Any HMAS Sydney followers among us

My final interst in this is it was noted in the german lifeys and rafts were bottles of fresh japanese milk, Interstingly Darwin was bombed by the same planes and taskforce that smacked the yanks at Pearl, we were still trading with the Japs up until the day before the attack on Darwin as Jap freighters were in the Harbour and these shot through during the night, Jap serge uniforms were made from Aussie wool so I was told by a conservator from the AWM annexe, I wouldnt discount the sub theory be it either German or Japanese the only way this one can be solved is to find and survey the wreck and after 60 years under water who knows what condition and wether a survey will even clear the mystery, bit hard to look at a fuzzy monitor and say yeah thats a german or jap torpedo damage, one thing is for sure the wreck should not be interfered with as is the Titanic by private venture on money orientated quests, when found the location should be kept secret and the Government should introduce the laws to prevent pilfering from the wreck etc she could off course be too deep to even inspect by remote means, still be nice to solve it.

Well, they did get down to the Army Blackhawk near Fiji from a great depth, so the technology is there.

Yeah true that water was rumored to be bottomless in that particular area, spose its possible they could get down there but they have to find her first to seeif they can get to her

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Air Chief Marshal Houston said the accident occurred south of Fiji during relatively calm weather. He said the helicopter crashed into the deck of the Kanimbla and then went over the side of the ship into water 2000 to 3000 metres deep.

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But it did have a beacon that was still firing off so would have made it easier. That aside, they still had to get down to it & fix a lifting cable.

"the Government should introduce the laws to prevent pilfering from the wreck etc she could off course be too deep to even inspect by remote means, still be nice to solve it."

Rest assured the laws already exist in the Maritime Shipwrecks Act:D

Cheers Chazza

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Originally Posted by chazza

The whole story is a fascinating one and I suppose the mystery of "why? and what?" is what drives the interest of so many Australians.

I find the facts just as asorbing as the speculation. For instance;

2. HMAS Sydney was looking for a German raider thought to be in the area when she sighted Kormoran. Komoran when challenged gave her name as the Dutch freighter Straat Malakka. Radio transmission with Australia soon established that the real Straat Malakka was not in Australian waters....

4. Naval HQ in Oz sent Sydney the secret call sign for Straat Malakka. When Kormoran was sent the message by Sydney she should have responded with her secret sign identifying her as the real Straat Malakka - she couldn't of course do that.

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There was no radio communication between the HMAS Sydney and any other Naval stations. Part of the Mystery is that the Sydney was actually overdue with no word and the RAN has only ever had the reports of the rescued crew of the Kormoran to explain what happened. The German crew were picked up in several lifeboats in various locations and over a period of days, and thus had no chance to cook-up a story. All interrogations broadly match up to the story. The identity Straat Malakka was provided by the German survivors in interviews.

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Originally Posted by 4bee

Interesting. Is that from Official Japanese War Records or an opinion? (No offence intended, just would like to view the source. )

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From extensive post-war ('45-47) interviews and searches of IJN records, movement orders and sightings, Allied Naval historians were able to piece together Japanese Naval movements in the time leading up to, and after, Pearl Harbour. By Mid '42, they had cracked to Imperial Naval Code and could read Naval movement orders. These movements recorded in secret at the time correlated with the post war records and statements, thus establishing the truthfulness of the pre-42 positions. There were no Japanese Subs in the Indian Ocean in Nov 41.

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Originally Posted by 303gunner

There was no radio communication between the HMAS Sydney and any other Naval stations.

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See the National Archives records. The last transmission FROM the Sydney was on 11 Nov, 8 days prior to her suspected sinking. The last transmission TO the Sydney was on 14 Nov, which was not acknowledged as per standing orders. No blow by blow description of encountering the Straat Malakka.