Search For HMAS Sydney And German Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran
Numerous attempts were made to find the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney 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.
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