Officials recently conducted an expedition to survey the historic World War II shipwrecks of HMAS Sydney (II) and the German raider HSK Kormoran.
Lying off the coast of Shark Bay in Western Australia (WA) the footage confirmed why Sydney was so quickly disabled leading to catastrophic damage and the loss of everyone on board.
The subsequent discovery provided support to the theory that within the first 30 seconds of the battle, Sydney’s bridge was destroyed, her command structure lost and her ability to fight back severely disabled.
The $2.4 million survey expedition is supported by the Australian Government, Curtin University, DOF Subsea, the WA Museum Foundation, GMA Garnet Group and the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in WA Torsten Ketelsen, and Prospero Productions. The collaboration has allowed the unique heritage value of the ships to be captured so they can be investigated, managed and interpreted for future generations.
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Image: Western Australian Museum/Youtube