Masterly Misled

In 1999, a Parliamentary (Senate) Inquiry in Australia found that “a strong case can be made that the Kormoran’s underwater torpedo played a major role in the defeat of the Sydney”, whereas in 2009 the Commission of Inquiry found that “the Sydney had been struck by a torpedo from the above-water tubes of the raider Kormoran while both vessels were sailing along at close quarters at a speed of some 14 knots”. These diverse rulings mean one or both are not correct. In fact, the latest inquiry has been eroded by more recent revelations from ordinary crewmen, but this inquiry took no notice of them.