australian casualties compared to German casualties doesn’t make sense to me. If the battle was equally devastating, then why were there so many Australians killed? It’s also hard to wrap my head around how a guy like Detmers was promoted after an event such as this.
I think what information we have is all that there is, really! Sure there will always be the conspiracy’s of what may have happened, but as we know, freak things happen! It may have been that the German’s were better prepared for a catastrophe than the Australians or just pure bad luck for the Aussies!
I agree that the length of time between the battle, and the time that the ships were found doesn’t really matter as with the titanic for example. However, what is odd, is why was a single German vessle all the way in Australian waters? And obviously the German ship would be lost if it tried to engage an entire Australian fleet, meaning they were willing to lose the men. The fact that the captain was also promoted and regarded as a hero is also a bit strange.
There has got to be more to this story than what we are being told. It is very interesting that it took that long to find a ship that sank many years ago. Plus the fact that the website was found in 2008 is a little bit strange too.
I believe that there could be some details that were not shared in this article. Just as everyone else is wondering, why was there a German ships in there territory? Once we find that answer, we should have the rest of the missing information.
I think there is a lot more to this story that we don’t yet know. I agree that it would be interesting to find out why the German ships were in Australian territory in the first place.
I do think that it is a little strange that such a big loss for Australia is not more well known. To be honest I did not even know that Australia even had such a hand in the war. I would not be surprised if there was more to the story, because if they knew that the boats sunk and where they sunk, why didn’t they find then before 2008?
I always think that in history, there is more to the story than told; therefore, i do believe there to be more to this story we do not know.
I truly think there is more to this story that was told. I also think there are many stories in history that have many facts that are unreaveled.
There is usually always more to be told about a story. Motives are an easy thing to hide most times.
I agree that there must be more to the story than what we have known. It’s one of the things we may never know!
There is always more to a story when referring to a historical event. The event is recorded by those who were present and then retold by others rendering new facts over the years researched. This situation is peculiar in regards to the placement of the German ship and the fact that a hero emerged from this after being held captive for the remainder of the war.
I believe that their is much more to this story. I had never heard of this and find it very interesting.
I believe there is another motive behind this story.
I had never heard of this battle and it would be interesting to read more about it. You do not read very much about Australia’s activities during the war.
I believe there is more behind this story.
I believe in this battle there is more to the story than what we are told. Since they just found the ships in 2008 maybe more information will come out.
There has to be huge chunks of this story that are still unknown! I do not believe for a second we know everything about this battle. Thankfully, we live in a society with lots of technology and lots of ways to gather data.
I believe there is more to this story.
I think there is always more to the story. Every story ever told has some sort of biased attached. It’s inevitable, even if it is unintentional.
I am not sure whether to say there is more or not. I am always little bit sceptical when it comes to conspiracy theories. I think the story, event, happened the way it is described and I have no proof to believe something else
I think that there could always be more to the story than what people are told, look at how many facts or cases are sealed for years because people don’t want information leaking out. There easily could be something being hidden.
I believe there is always more to the story. There always is. But no one is ever willing to admit anything about what is left out and we may never know!
Japanese sub sunk HMAS Sydney with the help of Kormoran… Two weeks before Pearl Harbour attack…. Attack on Pearl Harbour was provoked and known about …. To convince US people to join WWII.
Even when we think we know everything about a story, there is always more to be told.
I don’t think the “whole” story is ever told.
I think there is more to this story! I believe they’re hiding something!
This seems a little fishy I would agree with other posts saying that this story seems unfinished. Something is hidden in being left out.
I agree with many of the other posts that they are hiding something, because the story does not seem complete. The records of this battle could have been disclosed in records and are not to be opened.
I wonder what they are hiding since it is unfinished like many of the other posts say
“Of the people, for the people and by the people” is the biggest bunch of hog-wash, because if its meaning held any worth the conspiracies wouldn’t exist. We only know what the government wants us to know, but the saddest part is that we allow it.
I think there is more to the story which is true of a lot of things in history. There are a lot of things hidden that we may never know for sure.
There is definitely more to this story then what is told here, but I wonder why all the secrecy.
I feel that there is a lot more to this story, because i don’t think every story ever told was truly finished and is biased towards one side.
Im sure there are still some untold stories about WWII that may or may not surface.
It does seem like there is more to this story that is missing, but who knows.
There seems to be something missing. Raising a lot of suspicion.
It would be really disappointing in my opinion to know that so many people lost their lives in a battle that would end in a draw. This story also raises suspicions because it seems appears that there is something missing.
This story is very interesting. Definitely something missing
Personally, I think there is much more to this story. There are a lot of things that are hidden and I don’t understand why.
Definitely something missing from this story. But it is very interesting
Very interesting!
I had no idea that Australia even saw combat during the second world war so this was a very interesting article. Knowing how the Nazi party did things I understand why Germany believed it to be a victory however, looking form an outside standpoint, I believe that there was no clear victory at this battle.
This story in very interesting, but I believe as well as the majority of people that commented on this article that there is something missing from the story.
I also did not realize that Australia was involved in combat during World War II and lost so many people.
Interesting! I also agree something is missing
After reading this story something does seem missing.. This article was very interesting and caught my eye.
Hard to believe so many people were lost in Austria in this battle alone. However, the story does seem to have a few holes in it.
Something seems like it is missing. I am unsure of what it is but this still seems like a very interesting story.
This was very intriguing but i have to agree with the others that there is something definitely missing!
It seems like there is more to the story, and like others mentioned it is interesting.
I agree with the others.. there are important details that are being left out of this story.
I am intrigued by the story, but I would also like to learn a little more than what they are leading on.
Much of the important information seems to be left out of this article. I would be interested in reading the whole story to see if the facts line up.
I would really like to know why the german ships were there in the first place? Hmm. Seems like something is definitely missing.
World War 2 has always been an interesting topic to me, so this was definitely a great read.