The German raider SMS Kormoran (HSK-8) and the light cruiser HMAS Sydney (D48) were re-discovered in 2008 with an expedition to the wrecks going out earlier this year.
The two locked horns in an epic battle that sent both to the bottom 19 November 1941 in the (then relatively peaceful) Pacific/Indian Ocean theater.
The German raider went 515-feet, 8,700-tons and had a main battery of 6 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 C guns– and no armor with a speed of just 18 knots.
HMAS Sydney, a Leander-class light cruiser, was about the same size (562-feet, 8,900-tons) but carried 8 × 6-inch (150 mm) breech-loading Mk XXIII guns, had 1-3 inches of armor, and could touch 32-knots.
Still, the battle ended both.
Although Sydney covered herself with glory, her victory came at a high price and it was a national blow to Australia.
Australian Secretary to the War Cabinet Frederick Shedden to John Curtin, the first formal advice to the Prime Minister that the HMAS Sydney was believed lost
Researchers from Curtin University and the Western Australian Museum captured 700,000 high resolution images of the two ships with the help of two remotely operated underwater vehicles lowered to 2.5km on the ocean.
One of the raider’s 5.9’s named Linda
The tally board inside Kormoran with the kill list– up until 19 Nov anyway
Another Kormoran gun
They were designed to be hidden under false bulkheads
Sydney
