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From Bob Henneman's board: http://bobhenneman.info/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1128&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

Digger said:

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I suppose we also have to recall that by the time most of the German crew were looking around at their surrounding Sydney had all but disappeared and their horizon was limited to that in a lifeboat which I believe is about 5 miles.

The published timeline for events is:

1825 last shots fired by Kormoran
2000-2100 K progressively abandons ship as fires spread
2200 distant glare seen from direction that S last seen going
0000 scuttling charges fired on K
0000 (approx) flickering from S ceases
0035 mine hold explodes

So, most of the K's crew would have been in the boats and a very limited horizon.

I'd suggest on first thoughts nothing sinister so far, if Sydney did have a catastrophic hull failure eg bows detaching (as the sonar seems to indicate) around midnight when large numbers of the crew would have been below decks fighting fires or shoring up weakened bulkheads. Those on deck would not have had much time to escape if she suddenly turned turtle or went under from the bow giving way.

So, 5 1/2 hours from last shots by Kormoran until the last sighting of light from Sydney's fires.

6 hours 10 minutes from last shots by Kormoran until Kormoran's mines explode (35 minutes after scuttling charges fired).


I wonder how extensive the fires were... if they damaged the life rafts and held the crew inside until it was too late?


From: http://navalwarfare.blogspot.com/2007/10/hmas-sydney-ii.html


"As the Sydney approached the Kormoran, the auxiliary cruiser pretended to be the Dutch freighter Straat Malakka. While the Sydney was questioning the Kormoran using her signal light, the range between the two ships closed dramatically, until the Sydney was almost abeam of the merchant raider on its port quarter. Soon the ships were abeam of each other and only 1,640 yards apart. Captain Burnett must have still been suspicious of the fake Dutch merchant ship because he kept questioning the identity of the Kormoran until the German ship suddenly pulled down the Dutch flag and hoisted up the German Navy ensign. The Kormoran quickly uncovered her armament from behind her false bulkheads and opened fire on the Sydney. Since the two ships were so close to each other, the first few broadsides from the Kormoran caused devastating damage to the Sydney. The Australian cruiser, however, soon recovered from the shock of being hit and started shooting back at the German ship. After five minutes of pummeling each other with cannon fire, both ships were severely damaged. The Sydney was sinking into the water, down by the bow, but was still moving. She tried to move astern of the German raider and gradually pulled away, with both ships still hitting each other sporadically with shells. Seeing that the Kormoran's engine room was destroyed and the ship was nearly finished, Commander Detmers had his men set scuttling charges and then gave the order to "abandon ship." After the last of the surviving crew took to the lifeboats and pulled away from the Kormoran, the scuttling charges went off, sinking what was left of the German ship. Of the 393 officers and men on board the Kormoran, 78 lost their lives. Allied ships eventually rescued most of the German survivors at sea, but two of the lifeboats actually made landfall at Carnarvon on the western coast of Australia. Local residents quickly captured the Germans on board those lifeboats.

As for the Sydney, survivors from the Kormoran last saw her approximately 10 miles away, on fire but still afloat in the coming night. At around midnight, the flames in the distance flickered out and the Sydney, along with her crew of 645 men, were never heard from again. An Australian warship searching for survivors found a Carley Float life raft from the Sydney and another ship found a life jacket, but those were the only objects that remained from the light cruiser. Both items are now preserved as a memorial to the HMAS Sydney at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.