German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran The German auxiliary cruiser " Kormoran " ( HSK - 8 ) was a " Kriegsmarine " ( German Navy ) merchant raider of World War II . Originally the merchant vessel Steiermark , the ship was acquired by the " Kriegsmarine " following the outbreak of war for conversion into a raider . Administered by the " Kriegsmarine " under the designation Schiff 41 , to the Allied navies she was known as Raider G . The largest merchant raider operated by Germany during World War II , " Kormoran " was responsible for the destruction of ten merchant vessels and the capture of an eleventh during her year - long career in the Atlantic and Indian oceans . She is also known for sinking the Australian light cruiser during a mutually destructive battle off Western Australia on 19 November 1941 . Damage sustained during the battle prompted the scuttling of " Kormoran " . While 318 of the 399 aboard the German ship were rescued and placed in prisoner of war camps for the duration of World War II , there were no survivors from the 645 aboard the Australian cruiser . The wreck of " Kormoran " was rediscovered on 12 March 2008 , five days before that of her adversary . " Kormoran " s success is commonly attributed to the proximity of the two ships during the engagement , and the raider ' s advantages of surprise and rapid , accurate fire . Prior to the discovery of the wrecks in 2008 , the cruiser ' s loss with all hands compared to the survival of most of the German crew created controversy and spawned numerous conspiracy theories ; some alleged that the German commander , Theodor Detmers , used illegal ruses to lure " Sydney " into range , others that a Japanese submarine was involved , or that details of the battle were concealed through a wide - ranging cover up . Construction and conversion . The merchant vessel " Steiermark " was constructed by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel for the Hamburg - Amerika Line . Launched in 1938 , the ship was to operate on the East Asia run , but had only completed sea trials when war was declared . Following World War I , German naval power had limits placed upon it by the Treaty of Versailles , which were later eased by the 1935 Anglo - German Naval Agreement . By the 1930s , the discrepancy between the conventional warship strength of the " Kriegsmarine " and that of other nations led the German military to recognise auxiliary cruiser s engaged in commerce raiding would play a significant role in any future war , as they had during World War I . Merchant ships that could be converted into raiders were identified , and were to be taken up by the " Kriegsmarine " for conversion following a declaration of war . " Steiermark " was one of these ships . Receiving the designation " Schiff 41 " ( Ship 41 ) for administrative purposes , she was taken into dockyard hands following the outbreak of World War II . Conversion of the merchant ship commenced in early 1940 , and was prioritised as second only to work on the U - boat fleet . The conversion work included installation of camouflaged weapons , fitting of bunks for the sailors , creation of internal passageways leading to their stations . Prisoner accommodation , consisting of an open area for hammocks and facilities to keep ship ' s masters and women separate from the general population , was constructed . The raider was also provided with equipment with which to modify her appearance and allow her to masquerade as other merchant vessels . While the ship was being refitted , her future crew underwent training aboard the blockade runner " Monte Pascoal " . " Korvettenkapitän " ( Commander ) Theodor Detmers was selected to command " Schiff 41 " in July 1940 ; the 37 - year - old was the youngest man to command a German merchant raider . Detmers named the ship " Kormoran " , inspired by ( a Russian merchant ship captured by the Germans during World War I and operated as a raider ) and the cormorant ( with Detmers comparing the seabird ' s use in fishing to his ship ' s attempts in catching Allied vessels ) . After a successful trials cruise in September 1940 , " Kormoran " was commissioned on 9 October . Design . " Kormoran " was one of nine civilian ships taken up by the " Kriegsmarine " ( German Navy ) for conversion into merchant raiders ; they were referred to alternately as " Hilfskreuzer " s ( auxiliary cruiser s ) or " Handelsstörkreuzer " s ( trade disruption cruisers ) . She was the largest of the raiders , and the most recently constructed when she was taken up for modification . After modification , " Kormoran " was long and wide , with a Gross Register Tonnage of 8 , 736 . She was propelled by four 9 - cylinder diesel engines driving electric motors , which could propel the ship at . Armament . The raider was fitted with six SK L / 45 guns as primary armament : two each within the forecastle ( " 1 " and " 2 " ) and quarterdeck ( " 5 " and " 6 " ) , and one each fore and aft ( " 3 " and " 4 " respectively ) on the centreline . These guns were ; gun " 3 " had been removed from the battlecruiser in 1916 . The forecastle and quarterdeck guns were hidden behind counter - weighted false hull plates , while each centreline gun was concealed by fake cargo hatch walls . The secondary armament consisted of five anti - aircraft guns . Two were located on the forecastle , two on the after funnel deck , and the fifth in the quarterdeck . All five were hidden by the structure of the ship until they were raised clear on hydraulic platforms . There were plans to fit four anti - aircraft guns , but only two ex - army anti - tank guns could be scrounged ; these were installed on " Kormoran " s superstructure , hidden by sheet metal panels . " Kormoran " was also equipped with six torpedo tube s : two dual launchers on the upper deck , and a single underwater tube on each side . The underwater tubes were amidships , angled at 135° from the bow , and could only be fired if the raider was travelling at less than . " Kormoran " carried a payload of mines , with an LS - 3 fast boat carried inside No . 6 cargo hatch for minelaying . The raider carried two Arado Ar 196 floatplanes for reconnaissance . Although Detmers wanted a catapult , such equipment would have spoiled any merchant ship disguise used by " Kormoran " ; instead , the planes were stored inside No . 5 cargo hatch , and were launched and recovered from the water with the assistance of hoists . Mechanical problems , difficulties in moving the aircraft from hatch to water and back , and a lack of opportunities meant that only seven flights were made during the ship ' s operational deployment . Operational history . Running the blockade . The day after commissioning , " Kormoran " sailed to Kiel , where she was provisioned for a twelve - month voyage . The raider then travelled to Gotenhafen , and underwent further trials of the ship ' s weapons , aircraft , and minelaying boat . Despite a range of problems and defects , Detmers elected to repair problems at sea instead of taking the ship into dock and delaying their mission . The raider departed on 3 December , and once she cleared German waters on 10 December , her disguise was changed from a Sperrbrecher to the Soviet freighter " Vyacheslav Molotov " . The British Royal Navy had blockaded German waters at the start of the war , which " Kormoran " had to break through to reach her first patrol area . It was suggested that the raider either sail through the English channel with support from captured French coastal batteries and the " Luftwaffe " , or around the Faroe Islands , but Detmers chose to travel north of Iceland and through the Denmark Strait before heading south . The longer route was justified by the greater distance from British naval and aviation bases , and was thus less likely to be patrolled . The raider reached the strait late in the evening of 12 December , passed through the strait under the cover of a heavy storm , and entered the Atlantic by midday the next day without encountering any Allied ships . Atlantic Ocean . Having cleared the British blockade , " Kormoran " s instructions were to search the Atlantic Ocean for targets of opportunity , then move to the Indian Ocean and seek out more merchant shipping , with additional orders to lay mines around one or more Allied ports in India or Australia . " Kormoran " was also expected to replenish U - boat s when ordered to do so , and carried extra torpedoes and spare parts . The raider ' s first operational area was in the Atlantic , below Latitude 40° North , which she crossed during the night of 19 – 20 December . The German ship initially patrolled the western mid - Atlantic , outside the Pan - American Security Zone . During the first two weeks , the only ships spotted were merchant vessels flying the United States flag , which merchant raiders were forbidden to attack as they were still neutral . By 6 January 1941 , Detmers was ready to relocate to a point outside the Mediterranean because of the lack of targets , but that afternoon , " Kormoran " encountered the 3 , 729 - ton Greek freighter " Antonis " . The raider ordered the freighter to heave to and not send any wireless transmissions , and sent a boarding party over . " Antonis " was armed with three British machine guns and loaded with 4 , 800 tons of Welsh coal . Though Germany was not at war with Greece , the presence of Allied weapons and cargo allowed Detmers to sink her or take her as a prize . As coal was of little use to the " Kriegsmarine " , the weapons , ammunition , and 29 crew were transferred to " Kormoran " , and the boarding party scuttled her at . British Admiralty notifications for raider activity gave the wrong date and location for the attack , and initially attributed it to the raider " Thor " . " Kormoran " then headed southeast , avoiding the convoy routes from the Mediterranean to America or down the African coast , in order to prey on vessels sailing alone and without warship escort . Before sunset on 18 January , smoke was spotted on the horizon , so " Kormoran " accelerated and altered course to pursue . The source of the smoke was a tanker flying no flags , showing no lights , and zigzagging to minimise submarine attack , leading Detmers to conclude she was an Allied vessel . With little time before the sun set and the likelihood the tanker would resist capture , " Kormoran " commenced fire at in an attempt to disable the ship . When the third salvo hit , the merchantman broadcast a distress call , identifying herself as " British Union " and saying she was under attack by an unknown vessel at . Firing continued until " British Union " directed a light towards " Kormoran " , which the Germans assumed was a surrender signal , but as the raider closed to , four shots were fired by the tanker . All four missed , and heavy retaliatory fire from the raider set the merchant ship alight and forced the crew to abandon ship . The decision was made to destroy the 6 , 987 - ton tanker with a torpedo , although two torpedoes and shells from the raider ' s main guns were required to sink her , while a third torpedo exploded as soon as it cleared its safety distance and armed ; Detmers later stated the quantity of ammunition used during the attempted capture was excessive for the result obtained . The tanker ' s master , 27 sailors , and a pet monkey were recovered from two lifeboats as the tanker sank at , and the raider fled the area . The distress call and glow from the fires attracted the attention of the armed merchant cruiser , which passed through the engagement site around midnight in pursuit , but failed to locate " Kormoran " and returned that morning to collect a third lifeboat carrying seven survivors . These sailors stated their attacker had fired on the other two lifeboats , a claim not made by those rescued by the Germans . The Allies initially assumed that the was responsible , but after this was proven false , the Admiralty was unable to determine the identity of the attacker . Just after 13 : 00 on 29 January , " Kormoran " encountered a large merchantman which altered course on sighting the raider , but returned to her original heading after " Kormoran " made no aggressive moves . Detmers instead waited until the distance between the ships had decreased before the raider altered course to intercept , decamouflaged , and ordered the merchantman to stop . The ship did not comply , and after a warning shot elicited no response , " Kormoran " fired for effect . A distress signal was transmitted but jammed by the raider , and after unsuccessfully trying to break away from the faster German ship , the merchant vessel came to a stop and ceased attempts to transmit . The crew was ordered by signals from " Kormoran " to abandon ship , but the merchant sailors did not comply until after the raider resumed fire , having observed an attempt to man the ship ' s stern gun . A boarding party identified the victim as the 11 , 900 - ton refrigerator ship " Afric Star " , carrying meat and butter to England . The complicated configuration and damaged condition of " Afric Star " ruled against her capture as a prize ship ; after capturing code books and other vital documents , and recovering 76 people , including two women , attempts were made to scuttle her . The merchantman refused to sink , and " Kormoran " had to use shells and torpedoes to send her to the bottom at . Later that day , lookouts aboard the raider spotted a merchant ship sailing without lights . Sneaking up on the vessel , " Kormoran " opened fire ; her first salvo missed , but within minutes , the target was heavily damaged and aflame . The ship transmitted a distress signal , which " Kormoran " was unable to jam completely , but this ceased as crewmembers started to abandon ship . The raider ceased firing , but resumed when the merchantman attempted another transmission , and shore stations responded . Communications intercepts and the code books taken from " Afric Star " earlier that day revealed the target ' s identity : the 5 , 273 - ton British freighter " Eurolychus " , with a cargo of bombers for the Gold Coast ( now Ghana ) . These intercepts also indicated that several parties , including the British Air Ministry , were aware of the attack , prompting Detmers to order the torpedoing of " Eurolychus " . This was accomplished with a single torpedo , sinking the British ship and her cargo at , three and a half hours after " Afric Star " . 39 Chinese and 4 British crew were recovered by the German raider before she fled the area with HM Ships and in pursuit . Another 28 survivors were found by the Spanish merchant ship " Monte Tiede " later that night , with 10 men killed during the attack or lost at sea . " Eurolychus " Master was among those rescued by the Allies , and recounted that two ships had attacked , one of them armed with guns , which led British Naval Intelligence to conclude that the responsible ships were " Thor " and " Admiral Scheer " , or an unknown raider operating in concert with one of these . Among the rescued was ships gunner Frank Laskier who , on returning to England , was interviewed by BBC radio and proved so popular he became a figurehead for Merchant Navy enlistment propaganda for the rest of the war through books , newsreels and speaking tours . After evading pursuit , " Kormoran " made for a point off the Cape Verde Islands , where she rendezvoused with the supply ship " Nordmark " on 7 February . During a three - day replenishment operation , " Kormoran " topped up " Nordmark " s supply of spare U - boat parts with components brought from Germany , and transferred 170 of the 174 prisoners acquired so far . The four Chinese sailors from " Eurolychus " were hired to stay aboard the raider as laundrymen , and the " British Union " crew left their pet monkey aboard as thanks for their treatment while in captivity . A piano was taken from " Nordmark " s companion " Duquesa " , a captured coal - burning ship that was to be scuttled when her fuel ran out , but Detmers warned if the piano caused any problems amongst the crew , it would be pushed overboard . " Kormoran " left the rendezvous on 10 February and headed south . During the transit , Detmers received a signal from Germany indicating that his ship had been awarded two First Class Iron Cross es , and fifty Second Class Iron Crosses , to be distributed as he saw fit . Detmers transmitted a request on 18 February for WM - 80 white metal , as the softer WM - 10 used in bearings for two of the four diesel engines were wearing out too quickly . Some metal was acquired from the raider " Pinguin " on 25 February , but this was not enough to replace all the bearings . On 15 March , " Kormoran " met U - boat " U - 124 " to transfer torpedoes , provisions , and spare parts , but rough seas forced the two vessels to head south , where they met the pocket battleship " Admiral Scheer " a day later . The raider ' s broken radar and a sailor with an eye injury were trasnferred to " Scheer " , but attempts to replenish the U - boat were again interrupted by bad weather , forcing the two vessels to relocate again . The equipment transfer and refuelling took another three days , during which crewmen from " U - 124 " enjoyed the relatively luxurious facilities aboard " Kormoran " , and a sick sailor from the submarine was traded for a healthy man from the raider . The raider sailed north to the Freetown - South America shipping route , and began to patrol near where it intersected the border of the Pan - American Security Zone . On the morning of 22 March , the raider encountered a tanker , which identified herself as the British vessel " Agnita " . " Kormoran " instructed her to stop and maintain wireless silence or be fired upon . The tanker instead broke away and began to transmit a distress signal , which was jammed as " Kormoran " opened fire . " Agnita " signalled surrender after two salvoes ; twelve British and twenty - five Chinese sailors were captured , along with maps of the minefields surrounding Freetown Harbour . Efforts to scuttle the tanker failed , and " Kormoran " had to waste another torpedo to sink the ship at . Against usual practice , Detmers decided to return to the site of the action three days later , where another tanker was spotted . " Kormoran " revealed her weapons and fired a warning shot at the large merchantman , which initially attempted to flee , but chose to instead surrender when the morning mist lifted and revealed the nature of the opposition . The 11 , 309 - ton German - built Canadian tanker " Canadolite " was taken as a prize ship , with a German crew taking the tanker and her 44 sailors to Bordeaux , while the four officers were imprisoned aboard " Kormoran " . After the captured ship left , it was realised recognition signals to avoid " Luftwaffe " attack had not been supplied , and " Kormoran " raced to meet the tanker when she rendezvoused with the supply ship " Nordmark " . The raider met the supply ship on 27 March , but it appeared " Canadolite " had enough fuel to reach France and chosen to sail straight there . Two U - boats were scheduled to reach the rendezvous point for resupply ; Detmers suggested he meet " U - 105 " , which was carrying more white metal for " Kormoran " s engines , while " Nordmark " focused on " U - 106 " . The commanding officer of " U - 105 " agreed to transmit a warning to Germany regarding " Canadolite " once the U - boat had left the rendezvous point , which did not occur until six days later because of equipment problems delaying the replenishment . The tanker arrived safely on 13 April , was renamed " Sudetenland " , and remained operational until her sinking by the Royal Air Force in 1944 . " Kormoran " was due to meet the tanker " Rudolf Albrecht " on 4 April , and had no opportunity to search for new targets . The 42 prisoners from " Kormoran " were transferred to the tanker , but as she was a civilian vessel , her master was sworn in by Detmers as a naval officer , and an armed guard had to be supplied . Detmers ordered the transfer of four men from " Nordmark " to " Rudolf Albrecht " as guards , along with a fifth to " Kormoran " in exchange for the sick sailor taken from " U - 124 " a fortnight previous . The supply ship ' s commander attempted to obstruct the transfers , and when this failed demanded replacements ; one came from " Kormoran " , while three of the tanker ' s sailors were drafted . Food , mail , and newspapers were received from " Rudolf Albrecht " , along with news that another three First Class Iron Crosses and fifty Second Class Iron Crosses had been awarded to " Kormoran " . Having returned to the waters off Freetown , " Kormoran " encountered a merchant ship at dawn on 9 April . As the ship was behind " Kormoran " and on a similar course , the raider slowed until the merchantman was abeam of the raider and to port . The German ship decamouflaged , increased speed , and ordered the freighter to stop or be fired upon . In response , the merchantman attempted to transmit a distress call ( which was jammed by " Kormoran " ) and tried to man her stern gun , prompting the Germans to open fire . The freighter took heavy damage , as every time Detmers ordered or was about to order a cease fire , the target ship attempted to escape or transmit another distress signal . Eventually , the 46 survivors of the crew ( 5 were killed by the attack ) abandoned their burning vessel , and boarding parties were sent from the raider . She was identified as the 8 , 022 - ton British freighter " Craftsman " , carrying an anti - submarine net for Singapore , which was to be delivered after a stop in Cape Town . After scuttling charges failed to sink " Craftsman " , she was torpedoed , and submerged at . After fleeing the scene , " Kormoran " headed south , and early on 12 April encountered another ship . After slowly closing on the merchantman over three hours , " Kormoran " decamouflaged and fired several warning shots . The freighter turned away and sent a distress signal ; wireless operators aboard " Kormoran " were unable to jam it , but there was little concern as the transmission was an SOS instead of the more specific QQQ or RRR for a raider attack , while also giving the wrong coordinates . " Kormoran " fired for effect , but it was not until the merchant ship ' s bridge was destroyed that her 35 crew abandoned ship . A boarding party identified the ship as the 5 , 486 - ton Greek freighter " Nicholas D . L . " , carrying Canadian timber . Because of her buoyant cargo , the scuttling charges failed to have major effect , but after firing some shells into " Nicholas D . L . " , Detmers chose to leave the ship to sink slowly at . Until 1943 , the Admiralty accepted the SOS location , 18° further north , as fact , while attributing the sinking to the raider " Atlantis " . On 17 April , " Kormoran " sighted a passenger ship , but was unable to lure her into range before the vessel disappeared into a rain squall . Two days later , " Kormoran " met " Atlantis " and the blockade runner " Dresden " . An expected shipment of white metal for " Kormoran " had been supplied to a different blockade runner , which was delayed . Several supply ships arrived at the rendezvous point over the next few days and transferred provisions , ammunition , and fuel to the raider . Prisoners from " Kormoran " were handed over to the other ships , and the raider received new sailors to make up numbers . " Kormoran " departed on 22 April , and spent two days changing her disguise to the Japanese freighter " Sakito Maru " before sailing into the Indian Ocean . Indian Ocean . On reaching the Indian Ocean , " Kormoran " was immediately diverted to refuel whalecatcher " Adjutant " and supply ship " Alstertor " ; refuelling was carried out between 13 and 17 May . Although originally confined to waters north - east of latitude 20°S and longitude 80°E , the raider ' s area of operations expanded on 1 June to encompass the entire ocean . The ship ' s disguise was altered again on 5 June , with " Kormoran " taking the identity of the Japanese merchant ship " Kinka Maru " , as the owners of " Sakito Maru " rarely operated in the western Indian . After patrolling around the Maldives without success , " Kormoran " sailed towards the Bay of Bengal with plans to lay mines in the approaches to Madras and Calcutta . Although a target was spotted en route on 15 June , the raider ' s smoke generator malfunctioned and started to produce thick , black smoke , which scared off the merchantman . On 24 June , while approaching Madras , the raider was spotted and shadowed by what the Germans assumed was a British auxiliary cruiser . The suspicious ship later resumed her original course without incident , but Detmers decided to postpone the minelaying operation and leave the area , as Allied forces would become suspicious when the ' Japanese ' ship failed to reach port . During the early morning of 26 June , a darkened merchant ship was spotted . Signals were sent to the ship without response , and after the merchantman appeared to ignore a warning shot , " Kormoran " opened fire and caused massive damage . Nine men , identifying themselves as crew from the 4 , 153 - ton Yugoslavian cargo ship " Velebit " were recovered from a lifeboat ; the lack of response was attributed to the actions of inexperienced Indian sailors taken on in Bombay . The ship was left to sink , but another eight sailors remained on board , and kept " Velebit " afloat until she ran aground on the reefs surrounding the Andaman Islands . That afternoon , exhaust smoke from another ship was spotted by " Kormoran " . Maintaining a steady course away from the merchantman until a rain squall enveloped the raider , " Kormoran " then altered onto a converging course , and closed to within before crossing the merchantman ' s bow to reach a favourable firing position and revealing her identity . Orders to stop were ignored , and the raider opened fire after a distress call was sent . During the thirty second attack , shells from the raider destroyed the merchantman ' s wireless room and forecastle , damaged the engine room , and ignited several fires . 48 sailors from the 3 , 472 - ton Australian vessel " Mareeba " were recovered by " Kormoran " , and although a boarding party attempted to save the ship for use as a minelayer , the quantity of damage made this impossible . The Australian ship was scuttled , and sank quickly at . After retreating to open waters , a fifteen - day overhaul of the engines was carried out . While working on one of the seaplanes , a sailor was killed by electrocution . " Kormoran " s disguise was changed to the Dutch freighter " Straat Malakka " , and notice was received of a further 100 Second Class Iron Crosses and 5 First Class Iron Crosses awarded to the ship . On completion , Detmers set course for the Bay of Bengal intending a second mine plant , but aborted this on 30 July when he learned the aircraft carrier would be in the area . " Kormoran " then took to patrolling the shipping routes from Fremantle to Colombo or Lombok . A merchant ship was spotted near sunset on 13 August , but the ship ' s actions ( which included heading directly for " Kormoran " on spotting her , broadcasting a raider distress call without coordinates , and repeatedly broadcasting homing signals ) caused Detmers to think the target was either an Allied auxiliary cruiser or was attempting to lure " Kormoran " into range of an Allied warship . " Kormoran " broke off pursuit and retreated . The raider continued to search for ships without success . On 25 August , the lookout spotted a strange object on the horizon ; this was the peak of Boea Boea Mountain on Enggano Island , and the first sighting of land in 258 days . " Kormoran " then moved to waters south of Ceylon , and around midday on 1 September , a large vessel , which Detmers determined to be an unaccompanied troopship , was spotted . Plans were made to attack that night , but the transport disappeared over the horizon during the afternoon and could not be relocated . Two days later , Detmers was informed that " Kormoran " would be replaced by " Thor " at the end of December , and that he would be resupplied by the supply ship " Kulmerland " , which had come from Japan and would wait for the raider at a pre - determined rendezvous point from 12 October . Late on 23 September , the navigational lights for a ship were sighted . After signalling the merchant ship for her name and nationality , which identified her as the 3 , 941 - ton Greek freighter " Stamantios G . Embiricus " , the raider shone searchlights on her and ordered her to stop and accept a boarding party . Those aboard the Greek ship assumed they were being pulled up by a British warship for not observing blackout conditions , and it was not until the armed Germans arrived on the ship that the nature of the ' warship ' was revealed . Although captured intact , " Stamantios G . Embiricus " was a coal - fuelled ship , and did not have enough fuel to reach any destination than her intended port , Colombo . The merchant ship was scuttled at , but while a lifeboat carrying the ship ' s master and five crew rowed to " Kormoran " , a second lifeboat carrying the other 24 avoided capture in the dark . A search using one of the Arado seaplanes found them late the next morning . A few days later , " Kormoran " s wireless operators intercepted transmissions between the Norwegian tanker " Thelma " and a shore station : initially in a new code , then repeated in a recently expired code . This allowed the Germans to identify where the merchant ship was heading to , and make some headway into breaking the new codes . However , the tanker could have taken several routes to her Cape Town destination , and " Kormoran " did not encounter her during four days of searching . The raider then headed south , and met the supply ship " Kulmerland " on 16 October . Supplies and parts were transferred to " Kormoran " , while the raider ' s prisoners were moved to " Kulmerland " , along with documents captured from ships and five slightly ill German sailors to serve as guards . After leaving on 24 October , maintenance and repairs were carried out . Plans were made to sail up the coast of Western Australia ; the original intention was to mine shipping routes near Cape Leeuwin and Fremantle , but after wireless signals were detected from a warship ( Australian heavy cruiser ) escorting a convoy in the area , Detmers decided to sail further north and mine Shark Bay , then proceed to the East Indies before looping back west to the Bay of Bengal . Final battle and loss . On 19 November 1941 , shortly before 16 : 00 , " Kormoran " was south - west of Carnarvon , Western Australia . The raider was sailing northwards ( heading 025° ) at . At 15 : 55 , what was initially thought to be a tall ship sail was sighted off the port bow , although the sighting was quickly determined to be the masts of a cruiser , . Detmers ordered " Kormoran " to alter course into the sun ( heading 260° ) at maximum achievable speed ( which quickly dropped from because of problems in one of her diesels ) , while setting the ship to action stations . " Sydney " spotted the German ship around the same time , and altered from her southward heading to intercept at . As the cruiser closed from astern , she began to send searchlight signals . The first was not answered because the Germans did not understand the coded Morse . " Sydney " repeated for half an hour , but then began to send , " You should hoist your signal letters " , both by plain - language Morse and signal flag . After another delay , " Kormoran " raised flags reading " PKQI " — the callsign for her disguise , the Dutch merchant ship " Straat Malakka " — on the triatic stay and hoisted a Dutch civil ensign . As the cruiser was on " Kormoran " s starboard quarter at , the flags were obscured by the raider ' s funnel ; German accounts vary as to if this was done deliberately to make the ship seem civilian , a ruse to lure " Sydney " closer , or the signaller ' s honest mistake . After receiving an instruction from the cruiser to make the flags visible , the signals officer aboard " Kormoran " did so by lengthening the halyard and swinging it around to the starboard side . By 16 : 35 , with " Sydney " away , the malfunctioning engine aboard " Kormoran " was repaired , but Detmers chose to keep it in reserve and maintain speed . Further flag signals were exchanged , with " Sydney " asking the raider ' s destination and cargo . At around 17 : 00 , Detmers instructed his wireless operators to send a distress signal indicating " Straat Malakka " was being approached by a suspicious ship . Transmitted at 17 : 03 and repeated at 17 : 05 , it contained the distress call for a merchantman under attack from a raider , rather than a warship ( QQQQ as opposed to RRRR ) , the latitude and longitude of the transmitting ship , the time per Greenwich Mean Time instead of local time ( a deliberate error to let the " Kriegsmarine " know a raider was likely about to be lost ) , and her name . This message was partially received by the tugboat " Uco " ( " QQQQ [ unintelligible ] 1000 GMT " ) and a shore station at Geraldton , Western Australia ( " [ unintelligible ] 7C 11115E 1000 GMT " ) . The Geraldton station broadcast a message to all ships asking if there was anything to report , which was interpreted by the Germans as acknowledgement of their signal . During the exchanges and distress signal , " Sydney " positioned herself off the raider ' s starboard beam on a parallel course , approximately from " Kormoran " . Her main guns and torpedoes trained on the raider , but secondary weapons did not appear to be manned , personnel were standing on the upper deck , and although the cruiser ' s seaplane had been readied for launch , it was soon stowed away . During her manoeuvre , " Sydney " signalled " IK " , which made no sense from the Germans ' perspective , as that combination was shorthand for " You should prepare for a cyclone , hurricane , or typhoon " . However , those two letters were part of " Straat Malakka " s secret secondary callsign , and " Sydney " was expecting the ship to confirm her identity by responding with the callsign ' s other two letters . Fifteen minutes later , the cruiser signalled , " Show your secret sign " . Detmers knew there was no chance of fooling " Sydney " for much longer , so ordered " Kormoran " s disguise dropped , the German battle ensign raised , and for all weapons to commence firing . The raider ' s opening salvo bracketed the ship , while the next four salvoes destroyed " Sydney " s bridge , gun direction tower , forward turrets , and aircraft . Two torpedoes were launched simultaneously with the raider ' s attack , and the close proximity of the target allowed the use of lighter weapons to rake " Sydney " s flank and interfere with attempts to man the cruiser ' s secondary weapons . In contrast , " Sydney " was only able to fire a single full salvo before her forward turrets were knocked out , shells from which punched through " Kormoran " s exhaust funnel and wireless room , and caused shrapnel wounds in two sailors . " Kormoran " s gunners shifted their aim to " Sydney " s waterline with their next three salvoes . " Sydney " responded from her aft turrets : one damaged the raider ' s machinery spaces and started a fire in an oil tank , while the other fired only a few ineffective shells . Around the time of the eighth or ninth German salvo , one of " Kormoran " s torpedoes struck " Sydney " forward of " A " turret , ripping a hole in her side and causing her to settle by the bow . After the torpedo hit , " Sydney " turned hard to port in what the Germans assumed was an attempt to ram , but the cruiser passed harmlessly aft . By 17 : 35 , the cruiser was heading south , heavily damaged , on fire , and losing speed , with her main guns destroyed or jammed facing away from their target and her secondary weapons out of range . " Kormoran " maintained her course and speed , but discontinued salvo firing ; her stern guns continued to score hits as " Sydney " passed through their firing arcs . The cruiser fired torpedoes at " Kormoran " , but as the raider was turning to bring her port broadside to bear , these passed harmlessly astern . After completing the turn , battle damage caused " Kormoran " s engines to fail completely , leaving the raider dead in the water while " Sydney " continued to limp southwards . Despite being immobilised , " Kormoran " continued to fire at a high rate — some of the German sailors reported that up to 450 shells were used during the second phase of the battle — and scored hits on the cruiser , although misses would have increased as the range grew . The raider fired her guns for the last time around 17 : 50 , with the range at , and a torpedo was fired at 18 : 00 , but missed . By the end of the half - hour engagement , the ships were about apart , with both heavily damaged and on fire . Damage to " Kormoran " s engine room had knocked out the fire - fighting systems , and as it was only a matter of time until the oil fire reached the magazine s or mine hold , Detmers ordered " abandon ship " at 18 : 25 . All boats and rafts were launched by 21 : 00 , during which a skeleton crew kept the weapons manned while their colleagues evacuated and the officers made preparations for scuttling . During all this , " Sydney " was seen to proceed south - south - east at low speed ; she disappeared over the horizon shortly after the engagement , but the glow of the burning ship was seen on the horizon consistently until 22 : 00 , and sporadically until midnight . " Kormoran " was abandoned and scuttled at midnight ; she ship sank slowly until the mine hold exploded half an hour later . The German survivors were in five boats and two rafts : one cutter carrying 46 men , two battle - damaged steel liferafts with 57 and 62 aboard ( the latter carrying Detmers and towing several small floats ) , one workboat carrying 72 , one boat with 31 aboard , and two rafts , each bearing 26 . During the evacuation , a rubber liferaft carrying 60 , mostly wounded , sank without warning ; the three survivors were placed in other boats . Total German casualties were 6 officers , 75 German sailors , and 1 Chinese sailor . Rescue . The first liferaft of German survivors , carrying 26 men , was recovered by the troopship " Aquitania " early on 23 November , but as the ship ' s master believed a raider was still in the area , he maintained wireless silence and did not report his discovery until three days later . The lifeboat carrying Detmers saw the troopship but did not make their presence known , as the German officer hoped to be picked up by a neutral merchant ship . Attempts to locate " Sydney " , which was several days overdue in returning to port , commenced on 23 November . However , it was not until the afternoon of the next day , after the British tanker " Trocas " reported finding the second liferaft with 25 men ( one having perished ) a full - scale search was begun . Several German lifeboats were spotted on 25 November during the air search off Western Australia : the 46 - man cutter had come ashore at 17 - Mile Well , the 57 - man lifeboat was nearing Red Bluff , and a third lifeboat was further off the coast . That afternoon , the staff of Quobba Station rounded up the two groups that had made landfall , who did not resist capture . The 31 - man boat was recovered by the passenger ship " Koolinda " just before sunset on 26 November . The passenger - freighter " Centaur " , which had been instructed to make landfall at Carnarvon to collect the Germans captured so far and transport them to Fremantle , encountered Detmers ' lifeboat that night at 22 : 00 and took it in tow , as they were unwilling to let 62 enemy naval personnel aboard , but did not want to leave them to their fate . During the voyage to Carnarvon , the damaged and overloaded German lifeboat was swamped , and the " Kormoran " survivors were transferred into two of " Centaur " s lifeboats . Arriving in Carnarvon on the afternoon of 27 November , the Germans were relocated from the boats to " Centaur " s number one cargo hold , where they were joined by the sailors from the two lifeboats that had reached shore and 40 Australian Army guards . The last boat , carrying seventy Germans and two Chinese , was spotted from the air during the late morning of 27 November , and was recovered shortly afterward by . The next day , recovered a German lifebelt and two four - man liferafts , one of which was carrying a deceased German sailor , who was buried at sea . The search was terminated at sunset on 29 November . By this point , all of the German lifeboats were accounted for , and 318 of " Kormoran " s 399 personnel ( including three of the four Chinese laundry workers ) had survived . Conversely , none of 645 - strong ship ' s company from " Sydney " were found , and the only definite remains found of the Australian warship were a damaged carley float and a lifebelt . Aftermath . In Germany , information about the battle was assembled from communications intercepts during the search for survivors , then combined with Allied news articles and published in early 1943 for internal consumption by German officials . A member of " Kormoran " s crew sent home in a prisoner exchange later that year confirmed the details of the battle , and accounts were published by the German media in December 1943 . Most of the German survivors were taken to Fremantle and interrogated . Attempts to learn what had happened were hampered by the German officers instructing their sailors to obfuscate the enemy with false answers , people describing events they did not witness but heard of later , and difficulty in keeping groups separated in order to check their stories against each other . Despite this , Australian authorities were able to piece together the broad details of the battle , which was verified by German sailors recovered by " Aquitania " who had been taken to Sydney instead : their interviews showed similar commonalities and inconsistencies as those in Fremantle , and the interrogators concluded that the true story was being recounted . Initially , the sailors were imprisoned at Harvey while the officers were imprisoned at Swanbourne Barracks , but after interrogations were concluded in December , they were all relocated to prisoner - of - war camps near Murchison , Victoria . Sailors were interned in No . 13 Prisoner of War Camp , which already hosted 1 , 200 soldiers of the Afrika Korps , and their shipmates rescued by " Aquitania " , while officers were sent to the Dhurringile homestead . One sailor died in captivity on 24 March 1942 from lung cancer , and was buried in the Tatura war cemetery . On 11 January 1945 , Detmers and nineteen other Axis officers broke out from Dhurringile through a tunnel excavated during the previous seven months , although all were recaptured within days of escaping . Detmers was found with a German - English dictionary which included two accounts of the battle ( a deck log or action report , and an engineering log ) encrypted within using a Vigenère cipher , although these accounts provided little new information . Shortly after returning to the camp , Detmers suffered a stroke , and spent over three months at Heidelberg Military Hospital . The German officers and sailors were repatriated after the war , departing from Port Phillip with other Axis prisoners aboard the steamer " Orontes " on 21 February 1947 . Ironically , tied up to the opposite pier was the real " Straat Malakka " . On arrival in Cuxhaven , the prisoners were searched before leaving the ship , and while several written reports were gathered , none provided new information . Search and rediscovery . Despite the approximate last position of " Kormoran " being known ( most German accounts giving the battle coordinates as ) , efforts to find " Kormoran " and " Sydney " were hampered by the size of the search area indicated by such broad coordinates , and claims by Australians that the Germans had lied about the coordinates ( among other aspects of the fight ) and the ships would be found further south and closer inshore . Several searches were made by the Australian military in the years following the war , but these were primarily concerned with finding the Australian cruiser , technologically restricted to shallow waters , and made to verify or prove false civilian claims that " Sydney " or " Kormoran " was at a particular location . In 1990 , Robert Ballard and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution were approached to lead a search for the ships , which he agreed to on the condition that the search area be narrowed down considerably . A forum in 1991 unsuccessfully attempted to do this , and Ballard withdrew his offer . A 1999 Australian government report recommended that a seminar be organised to identify the most likely search area for the warships , but again , participants were still split between the battle location given by the Germans ( referred to as the " northern position " ) or a point off the Abrolhos Islands ( the area for the battle advocated by supporters of the " southern position " ) . American shipwreck hunter David Mearns first learned of the battle and mutual destruction of " Sydney " and " Kormoran " during a conference in 1996 , and began studying the battle in 2001 . With the assistance of historians and the Western Australian Museum , Mearns focused on primary source documents , during which he discovered or rediscovered several archive files and diaries of " Kormoran " personnel believed lost ; these documents led him to believe that the German accounts were truthful . After identifying a potential search area , the Australian government announced several million dollars of funding for the search , but German government assistance was limited to formal approval for Mearns to film " Kormoran " if she was found . Mearns plan was to determine a ' search box ' for " Kormoran " by plotting the possible starting points of the two rafts from the raider through a reverse drift analysis . This search box ( which was calculated to be in size ) would then be inspected over the course of several days with a deep - water , towed side - scan sonar mounted aboard the survey vessel SV " Geosounder " . Mearns chose to focus on finding " Kormoran " first , as locating the German ship would significantly narrow down the search area for " Sydney " . After locating one or both vessels , " Geosounder " would return to port and replace the sonar with a remotely operated vehicle ( ROV ) to photograph and video the wrecks , although funding limitations meant the search and inspection of both ships had to be concluded within 45 days . After problems with equipment and weather , " Geosounder " commenced the search , and located " Kormoran " during the afternoon of 12 March 2008 . The wreck site was below sea level , and consisted of two large pieces apart , with an oval - shaped debris field between them , centred at . The raider ' s discovery was publicly announced by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on the morning of 17 March . Mearns was then able to plot a search area for " Sydney " based on " Kormoran " s location , as although there was no specific information on the cruiser ' s location , much more information was available concerning her last known position relative to the raider . " Sydney " was located on 17 March at , south - east of " Kormoran " . Discovery of the vessel was made only hours after the locating of " Kormoran " was publicly announced . On discovery , both wrecks were placed under the protection of the Australian " Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976 " , which penalises anyone disturbing a protected shipwreck with a fine of up to A $ 10 , 000 or a maximum five years imprisonment . Both wrecks were placed on the Australian National Heritage List on 14 March 2011 . After the side - scan sonar aboard " Geosounder " was switched out for the ROV ( again delayed by technical issues and more bad weather ) , she returned sea for detailed inspections of the wrecks , with " Sydney " was filmed and documented during 3 – 6 April , and a sonar contact thought to be debris from the battle was visually inspected on 6 April and found to be outcrops of pillow lava . Observation of the " Kormoran " wreck confirmed that the mine deck explosion had torn the stern half of the ship apart , with few recognisable items in the large debris field . The search was declared complete just before midnight on 7 April , with " Geosounder " returning to Geraldton . Awards , memorials , and legacy . For sinking " Sydney " , Detmers ' Iron Cross First Class was upgraded to the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . " Kormoran " s executive officer , gunnery officer , and the sailor who manned the starboard gun were awarded the Iron Cross First Class ( although for the executive officer , this was a bar to a previous Iron Cross ) , while the other members of the crew were all awarded the Iron Cross Second Class . The names of those killed aboard " Kormoran " are inscribed in the Laboe Naval Memorial . The " Kormoran " name was carried on by the , a " Seeadler " class fast attack craft of the West German Navy commissioned in 1959 . This " Kormoran " operated until 1976 , when she was sold to Greece . East Germany also operated a " Kormoran " ; a small corvette borrowed from the Soviet Navy from 1970 to 1974 .