User talk:Dawnfrenzy
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[edit] Attempts to find the HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran
| Attempts to find HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran | |
Image:Hmas sydney 1940.jpg.jpg/260px-HSK_Kormoran_(AWM_053867).jpg) HMAS Sydney (top) and HSK Kormoran in 1940. |
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| Location of Search: | Off Western Australia, Indian Ocean |
|---|---|
| See articles: Battle between HMAS Sydney and HSK_Kormoran, HMAS Sydney (1934), and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran. | |
There have been many unsuccessful attempts to locate both the Sydney and Kormoran since the battle between them took place. Attention has focused on finding the Sydney because of the prominence of its loss in Australian history and culture. However, attempts have also been made to find the Kormoran, even if as a first step to finding the Sydney.
The major obstacle in locating both ships is the scarcity of details about the location of the battle, as well as contradictory accounts of the position of the Kormoran when it sank. Guesses vary from deep water many kilometres off Dirk Hartog Island, to sites nearer to Carnarvon, Western Australia, and as far south as the western side of the Houtman Abrolhos islands.
In 2005, a prominent shipwreck hunter, David Mearns, mounted another expedition to find the wreck with the assistance of the latest sonar technology, and newly-revealed details recorded by the commander of Kormoran, Theodor Detmers.
In late 2005, University of Western Australia Press published Seeking the Sydney: A Quest for the Truth by Glenys McDonald. The main innovation of the book is McDonald's extensive oral history interviews with residents of the coastal area nearest to the battle. According to McDonald, many residents of Port Gregory, about 80km north of Geraldton, reported seeing signs and sounds of a naval battle, at about the time that Sydney and Kormoran engaged each other, suggesting that the sinkings may have occurred much further south than the accounts of either Detmers or the Australian government.
In June 2007, British maritime researcher Timothy Akers, a former employee of David Mearns, claimed to have located the wreck of the Sydney along with other wrecks from a Japanese Battle Group in the vicinity, using high quality satellite imagery he purchased.[2] However, this claim has been disputed, and Ted Graham, the chairman of the Perth-based volunteer company HMAS Sydney Search, has dismissed the possibility the wreck can be located using satellite imagery.[3]
On 11 August 2007 a group of amateur wreck hunters claimed that they had located the wreck of HMAS Sydney off Cape Inscription on the northern end of Dirk Hartog Island by using a grappling hook and underwater video camera.[4] A survey conducted by HMAS Leeuwin on 17 August found that the wreck off Dirk Hartog Island is only approximately 30 metres long and 5 metres high, far different to Sydney's length of over 170 metres. In light of this the possibility of the discovery being that of the Sydney has been ruled out.[5]
At present, a non-profit organisation, HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd is planning an attempt to locate the wrecks. It has a memorandum of understanding with shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who believes he can find the wrecks using the latest sonar technology and recently-revealed details recorded by Detmers.[1]. On August 14, 2005, the Prime Minister of Australia, John Howard, announced that the Australian government would grant A$1.3 million to HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd.[2]. Another $500,000 has been provided by from the Western Australian state government,[3] and $250,000 by the New South Wales government.[4]The organisation plans to secure an additional $8 million in private funding before attempting a thorough search. The search will be conducted in deep water off Shark Bay.[5] A rival group has announced plans to search in shallower waters closer to the coast.
Independent researcher Warren Whittaker, writing in The Weekend Australian in July 2006, reiterated his belief that HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd is looking in the wrong area.[5] Whittaker believes that hindcasting, based on the known movements of flotsam and lifeboats from Kormoran, suggests that Detmers' account of the last known location of his ship is incorrect and that both ships are located just west of the Abrolhos.
In March 2007, HMAS Sydney Search Pty Ltd reported that Whittaker's proposed site had been surveyed by a Perth-based company, Geo Subsea Pty Ltd, on a pro bono basis, and no trace of Kormoran or Sydney had been found.[6] Geo Subsea used a hull-mounted multibeam echo sounder (MBES) system, capable of scanning the seabed for three kilometres on either side of the search vessel MV Geosounder, at depths of up to 5,000 metres. David Mearns was quoted as saying that the site "was ideal for searching with Geosounder’s MBES because the average depth is only 850 metres and the seabed is relatively flat and featureless with a gentle slope of only 1.4 to 2 degrees. If a ship the size of Kormoran (157 metres long and 9,400 GRT), which was the biggest auxiliary cruiser used by the Kriegsmarine [sic] in WWII, had exploded and sunk on the site it would clearly show up in the MBES images for all to see."[7]
[edit] Attempts to find the Kormoran
There have been many unsuccessful attempts to locate both the Sydney and Kormoran since the battle between them took place. Attention has focused on finding the Sydney because of the prominence of its loss in Australian history and culture. However, attempts have also been made to find the Kormoran, even if as a first step to finding the Sydney.
The major obstacle in locating both ships is the scarcity of details about the location of the battle, as well as contradictory accounts of the position of the Kormoran when it sank. Guesses vary from deep water many kilometres off Dirk Hartog Island, to sites nearer to Carnarvon, Western Australia, and as far south as the western side of the Houtman Abrolhos islands.
[edit] Attempts to find the Sydney
There have been many unsuccessful attempts to locate both the Sydney and Kormoran since the battle between them took place. Attention has focused on finding the Sydney because of the prominence of its loss in Australian history and culture. However, attempts have also been made to find the Kormoran, even if as a first step to finding the Sydney.
The major obstacle in locating both ships is the scarcity of details about the location of the battle, as well as contradictory accounts of the position of the Kormoran when it sank. Guesses vary from deep water many kilometres off Dirk Hartog Island, to sites nearer to Carnarvon, Western Australia, and as far south as the western side of the Houtman Abrolhos islands.
