The Australian cruiser “Sydney” enters the port of Alexandria. November 19, 1941 near the western coast of Australia, the ship sank after hitting the shells of the German raider “Kormoran” (as a result of the battle, too, sank).
The German raider “Kormoran” (the former diesel-electric ship “Steiermark”) was much weaker than the Allied battle cruisers and therefore could only act against warships and was masked for the Dutch ship “Straat Malacca.” “Cormoran”, dragging out time, using carelessness of Australians and the effect of surprise from a distance of 800 meters unexpectedly dealt decisive blows on the Australian ship. “Kormoran” during the battle was also severely damaged, the fire was selected to the compartments with sea mines – it was necessary to leave the ship urgently. During the battle, the Germans lost 80 people out of 397. On board the Sidney there were 645 people, none of them could not survive. After 67 years, on March 15, 2008, wreckage was found at a depth of about 2.5 kilometers 150 kilometers west of Shark Bay, which is located near the westernmost point of Australia.
Sources of information about the Australian Sydney cruiser photo:
1. www.defence.gov.au
2. www.flickr.com
Location: Alexandria, Egypt
Date: April 1940