The Battle between HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran took place on 19 November 1941. The initial search for the ships began on 24 November 1941 after "Sydney" failed to respond to radio messages. Royal Australian Air Force aircraft patrolled off the West Australian coast, and all high-powered radio stations in Australia were instructed to continuously broadcast to "Sydney". After the British tanker "Trocas" rescued survivors from "Kormoran" at approximately , west-north-west of Carnarvon on 24 November, six nearby merchant ships were instructed to search for survivors. Four auxiliary Royal Australian Navy vessels were dispatched from Fremantle, Western Australia. While 315 survivors from "Kormoran" were rescued by 30 November, the only confirmed trace of "Sydney" found by the searchers was a single empty lifeboat recovered by .