One of the most disastrous incidents of WW2 from an Australian perspective was the loss with all hands of HMAS Sydney, the pride of the Australian Fleet. For many weeks following her disappearance her fate was unknown and remained thus until rescued German sailors were able to provide the Australian authorities with the details of her last engagement.
Since then, for years, attempts have been made to locate the wreck. It was not until Sunday 16 March, 2008 that Sydney was finally located at a depth of 2,500 metres in the waters of the Indian Ocean, 112 nautical miles west of Steep Point, Western Australia.
What is her story and that of the magnificent memorial which has been erected on Geraldton's Mount Scott in honour of the ship and those who were lost with her?
In 1933, HMS Phaeton, a modified Leander Class Light Cruiser of 6,830 tons, was laid down in the UK, intended for service with the Royal Navy. Before her launch she was bought by the Australian Government and renamed HMAS Sydney (ll) in honour of the original HMAS Sydney which engaged and destroyed the (till then) highly successful German raider Emden off the Cocos Islands during WW1, and had since been decommissioned.
With her significant armament of 6 inch and 4 inch guns, anti aircraft weapons and torpedoes, an embarked seaplane, together with a top speed of 32.5 knots, Sydney was a formidable warship. Cruisers were designed 'to go anywhere and do anything'...they were the most versatile of all the warships of the day.
With the outbreak of WW2, after completing local patrol and convoy duties, HMAS Sydney joined the Royal Navy's 7th Cruiser Squadron in the Mediterranean in early 1940. Between then and her return to Fremantle of 5 February 1941, Sydney saw action against the Italian Fleet in the Med. She was involved in the sinking of a number of enemy ships, including the Italian Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni and engaged in the bombardment of shore positions at Bardia on two occasions.
After her return to Australia and a refit at Garden Island, Sydney took up patrol and convoy duties off the Australian coast, until, on 19 November 1941, she located and challenged an unidentified ship in the Indian Ocean west of Carnarvon. Unknown to the crew of Sydney it was the German Armed Merchant Cruiser Kormoran.
In response to Sydney's challenges as to her identity and purpose, Kormoran used various ploys to avoid responding. During this period Sydney continued to close on the other ship. Finally, when concealment of her true identity was no longer possible, and with the advantage of surprise, the German raider opened fire at a range of about a mile.
Both ships subsequently inflicted mortal damage on each other and both later sank. Kormoran was scuttled where she lay after her severely damaged engines failed completely. Sydney sank quite some distance away as she slowly sailed off to the south to move out of range and, it is believed, in attempt to reach Geraldton for repairs. As later reported by survivors from the Kormoran, Sydney was "last seen, heavily on fire and down by the bows, as a burning glow on the horizon". The discovery of the wreck makes it clear that Sydney's bow sheered away and sank as a result of torpedo damage to her hull after which it was impossible for the remainder of the ship to remain afloat.
Amongst the shocked Australian population the immediate question was how could it have been possible for the much more heavily armed Sydney to have been so severely damaged by the Kormoran (the truth is that Kormoran was almost as heavily armed as Sydney). Conspiracy theories abounded, including suggestions of the involvement of a Japanese submarine. The Cole enquiry determined that Kormoran's success lay in the fact that she had been able to lure Sydney within range of her guns and strike a crippling blow before Sydney could respond effectively with her larger turrets. This meant that Sydney's captain, Captain John Burnett, was suspected by many of having been negligent in his management of the challenge on Kormoran, but we shall never actually know.
The rules of engagement with suspected raiders were somewhat unclear, but there is no doubt that Burnett was not an experienced tactical battle commander. There is also strong evidence to suggest that Sydney's crew was not at battle stations as she closed on Kormoran, which at that stage was believed to be 'unidentified' as opposed to 'suspicious'. This was clearly a tactical error.
Irrespective of fault or blame, HMAS Sydney was lost. Her full compliment of 645 souls perished with her. This amounted to over 35% of all Australian navy personnel killed during WW2.
The loss of all hands is attributed to the fact that a majority of the crew would have been killed during the engagement. Battle damage to the ship's lifeboats systems meant that these were not available to the surviving sailors as Sydney sank. Any who took to the water in personal floatation devises would not have survived long in the open sea, even if a timely search for them had been mounted, which was not the case for obvious reasons.
HMAS Sydney had come alongside in Geraldton on a number of occasions and the town's population felt a strong affinity with her. Even before the discovery of the wreck, a decision was taken to erect a memorial to the ship and her crew. Mount Scott, overlooking the town and its port, was the chosen site.
Planning for the memorial commenced in late 1997, after a speech by researcher Glenys McDonald at the local Rotary Club. A temporary memorial consisting of a large boulder, a flagpole, and a bronze plaque was installed prior to 19 November 1998. During the playing of the Last Post at the remembrance ceremony held that year, a large flock of seagulls flew over the participants and thence out to sea in a tight formation. This most unusual and extraordinary event inspired the design of the permanent memorial.
In January, 1999, Joan, Charlie and Joanne Smith (in collaboration with the Rotary Club of Geraldton) began work on designing and creating a fitting memorial. The memorial was designed around a circular theme 'symbolic of eternity and the circle of life'.
As we discovered during our guided tour of it, there is much more to this memorial than first meets the eye. In much of what I have recorded from this point I have relied on the information contained on a number of relevant websites, which I acknowledge. In the main the photos are mine.
On the day of our visit Liz and I walked past the stone wall at the base of the hill and assembled with the tour group
at the bottom of the path leading up past the lawns and gardens to the memorial site itself.
The 'Wall of Rememberance' contains the names of the entire ship's company, listed in alphabetical order and with no notation of rank, etched into the reflective black granite from which it is made.
The central structure of the memorial is the podium and the 'The Dome of Souls'. The roof of the dome is made up of 645 silver gulls, each representing a member of the crew and symbolising their spirits, freed and in flight. Hanging under the dome are two light boxes representing the port and starboard navigation lights of a ship. Between them burns the 'Eternal Flame' which was lit from the Eternal Flame at the War Memorial in Kings' Park.
The granite floor of the podium has been designed to represent points of the compass and the 'V' shapes of the oncoming bow of a ship.
As can be seen in the previous shot, an upturned propeller, the symbol of a 'dead' ship, serves as the alter for commemoration ceremonies. This is not one of Sydney's props.....it was taken from a scrapped local vessel.
Beyond the podium stands the most spectacular element of the memorial, 'The Stele'. At 19 metres high, this stainless steel structure was designed to represent the prow of HMAS Sydney. The sculpture is also symbolic of a stele, an inscribed upright stone used in ancient times as a grave marker. An internal staircase provides access to the flag pole at the top of the monument. Because the law demands that the Australian Flag can only be flown at night if lit up, it was initially run up and down each dawn and dusk. This proved a somewhat wearing practice.....a light has now been installed and the flag flies continuously.
Of all the elements of the memorial, possibly the most poignant is 'The Waiting Woman'. Capturing the personal despair of the many families, especially the wives and mothers who lost a sailor in the tragedy, the Waiting Woman stares out to sea in vain hope of glimpsing the return of her loved one. Sadly the sculpture not only represents the great loss of the time but also symbolises the continued dismay of families who, at the time it was created and installed, were still waiting for closure from the incident. I am prepared to admit to having been moved to tears as I stood thinking about all that this statue represented.
The limbs of the Waiting Woman are deliberately well muscled. The intention of the artist in doing this was to also honour and acknowledge the hard work of all those women who, during the war, managed farming properties or worked in munitions and other industries in the absence of their menfolk.
And with the Waiting Woman comes another tale to equal the uncanny event of the flight of the gulls. This evocative sculpture was placed in position overlooking the Indian Ocean well before the discovery of Sydney's wreck. In what can only be described as eerie, the direction of the Waiting Woman's gaze is almost directly along the heading to the wreck site.
The fifth and final element, 'The Pool of Rememberance' was designed and installed after the discovery of the wreck of Sydney. Although difficult to see in this photo, 644 seagull shapes are incorporated into one of the surrounding circles of stone. The 645th gull is upright in flight.
As can be seen here, the bottom of the pool incorporates an outline of the WA coast (from approximately Geraldton, past Shark Bay and Carnarvon to about Coral Bay). The tip of the gull's wing has been placed at position 26° 14 45 S – 111° 12 55 E, the precise location of the wreck of Sydney. "The circle has been closed".
And what a sight it makes at night. We plan a return visit after dark on our return visit to Geraldton.
I have been to many memorial sites across the country. I have rarely been so moved. It is an absolute credit to those who conceived, designed, built and funded it. Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Geraldton and all others who supported this project.
The central structure of the memorial is the podium and the 'The Dome of Souls'. The roof of the dome is made up of 645 silver gulls, each representing a member of the crew and symbolising their spirits, freed and in flight. Hanging under the dome are two light boxes representing the port and starboard navigation lights of a ship. Between them burns the 'Eternal Flame' which was lit from the Eternal Flame at the War Memorial in Kings' Park.
The granite floor of the podium has been designed to represent points of the compass and the 'V' shapes of the oncoming bow of a ship.
As can be seen in the previous shot, an upturned propeller, the symbol of a 'dead' ship, serves as the alter for commemoration ceremonies. This is not one of Sydney's props.....it was taken from a scrapped local vessel.
Beyond the podium stands the most spectacular element of the memorial, 'The Stele'. At 19 metres high, this stainless steel structure was designed to represent the prow of HMAS Sydney. The sculpture is also symbolic of a stele, an inscribed upright stone used in ancient times as a grave marker. An internal staircase provides access to the flag pole at the top of the monument. Because the law demands that the Australian Flag can only be flown at night if lit up, it was initially run up and down each dawn and dusk. This proved a somewhat wearing practice.....a light has now been installed and the flag flies continuously.
Of all the elements of the memorial, possibly the most poignant is 'The Waiting Woman'. Capturing the personal despair of the many families, especially the wives and mothers who lost a sailor in the tragedy, the Waiting Woman stares out to sea in vain hope of glimpsing the return of her loved one. Sadly the sculpture not only represents the great loss of the time but also symbolises the continued dismay of families who, at the time it was created and installed, were still waiting for closure from the incident. I am prepared to admit to having been moved to tears as I stood thinking about all that this statue represented.
The limbs of the Waiting Woman are deliberately well muscled. The intention of the artist in doing this was to also honour and acknowledge the hard work of all those women who, during the war, managed farming properties or worked in munitions and other industries in the absence of their menfolk.
And with the Waiting Woman comes another tale to equal the uncanny event of the flight of the gulls. This evocative sculpture was placed in position overlooking the Indian Ocean well before the discovery of Sydney's wreck. In what can only be described as eerie, the direction of the Waiting Woman's gaze is almost directly along the heading to the wreck site.
The fifth and final element, 'The Pool of Rememberance' was designed and installed after the discovery of the wreck of Sydney. Although difficult to see in this photo, 644 seagull shapes are incorporated into one of the surrounding circles of stone. The 645th gull is upright in flight.
As can be seen here, the bottom of the pool incorporates an outline of the WA coast (from approximately Geraldton, past Shark Bay and Carnarvon to about Coral Bay). The tip of the gull's wing has been placed at position 26° 14 45 S – 111° 12 55 E, the precise location of the wreck of Sydney. "The circle has been closed".
And what a sight it makes at night. We plan a return visit after dark on our return visit to Geraldton.
I have been to many memorial sites across the country. I have rarely been so moved. It is an absolute credit to those who conceived, designed, built and funded it. Congratulations to the Rotary Club of Geraldton and all others who supported this project.
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