Re: COMMERCE RAIDER VS WARSHIP

At 09:03  14/01/02 -0600, DAWGFACE wrote:

>BEING BRAINDEAD, I cannot  remember the name of the  Kreigsmarine
>auxiliary cruiser (an ex- cargo-liner, I think) involved, but	he did
>sink an Australian  light cruiser ("he" being the  German warship)
after
>a short ranged  engagement.

This would be the HSK Kormoran, the Australian ship would be HMAS
Sydney.

>This hapened in the South Atlantic, at the  height of the  search for
>the  commerce raider (KORMORANT?) when the cruiser sighted him, and
came
>to investigate in a rather careless manner.

Close :) It was the Indian Ocean.

>What followed was a classic naval  rape. The raider  opened fire at
very
>close range while the	cruiser was basically rubber necking alongside,
>inflicting severe damage and  heavy casualties on her.
>
>The cruiser (SYDNEY?) disengaged and fled over the horizon, where she
>sank with all hands (I think all hands were lost- cannot remember for
>sure).
>
>Of course, I do believe the  commerce raider was caught and  sunk 
later
>on in his  cruise after sinking numerous  merchant vessels (after
>re-supplying from them) and sending several prize  ships loaded with
>prisoners off toward Germany. Again I cannot remember if any of the
>prize	vessels  made it too prt safely.

Actually the cruiser was challenging the suspected raider, when the 
Kormoran could bluff no more, she opened fire with her concealed 6"
cannon. 
But there is no good explanation why the Sydney was placed in such a 
hazardous situation and no one will ever know as all the crew were lost 
with the ship. The Sydney returned fire and both ships were fatally 
damaged, Sydney was last seen disappearing over the horizon ablaze and
the 
Kormoran was abandoned and soon blew up. As I said none of the 645 crew
of 
the Sydney survived and 80 of the crew of 400 on the Kormoran also
perished.

The loss of the Sydney was a blow to Australia and because of the
uncertain 
fate of the ship it has been and still can be a tender issue for some.
For 
more info

http://members.ozemail.com.au/~yorkhouse/c2-syd.htm

and

http://www.mm.wa.gov.au/Museum/march/shipwrecks/sydney/Sydney.html

Cheers

Derek

Derek Fulton
12 Balaka st.
Rosny, Hobart.
Tasmania,  7018.
Australia

Phone; (03) 62459123
Mobile; 0438459123
Email; derekfulton@bigpond.com
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