HMAS Sydney (II) Sinking Trivia Quiz

Answer: Indian Ocean

The HMAS Sydney sank in deep water (about 2468 metres, 8097 feet) approximately 207 kilometres (128 miles) west of Steep Point on the Western Australian coast.

Answer: 19th November 1941

The HMAS Sydney set sail from the port of Fremantle in Western Australia on 11th November, 1941, to escort troops bound for Singapore. The Sydney was returning to port when she encountered an opposition warship and was sunk.

Answer: Kormoran

The German auxiliary cruiser HSK Koromoran, was a refitted merchant vessel tasked with attacking merchant ships in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. Damage sustained during the attack on the HMAS Sydney caused the Koromoran to be scuttled with the loss of 82 of its crew.

Answer: It was camouflaged as a merchant ship

Returning from escorting troops to Java (from where they went on to Singapore), the Sydney sighted what appeared to be a merchant ship. After being challenged the merchant identified itself as the Dutch merchantman Straat Malakka. After a number of deceptive measures the German vessel was able to get close enough to the Sydney to drop its camouflage and open fire.

Answer: None

Although the Sydney was able to return fire on the Kormoran, the initial salvo that struck the Sydney most likely destroyed the bridge and control systems. The only evidence recovered from the Sydney was a life float found eight days after the sinking (now preserved in the Australian War Memorial in Canberra).

Answer: Light cruiser

The Sydney was a modified light cruiser, built in Wallsend on Tyne England and launched in September 1934. She weighed about 6830 tons and was 562 feet in length.

Answer: Mediterranean Sea

The Sydney was involved two battles against the Italian fleet in the Mediterranean Sea during July 1940. The Sydney was then involved in covering and escort duties, before returning to Australia in January 1941 for a refit.

Answer: 8 hours

According to survivor interviews, the Germans first sighted the Sydney at 1600hrs 19th November 1941, and the Sydney was fired on at 1730hrs. The Sydney's bridge and control centre was destroyed in the initial engagement. The German vessel fired its last salvo at approximately 1825 hrs, and survivors report seeing flickering lights from the burning Sydney until midnight, when all sign of the ship disappeared.

Answer: 2008

Despite the approximate location of the wrecks of both Kormoran and Sydney being known from survivor accounts, the search area was huge. After multiple failed searches over a number of decades, the Koromoran was discovered in March 2008. As the Sydney's location and heading in relation to the Kormoran was known, the wreckage of the Sydney was located just 5 days later on 16th March 2008.

Answer: Geraldton WA

A memorial to the HMAS Sydney has been erected on Mount Scott in the Western Australian city of Geraldton. It was dedicated in November 2001. The main feature of the memorial is a steel dome containing 645 interlocking seagulls representing the lives lost in the sinking.