HMAS Sydney

The complete and authoritative account of the sinking of the HMAS Sydney, and the recent finding of her wreck.

On 19 November 1941, the pride of the Australian Navy, the light cruiser Sydney, fought a close-quarters battle with the German armed raider HSK Kormoran off Carnarvon on the West Australian coast. Both ships sank – and not one of the 645 men on board the Sydney survived.

Was Sydney’s captain guilty of negligence by allowing his ship to manoeuvre within range of Kormoran’s guns? Did the Germans feign surrender before firing a torpedo at the Sydney as she prepared to despatch a boarding party?

This updated edition covers the recent discovery of the wreck – with the light this sheds on the events of that day 67 years ago, and the closure it has brought to so many grieving families.

‘Tom Frame has produced the most comprehensive and compelling account of the loss of HMAS Sydney to date. His judgements are fair and his conclusions reasoned. If you only read one book on this tragic event in Australian naval history, and want all the facts and theories presented in a balanced way, Tom Frame’s book is for you’ - Vice Admiral Russ Shalders AO CSC RANR Chief of Navy, 2005-08.