16 July 2008

Finding Sydney

By David M Stevens

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ABSTRACT: HMAS Sydney was purchased by the Australian Government in 1934 and named in memory of the World War I Sydney that had won fame for destroying the German cruiser Emden. With the outbreak of the Second World War Sydney II soon established her own reputation as the RAN's glamour ship, most famously for the destruction of the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the Mediterranean. On returning to Australia in February 1941 Sydney and her ship's company received a hero's welcome. Her time, however, was running out, and on 19 November 1941 Sydney met her end in an action with the German armed merchant raider Kormoran. No Australians survived Sydney's lost. This talk will examine what is known of Sydney's final battle and what has been revealed by the recent discovery of her wreck.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Dr David Stevens has been the Director of Strategic and Historical Studies within the Sea Power Centre - Australia since retiring from the Navy in 1994. As a naval officer he specialised in anti-submarine warfare. Highlights of his naval service include exchange time with the Royal Navy conducting a Falkland Islands peace patrol, and an appointment to the staff of the Australian Task Group Commander during the 1991 Gulf War. He remains an officer in the RAN Reserves and in 2003 deployed to the Iraq War as the historian attached to the staff of the Australian Task Group Commander.

In his present position he is responsible for recording, preserving and analysing the Navy's rich and exciting history. He is the author or editor of many articles and books on naval history and maritime strategy including: 'The Royal Australian Navy in World War II', 'U-Boat Far From Home', 'The Face of Naval Battle', 'The Navy and the Nation' and the naval volume of the 'The Australian Centenary History of Defence'.