Search for HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran Numerous attempts were made to find the Australian cruiser and the German auxiliary cruiser " Kormoran " , which were both lost in a sea battle in 1941 . Efforts immediately after the battle focused on finding " Sydney " when she failed to return to port . While searchers located over 300 survivors from " Kormoran " , none of the 645 aboard the Australian warship were found . Post - war searches attempted to find one or both of the combatants , but were unsuccessful because of a lack of detailed information about the battle ' s location . Searchers distrusted the German survivors and their accounts ; the large difference between the number of survivors from each ship prompted theories that " Kormoran " s crew had acted illegally during the battle and were attempting to cover up their actions . As a result , hypotheses about the wrecks ' locations varied from deep water many kilometres off Dirk Hartog Island , to sites nearer to Carnarvon , Western Australia , and as far south as the western side of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands . In March 2008 shipwreck hunter David Mearns commenced a search for the two wrecks . " Kormoran " was located on 12 March in close proximity to the sinking position given in German accounts . Using the survivor ' s information on " Sydney " s last known heading , Mearns and his search team located " Sydney " on 17 March . History . Wartime . 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 . Post - war . In 1981 the Western Australian Museum and the Royal Australian Navy cooperated to examine a large magnetic anomaly off the Zuytdorp Cliffs consistent with the magnetic signature expected from the wreck of " Sydney " . Subsequent to the location of the " Titanic " and the by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute , the museum conducted a seminar at the 50th anniversary of the ship ' s loss in November 1991 to determine if " Sydney " could be located . This project was assisted by Associate Professor Kim Kirsner of the University of Western Australia . While the size of the area being searched in the hunt for " Kormoran " was reduced to a size similar to that used in previous successful searches , the oceanographers , scientists , and search and rescue specialists at the seminar could not reduce the area to be searched for " Sydney " below a zone . While the location of the battle as reported by German sailors and their commander had been confirmed by oceanographic evidence , researchers were unsure of the whereabouts of " Sydney " . One alternative was that the ship had tried to reach the nearest dry dock at Surabaya ; another possibility was that they had tried to head toward the nearest port facility at Geraldton . Some Germans said they saw the " Sydney " sink while they rowed towards its burning hulk after they had abandoned their own ship ; others said it had disappeared on a south - east course into the night . As a result of pressure from the newly formed HMAS Sydney Foundation Trust , a joint standing committee held a parliamentary inquiry in 1997 into the circumstances surrounding the sinking of " Sydney " . The inquiry was the largest in Australia ’ s history , receiving submissions from hundreds of parties . The committee made a number of findings and recommendations , concluding : In 2001 , as a result of the parliamentary inquiry , the Royal Australian Navy ' s Seapower Centre ( SPC ) conducted a seminar at the Western Australian Museum , designed to examine the feasibility of a search of the area discussed in 1991 . Due to dissension amongst the researchers present , claims that the battle had taken place near the Abrolhos Islands , and a lack of hard evidence and wreckage relating to " Sydney " , the SPC found against conducting a search . Nonetheless , after the Foundation Trust folded , the non - profit organisation HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd planned an attempt to locate the wrecks . Receiving encouragement from successful deep - water wreck hunter David Mearns , the group embarked on an active campaign and received a government grant in August 2005 . The group entered into a memorandum of understanding with Mearns , who believed he could find the wrecks using the latest sonar technology and recently discovered details recorded by Theodor Detmers , commander of " Kormoran " . On 14 August 2005 the then Prime Minister of Australia , John Howard , announced that the Australian government would grant A $ 1 . 3 million to HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd . A $ 500 , 000 grant was provided by the West Australian State Government and $ 250 , 000 by the New South Wales State Government . The organisation planned to secure an additional $ 8 million in private funding before attempting a search of the deep water off Shark Bay . A rival group announced plans to search in shallower waters closer to the coast . The Western Australian Museum ' s research and other works ( notably Barbara Winters ' " HMAS Sydney : Fact , Fantasy and Fraud " , Tom Frame ' s " HMAS Sydney : Loss and Controversy " , and Wes Olson ' s , " Bitter Victory " ) supported the German account regarding the location of the battle . In late 2005 , University of Western Australia Press published Glenys McDonald ' s book , " Seeking the Sydney : A Quest for the Truth " . McDonald had conducted extensive interviews with residents of the coastal area nearest the battle , much of which had been tabled at the 2001 SPC seminar . According to McDonald , many residents of Port Gregory , about north of Geraldton , reported the sights and sounds of a naval battle at about the time that " Sydney " and " Kormoran " engaged . This suggested — incorrectly — that the ships may have sunk much further south than the location given by Detmers or the Australian government . Independent researcher Warren Whittaker , who had presented evidence at the 2001 seminar based on his and Lindsay Knight ' s experimental wreck - locating system , wrote in " The Weekend Australian " in July 2006 , reiterating his belief that HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd was looking in the wrong area . Through hindcasting based on the known movements of flotsam and the lifeboats from " Kormoran " , Whittaker incorrectly surmised that both ships would be located just west of the Abrolhos Islands . In March 2007 HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd reported that Whittaker ' s proposed site had been surveyed by a Perth - based company , Geo Subsea Pty Ltd , on a " pro bono " basis , and no trace of " Kormoran " or " Sydney " had been found . Geo Subsea used a hull - mounted multibeam echo sounder ( MBES ) system , capable of scanning the seabed for on either side of the search vessel MV " Geosounder " , at depths of up to . Mearns said that the site " was ideal for searching with " Geosounder " s MBES because the average depth is only and the seabed is relatively flat and featureless with a gentle slope of only 1 . 4 to 2 degrees . If a ship the size of " Kormoran " ( 157 metres long and 9 , 400 GRT ) , which was the biggest auxiliary cruiser used by the Kriegsmarine in WWII , had exploded and sunk on the site it would clearly show up in the MBES images for all to see . " In June 2007 British maritime researcher Timothy Akers , a former employee of Mearns , claimed to have located the wreck of the " Sydney " , along with wrecks from a Japanese battle group , using high quality satellite imagery . This claim was disputed by the Western Australia Museum and Ted Graham , the chairman of HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd , who said it was not possible to locate the wreck using satellite imagery . On 11 August 2007 a group of amateur wreck hunters claimed they had located the wreck of " Sydney " off Cape Inscription on the northern end of Dirk Hartog Island using a grappling hook and an underwater video camera . A survey conducted by HMAS " Leeuwin " on 17 August found that the wreck off Dirk Hartog Island is only long and high , too small to be the " Sydney " , which was over in length . The reasons why the search for HMAS " Sydney " was taking so long were examined in a 2008 Western Australia Museum report . Discovery of the wrecks . Mearns had previously been involved in the discovery of the cargo ship " Lucona " ( the key evidence in the arrest of Udo Proksch for murder and insurance fraud ) , the bulk carrier " Derbyshire " ( the largest British ship to be lost at sea ) , and the battleship . He first learned of the battle and mutual destruction of " Sydney " and " Kormoran " during a conference in 1996 , and started studying the battle in 2001 with a view to finding the ships . With the assistance of other historians and the Western Australian Museum , Mearns researched the battle , focusing on primary source documents . He discovered several archive files and " Kormoran " diaries previously believed to be lost . His research led Mearns to believe that the German accounts were accurate . After two failed attempts to attract the attention and support of the Royal Australian Navy , Mearns was informed in January 2004 that the navy was reconsidering its stance . At this point Mearns and his company entered a partnership and drew up a memorandum of understanding with HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd . In mid - September 2004 Mearns received approval from the German government to film " Kormoran " if she was found . On 14 August 2005 the Australian government announced a A $ 1 . 3 million funding grant to the Finding Sydney Foundation , the charitable foundation set up in 2003 by the directors of HMAS Sydney Search , which was quickly followed by a A $ 500 , 000 contribution from the Western Australian government and a A $ 250 , 000 grant from the government of New South Wales . Several small donations were made by companies and the public , but plans to search for the ships were on hold until the Australian government approved another A $ 2 . 9 million in funds in October 2007 . Mearns planned to determine a ' search box ' for " Kormoran " by plotting possible starting points of its two lifeboats through a reverse drift analysis . Previous drift analyses had focused on the lifeboat that had made landfall , as the officer in charge had maintained a log of the boat ' s progress . These analyses provided widely - spread results because the log was incomplete and eddy currents which would have affected the course and speed of the lifeboat were rarely accounted for . The lifeboat would have been affected by oar and sail power in addition to ocean currents , and most researchers focused on deriving a specific point from the analysis instead of determining a general search area . The search box ( which was in size ) would be inspected over the course of several days with a towed deep - water side - scan sonar . Mearns chose to focus on finding " Kormoran " first , as locating the German ship would significantly narrow down the search area for " Sydney " and improve the chances of finding it . After locating one or both vessels , the search ship would return to port and replace the sonar with a remotely operated vehicle ( ROV ) to photograph and video the wrecks . The survey vessel SV " Geosounder " was chartered from the subsea exploration company DOF Subsea Australia ; in addition to being the best of several vessels considered , " Geosounder " was the only ship with the required capabilities available for hire during the search period . Mearns had only enough funding to hire and operate " Geosounder " for 45 days . " Geosounder " was scheduled to depart early on 29 February , but a series of problems requiring last - minute modifications delayed departure until after 16 : 00 , and the ship had to return to port that evening because of a fuel leak . Repairs were made , and the ship reached the south - east corner of Mearns ' search box just before midnight on 4 March . Searchers were hampered by recurring problems with the side - scan sonar and the occurrence of Tropical Cyclone Ophelia in the early days of the expedition . " Kormoran " was located at during the afternoon of 12 March 2008 . It was below sea level , with two large pieces apart and an oval - shaped debris field in between . The raider ' s discovery was publicly announced by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on the morning of 17 March . Using the newly discovered wreck and German accounts describing " Sydney " s heading , speed , and last sighting after the battle , a search box for the cruiser was calculated . The dramatic difference in the size of the search boxes was because the German raider ' s location had been recounted by survivors only as a broad latitude and longitude , while much information was available concerning the Australian cruiser ' s position relative to the raider . " Sydney " was located on 17 March just after 11 : 00 , only hours after " Kormoran " s discovery was publicly announced . News that the cruiser had been found was made public the next day in another official announcement by Prime Minister Rudd . " Sydney " s wreck was located at at below sea level ; the bow of the cruiser , which had broken off as the ship sank , was located at the opposite end of a debris field stretching less than north - west from the hull . The wrecks were apart , with " Sydney " south - east of " Kormoran " . On discovery , both wrecks were placed under the protection of the 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 . " Geosounder " returned to Geraldton on 20 March . Major delays during the installation and testing of the ROV delayed departure until 29 March , with the survey ship sailing through the path of Cyclone Pancho . Electrical problems with the ROV pushed the start of filming back to 3 April . " Sydney " was the first to be inspected , with six ROV dives over a five - day period , during which the main hull and debris field were filmed and documented . The bow had torn free , causing the ship to sink ; the main hull section had hit the seabed stern first . This damage corresponded with descriptions given by the " Kormoran " crew after the battle . " Geosounder " next travelled to the wreck of " Kormoran " . The ship had been split into two large pieces by the explosion of the mine deck , which also destroyed the superstructure and scattered debris across a wide area . A possible battle site was located during the sonar search , but observation with the ROV revealed that what was thought to be debris from the ships was actually outcrops of pillow lava . The search was declared complete just before midnight on 7 April ; " Geosounder " returned to Geraldton . In November 2009 the Finding Sydney Foundation donated more than 1 , 400 photographs and 50 hours of video of the wrecks to the Australian War Memorial . References . Sources . Online sources Further reading