Frigate-Captain Theodor Detmers lowered his binoculars in thought. Their enemy - strong, fast and deadly - slowly ripped up the Pacific waves with a sharp bow some one and a half kilometers from his ship. Confident in his strength, the enemy nonchalantly approached the one whom the commander of the Australian cruiser Sydney mistook for the harmless Dutch merchant Straat Malacca. The cruiser blinked insistently and demandingly with a searchlight: "Show me your secret call sign." The stock of tricks and tricks is over. The word was for the guns.

From cargo ship to raiders

Having lost almost the entire merchant fleet as a result of the First World War and the Treaty of Versailles that followed it, Germany had to rebuild it. By the beginning of World War II, the German merchant fleet reached 4.5 million gross tons and was relatively young - a large number of ships and vessels were built in the 30s. Thanks to the widespread use of Diesel engines, the Germans managed to create ships with a long cruising range and autonomy. On September 15, 1938, in Kiel, the ship Stirmark was launched from the stocks of the Germanienwerft shipyard, which belonged to the Krupp concern. He and the same type "Ostmark" were built by order of the company "HAPAG" for long-term commercial transportation. Shtirmark was a large ship with a displacement of 19 thousand tons, equipped with diesel engines with a total capacity of 16 thousand hp.

The ship failed to start a career as a peaceful cargo ship. The readiness of the completed "Shtirmark" coincided with the aggravation political environment in Europe and the beginning of the war. The Naval Department had views of a capacious ship with a long cruising range and mobilized it. At first, it was thought to be used as a transport, but then the "Shtirmarka" was found more effective application. It was decided to convert it into an auxiliary cruiser, since it had all the data for this role. The newest dry cargo ship received the index "auxiliary vessel 41". Soon "ship 41" was transferred to Hamburg, to the Deutsche Wert plant, where it took the vacant place after the auxiliary cruiser "Thor". In all related documentation, the future raider began to be referred to as "auxiliary cruiser No. 8" or "HSK-8".

Theodor Detmers, commander of the Kormoran

On July 17, 1940, the 37-year-old Corvette Captain Theodor Detmers was appointed its commander. He was the youngest auxiliary cruiser commander. He entered the Navy at the age of 19 - at first he served on old training ships. After receiving the officer rank of lieutenant, he stepped on the deck of the cruiser Cologne. The further way passed on destroyers. In 1935, Detmers was given command of the old G-11; in 1938, the corvette captain arrived at a new duty station, on the newest destroyer Hermann Schömann (Z-7). He met the war by commanding this ship. Soon "Hermann Schoeman" stood up for repairs, and its commander received a new assignment to the auxiliary cruiser preparing for the campaign. The HSK-8 was hurriedly prepared - it did not receive some of the weapons and equipment planned for installation. Unlike its predecessors, the raider had to be equipped with a radar, but due to technical difficulties (the equipment often broke down), the installation was abandoned. New 37-mm automatic anti-aircraft guns were not installed - they took the old ones. Sea trials were successfully carried out in mid-September. On October 9, 1940, an auxiliary cruiser named Kormoran officially became part of the Kriegsmarine. Detmers later recalled that for a long time he could not decide on a name for his ship. In this, he was unexpectedly helped by Gunther Gumprich, the future commander of the auxiliary cruiser Thor. Even when the Kormoran was standing at the wall of the shipyard, Detmers met with Rukteshel, the commander of the Vidder, who had just returned from the campaign, with whom he discussed plans for a breakthrough into the Atlantic. It was decided that the Cormoran would break through the most dangerous, but also the shortest place - the Dover Canal. In winter, the Danish Strait, according to the Germans, was clogged with ice. However, a radiogram soon arrived from the trawler "Sachsen", a weather scout located in these latitudes. The trawler reported that there was a lot of ice, but it was possible to pass through it. The breakthrough plan was changed in favor of a passage through the Danish Strait.

In November 1940, the raider moved to Gotenhafen, where the final fine-tuning and retrofitting was carried out. On November 20, Grand Admiral Raeder visited the ship and was pleased with what he saw. "Kormoran" as a whole was ready for the campaign, however, the mechanics were concerned about the completely untested power plant. It took time to complete all the tests, and Detmers did not want to wait. The Kormoran's final armament was six 150 mm guns, two 37 mm guns, and four single-gun 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. Two twin-tube 533-mm torpedo tubes were installed. Additional armament included two Arado 196 seaplanes and an LS-3 type torpedo boat. Taking advantage large size"Kormoran", 360 anchor mines and 30 magnetic mines for the boat were loaded onto it. The raider was ordered to act in Indian Ocean, in African and Australian waters. The reserve area is the Pacific Ocean. As an additional task, the Kormoran was tasked with supplying German submarines located in the southern latitudes with new torpedoes and other means of supply. The raider received 28 torpedoes in the hold, a large number of shells, medicines and provisions intended for transfer to submarines.

To the Atlantic

On the way to the Danish Strait, the raider encountered bad weather. On December 8 he arrived in Stavanger. December 9, replenishing supplies for the last time, went to sea. On the 11th, Kormoran was disguised as the Soviet motor ship Vyacheslav Molotov, but the fears were unnecessary - no one found the raider. Having withstood a fierce storm, during which the 19,000-strong ship rocked heavily, on December 13, the auxiliary cruiser got out into the Atlantic. The storm subsided, visibility improved - and on December 18 the first smoke of an unknown vessel was seen. However, the raider had not yet reached his "hunting" area, and the stranger got away with impunity. Soon the command changed their instructions and allowed Detmers to act immediately. The raider was moving south - according to the calculations of the mechanics, their own fuel reserves, with rational use, should have been enough for at least 7 months of the campaign. At first, Kormoran had no luck with the search for prey: only one Spanish cargo ship and an American ship were noticed from it. On December 29, an attempt was made to lift a reconnaissance aircraft into the air, but due to the pitching, the Arado floats were damaged.

The account was finally opened on January 6, 1941. As an initiative, the Greek steamer Antonis was stopped, carrying coal on a British freight. After the appropriate procedures, having removed the team and 7 live sheep, as well as several machine guns and cartridges for them, "Antonis" was sunk. The next time luck smiled on the Germans on 18 January. Just before dark, an unknown steamer was seen from the raider, which was moving in an anti-submarine zigzag. Detmers knew that the British Admiralty ordered civil courts to act like this, a directive that had recently been captured by the Atlantis raider. Having approached a distance of 4 miles, the Germans first fired flares, and then, when the steamer, which turned out to be a tanker, did not react, they opened fire. The Briton (and there was no doubt that it was him) broadcast the RRR signal. The third salvo covered the target, and the radio fell silent. As the Kormoran approached, a cannon suddenly rumbled from the tanker, firing four shots, after which the raider resumed fire and set fire to the stern of his victim. From the British Union - that was the name of the unlucky tanker - they began to lower the boats. The surviving part of the crew was rescued, and the ship was sent to the bottom. Detmers was in a hurry to leave the area as soon as possible - the alarm raised by British Union promised unpleasant meetings. The Australian auxiliary cruiser Arua was in full swing to the place of the tanker's death, he managed to fish out eight more British from the water, who shed light on the events that took place here. In British documents, the as yet unknown large raider was named "Raider G".

The command ordered Detmers, who caused a stir, to go south to meet with the Nordmark supply ship, transfer all torpedoes and supplies for submarines to it, and then head to the Indian Ocean. The Nordmark was actually an integrated supply ship - its storerooms, fuel storages and cabins were used by a large number of German ships and vessels operating or passing through the southern latitudes: the “pocket” battleship Admiral Scheer, auxiliary cruisers, submarines, blockade breakers and other vessels security.

Between the Cape Verde Islands and the equator, on the afternoon of January 29, a ship resembling a refrigerator was seen from the Kormoran. Pretending to be a "peaceful merchant", the raider waited until the ship came closer, and raised the signal to stop, at the same time Detmers ordered to go full speed. After the stranger did not react in any way, the Germans opened aimed fire to kill. The refrigerator sounded an alarm and stopped. Boats were lowered from it. The Africa Star was indeed carrying 5,700 tons of frozen meat from Argentina to the UK. Its crew was taken on board, and the Germans were forced to flood the Afrik Star - it was damaged as a result of shelling. The refrigerator was sinking slowly, and a torpedo was launched to speed up the process. As the raider's victim raised the alarm, the Kormoran left the area at full speed. Already at night, the signalmen considered the silhouette, in which the merchant ship was identified. The received order to stop was ignored, and the auxiliary cruiser opened fire, first with lighting, and then with live shells. The enemy first responded from the stern gun, which, however, soon fell silent. The steamer stopped the cars - the boarding party discovered that this was the British ship "Euryloch", heading with 16 dismantled heavy bombers to Egypt. The Eurylochus had veered off course and kept well away from the shore. Enemy radio stations hummed on the air like an angry disturbed beehive, and the Germans again had to spend such a valuable torpedo for a quick massacre of prey.

Taking on board the crew of the Euryloch, the Kormoran moved to rendezvous with the Nordmark in a special area called Andalusia. The meeting took place on February 7th. The company "Nordmark" was a refrigerated vessel "Dukeza", a trophy of "Admiral Scheer". The next day, the raider received 1300 tons of diesel fuel, and 100 beef carcasses and more than 200 thousand eggs were shipped from the refrigerator. 170 prisoners and mail were sent to the Nordmark. On February 9, the reloading was completed, and the Kormoran finally set off for the Indian Ocean. On the way to the Cape of Good Hope, Detmers met with the Penguin raider, who carefully "herded" an entire trophy whaling flotilla. Captain zur see Krüder offered one of the whalers as an errand scout, but his colleague refused. The trophy was not fast enough, in his opinion.

Bad weather prevented the deployment of a mine bank at Walvis Bay (Namibia). On February 18, an accident occurred in the engine room. Due to the failure of the bearings, diesel engines No. 2 and No. 4 failed. Detmers sent an urgent request to Berlin with a request to send at least 700 kg of babbit by submarine or another block breaker for the manufacture of new bearing shells. He was promised to fulfill this request as soon as possible, the trip to the Indian Ocean was temporarily canceled. The raider was ordered to operate in the South Atlantic for the time being and wait for the "package". While specialists in the engine room were making new parts of bearings from available stocks, on February 24, Penguin got in touch with Detmers and offered to transfer 200 kg of babbitt. On February 25, both raiders met - an exchange of necessary materials and films took place for the entertainment of the team. Cormoran, meanwhile, continued to suffer from constant breakdowns in the engine room. The reserves allocated by Penguin should have been enough for the first time. On March 15, a meeting took place with one of the ward submarines, U-105, on which several torpedoes, fuel and provisions were shipped. So far, the raider has had no luck with hunting.

Cormoran refueling submarine

A long break in search of new prey ended on March 22. The Kormoran captured the small English tanker Agnita, which was in ballast. The ship was in a very mediocre condition and was sunk without regret. The most valuable booty was a map of minefields near Freetown indicating a safe passage. Three days later, almost in the same area at 8 am, a tanker was seen moving in ballast to the side South America. He did not respond to the demand to stop - fire was opened. Since the ship appeared to be new, Detmers ordered the ship to be fired more carefully so as not to cause severe damage. After several volleys, the fugitive stopped the cars. The raider's prey was the large (11,000 tons) tanker Canadolight. The ship was almost new, and it was decided to send it to France with the prize lot. The prize successfully reached the mouth of the Gironde on 13 April.

The consumption of fuel and provisions was quite extensive, and Detmers went to new meeting with the supplier "Nordmark". On March 28, the ships met, and the next day two submarines pulled up here. One of them, U-105, handed over the long-awaited babbit to the raider, which, however, turned out to be not so much. Detmers planned a rendezvous with another support vessel, the Rudolf Albrecht, which left Tenerife on March 22. Having replenished fuel, Kormoran met with a new supplier on April 3, but, unfortunately, there was no babbit on it. "Rudolf Albrecht" handed over a lot of fresh vegetables, fruits, newspapers, magazines, a live pig and a puppy. After saying goodbye to the tanker, the Kormoran sailed southeast.

On April 9, smoke was seen from the raider astern - some ship was moving along the same course with him. After waiting for the distance to decrease, the Germans threw off their disguise. Once again, the British ignored the order to stop and not use the radio. The Kormoran opened fire, scoring several hits. The cargo ship Craftsman stopped. A great fire broke out in his stern. The boarding party failed to immediately send the Englishman to the bottom - he did not want to sink. It was all about his cargo - a giant anti-submarine network for the harbor of Cape Town. And only after being hit by a torpedo, the recalcitrant Craftsman sank. The next day, the raider radio operators received a radiogram that brought a pleasant one: Detmers was awarded the rank of frigate captain. On April 12, the Germans intercepted the Greek ship Nikolaos D.L., loaded with timber. And again there was no shooting. Taking the prisoners, "Kormoran" planted several 150-mm shells under the waterline into the victim, not counting the previously detonated charges. The Greek was sinking slowly, but Detmers did not waste a torpedo on him, believing that he would sink anyway.

It was time to replenish fuel again, and the Kormoran once again went to the meeting point with the Nordmark. On April 20, a whole group of German ships met in the ocean. In addition to Nordmark and Kormoran, there was another auxiliary cruiser - Atlantis - with the supply ship Alsterufer. Detmers' ship received 300 tons of diesel fuel and two hundred 150-mm shells from the Alsterufer. The work of diesel engines was more or less normalized, and the raider finally received an order to follow to the Indian Ocean, where, after saying goodbye to his compatriots, he headed on April 24.

In the Indian Ocean

In early May, the ship rounded the Cape of Good Hope. The waters of the Indian Ocean met the Kormoran with a strong storm that raged for four whole days. When heading north, the weather began to gradually improve - the raider repainted, disguised as the Japanese ship Sakito Maru. On May 9, it became known about the death of the auxiliary cruiser "Penguin", after which an order was received to meet at the appointed place with the supply ship "Altsertor" and the reconnaissance "Penguin" - the former whaler "Adjutant". The ships met on May 14, and much to the displeasure of Detmers, on the orders of the command, he had to transfer 200 tons of fuel to the Altsertor. The supplier, in turn, replenished the crew of the Kormoran with members of his team in exchange for those who went to France on the Canadolight tanker.

Then the monotonous weekdays dragged on. For almost a month, the Kormoran plowed the Indian Ocean without meeting any targets on its way. On June 5, the camouflage was changed again - now the raider looked like, again, the Japanese Kinka Maru transport. The ship's Arado went on a reconnaissance flight twice, but both times to no avail. Once I met a brightly consecrated ship, which turned out to be American. On another occasion, an unidentified passenger ship was spooked by a smoke-producing plant suddenly working. Seeing that the hunt was not going on, Detmers decided to try his luck in a mine war - 360 mines were still waiting in the wings and were a dangerous and burdensome load. June 19 "Kormoran" entered the waters of the Bay of Bengal, the shores of which abounded major ports. At the exit of them, the Germans planned to set up their mines. First of all, this concerned Rangoon, Madras and Calcutta. However, here the raider was not lucky. When Madras was no more than two hundred miles away, smoke first appeared on the horizon, and then the silhouette of a large ship, similar to an English auxiliary cruiser, began to emerge. This kind of meeting was not part of Detmers' plans, and he began to leave at full speed. For an hour, the unknown pursued the raider, then gradually fell behind, hiding behind the horizon. The Germans were really lucky - it was the British auxiliary cruiser Canton, which mistook them for the Japanese. The minelaying near Calcutta was also canceled - a hurricane raged in the area.

A long streak of bad luck finally ended on the night of June 26, when the watchmen noticed a ship. Traditionally, the Germans demanded to stop and not use the radio. However, the discovered ship continued to follow as if nothing had happened, without trying, however, to go on the air. Having tapped the unheeded orders with a signal searchlight several times in a row, the raider opened fire, achieving almost 30 hits in seven minutes. The ship began to burn intensely, a boat was lowered from it. The Germans stopped firing. When the sailors were taken aboard from the boat, it turned out that the stranger was the Yugoslav cargo ship Velebit, which was sailing in ballast. At the moment of contact, the captain was in the engine room, and the officer on duty did not know (!) Morse code and could not understand what some ship wanted from him. Yugoslav burned intensely, so Detmers did not finish off the mutilated ship and went on. A few hours later, already at noon, smoke was again noticed. Some ship was heading towards Ceylon. Under the cover of a rain squall, the Kormoran crept up to its victim at a distance of 5 miles. Again the Germans demanded to stop and not go on the air. However, the Australian Mariba, carrying almost 5 thousand tons of sugar, did not even think to obey, but immediately broadcast an alarm signal on the radio. The guns of the raider rumbled, and soon the Australian was already sinking, lowering the boats. Having picked up 48 crew members and finished off the victim, Kormoran hastily left the area. The raider went south, into deserted and little-visited waters, where he stayed until July 17. Preventive maintenance of diesel engines and electrical equipment was carried out. Having lost its relevance, the Japanese make-up was changed. Impersonating a neutral Japanese was already too suspicious, and dangerous - at night you would have to go with the lights on. In addition, a neutral vessel did not have to change course abruptly, moving away from approaching any suspicious ship, which could be a British cruiser.

The auxiliary cruiser was disguised as the Dutch merchant Straat Malacca. To increase realism, a wooden model of the gun was installed at the stern. In the new image, "Kormoran" moved towards the island of Sumatra. Swimming in the tropics introduced certain difficulties in the storage of provisions. For almost ten days, the crew, replacing each other, was engaged in sifting the ship's stocks of flour, in which there were a lot of bugs and larvae. Stocks of cereals turned out to be generally unusable. In contrast, long-term storage products in numerous cold stores were well preserved. Continuing to move southeast, on August 13, 200 miles north of Carnarvon (Australia), visual contact was made with an unknown vessel, but Detmers, fearing the presence of warships nearby, ordered not to pursue the stranger. The raider moved back, in the direction of Ceylon.

On August 28, 1941, the Germans saw land for the first time after leaving Norway - it was the top of Mount Boa Boa on the island of Engano, which is located off the southwestern coast of Sumatra. The Indian Ocean was deserted - even seaplane flights did not bring results. Only on September 23 in the evening, the watchmen, to the great joy of the crew languishing from the monotony, discovered the navigation lights of a ship moving in ballast. Although these were signs of a neutral, Detmers decided to examine it. The stopped ship turned out to be the Greek "Stamatios G. Embirikos" with cargo in Colombo. The crew behaved obediently and did not go on the air. Initially, Detmers wanted to use it as an auxiliary minelayer, but the small amount of coal in the Stamatios bunkers made this problematic. After dark, the Greek was sunk by demolition charges.

The raider cruised in the western Indian Ocean until 29 September. The need to replenish supplies forced the Kormoran to meet with the next supply ship. It was Kulmerland, which left Kobe on September 3rd. The rendezvous was to take place at the Marius secret point. Arriving there on October 16, the raider met with a supply waiting for him. The auxiliary cruiser received almost 4 thousand tons of diesel fuel, 225 tons of lubricating oil, a large amount of babbitt and provisions for 6 months of sailing. The prisoners, five sick crew members and mail followed in the opposite direction. Kulmerland parted ways with the raider on October 25, and Kormoran took up another engine repair. When the mechanics reported to Detmers that the machines were in relative order, the frigate captain again went to the Australian coast to set up mine banks off Perth and in Shark Bay. However, the German command reported that a large convoy was leaving Perth under the protection of the heavy cruiser Cornwall, and the Kormoran moved towards Shark Bay.

That same fight

On November 19, 1941, the weather was excellent, visibility was excellent. At about 4 pm, the orderly reported to Detmers, who was in the wardroom, that smoke had been seen on the horizon. The frigate captain who climbed onto the bridge soon determined that this was a warship going to meet the raider. The Australian light cruiser Sydney was returning home after escorting the liner Zeelandia, which was carrying troops to Singapore. Sydney has already distinguished itself in combat operations in the Mediterranean, having sunk the Italian light cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni in the battle off Cape Spada. However, in May 1941, the commander of the light cruiser Captain 1st Rank John Collins, who had extensive combat experience, was replaced by Captain 1st Rank Joseph Barnett, who previously served on the coast. In many ways, this, probably, decided the outcome of the future fight.

Australian light cruiser Sydney

"Sydney" was a full-fledged warship, with a displacement of almost 9 thousand tons and armed with eight 152-mm guns, four 102-mm guns, twelve anti-aircraft machine guns. Torpedo armament consisted of eight 533-mm torpedo tubes. There was a seaplane on board. Detmers did not lose his presence of mind and ordered to turn to the south-west so that the sun would shine directly into the eyes of the Australians. At the same time, the Kormoran went full speed, but soon diesel No. 4 began to act up, and the speed dropped to 14 knots. About an hour after the discovery of the raider, the cruiser approached to a distance of 7 miles on the starboard side and ordered to identify itself with a searchlight. The Kormoran transmitted the correct callsign of the Straat Malacca "RKQI", but at the same time it was raised between the funnel and the fore mast so that it was practically invisible from the cruiser approaching from the stern. Sydney then demanded a destination. The Germans replied: "To Batavia", which looked quite plausible. To confuse the pursuers, the raider's radio operators began broadcasting distress signals that the Dutch ship had been attacked by an "unknown warship." Meanwhile, the cruiser was approaching - its bow turrets were aimed at the pseudo-merchant. The Australians periodically transmitted the "IK" signal, which, according to the international code of signals, meant "prepare for a hurricane." In fact, the real "Straat Malacca" should have answered "IIKP" according to the secret code of signals. The Germans preferred to ignore repeated requests.

Finally, the Sydney got tired of this long comedy, and they signaled from it: “Give your secret call sign. Further silence can only worsen the situation.” Game over. Each Allied merchant ship had its own secret code. The Australian cruiser had already practically caught up with the Kormoran and was almost on its traverse, at a distance of just over a kilometer. In response to a request at 5:30 p.m. the raider lowered the Dutch flag and raised the battle flag of the Kriegsmarine. In a record time of six seconds, camouflage shields fell. The first shot fell undershot, and the second salvo of three 150-mm and one 37-mm guns hit the Sydney bridge, destroying its fire control system. Simultaneously with the second salvo, the Germans discharged their torpedo tubes. The main caliber of the cruiser began to respond, but the sun shone in the gunners' eyes, and he lay down with a flight. 20-mm anti-aircraft guns and heavy machine guns were launched, preventing the cruiser's crew from taking their places according to the combat schedule. At such a distance it was difficult to miss, and the Germans put shell after shell into the Sydney. The seaplane was destroyed, then "Kormoran" switched fire to the bow towers of the main caliber - they were soon put out of action. The fired torpedo hit the cruiser's bow ahead of the bow turret. The bow of the Sydney sank heavily into the water. The fire on the raider was carried out by aft towers, which switched to independent aiming. The Australians smeared - nevertheless, three shells hit the Kormoran. The first pierced a pipe, the second damaged an auxiliary boiler and disabled the fire main. A fire started in the engine room. The third shell destroyed the main diesel transformers. The progress of the raider has dropped sharply.

One of the 150 mm Kormoran guns

"Sydney" had a much worse time - the cruiser suddenly turned back on a course. It was seen that the lid of turret B had been thrown into the sea. The Australian passed some hundred meters behind the stern of the raider - he was all engulfed in fires. Obviously, the steering on it was badly damaged or disabled. Opponents exchanged fruitless torpedo salvos, and "Sydney" began to move away at a 10-knot course, moving south. The Kormoran fired at him as long as range allowed. At 18.25 the fight stopped. The position of the raider was critical - the fire was growing. Engine room personnel fought the fire until almost all but one sailor were killed. The fire crept up to the mine hold, where there were almost four hundred mines, which the Kormoran carried with it throughout the campaign, but could not get rid of them.

The frigate captain realized that the ship could no longer be saved, and ordered to put explosive cartridges near the fuel tanks. Life rafts and boats were launched into the water. The first raft to be launched capsized, drowning nearly 40 people. At 24 o'clock, having taken the ship's flag, Detmers was the last to leave the doomed Kormoran. After 10 minutes, explosive cartridges worked, mines detonated - a powerful explosion destroyed the stern of the raider, and at 0 h. 35 min. auxiliary cruiser sank. More than 300 officers and sailors were on the water. 80 people were killed in action and drowned after capsizing the raft. The weather worsened, and life-saving equipment was scattered on the water. Soon a coastal steamer picked up one boat and reported this to the command of the Australian Navy, which immediately began a rescue operation. Soon all the Germans were found, although some had to talk on the rafts for about 6 days.

Tower of the main caliber "Sydney". Photos taken by an Australian expedition that discovered the remains of ships

There was no news about the fate of the Sydney, except for a broken lifeboat thrown ashore two weeks later. The search, which lasted almost 10 days, yielded no results, and the cruiser Sydney was declared dead on November 30, 1941. For many years the mystery of his death remained unsolved. The captured Germans, who were carefully interrogated already on the shore, spoke about the glow of the fire, which they observed in the place where the cruiser, enveloped in flames, had gone. Only in March 2008, a special expedition of the Australian Navy discovered first the Kormoran, and then the Sydney, about 200 miles southwest of Carnarvon. Former opponents lie not far from each other - 20 miles. A layer of water of 2.5 kilometers reliably covered the dead sailors with its cover. What events took place in the compartments and decks of the Australian cruiser engulfed in flames, how the drama that ended this ship at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean ended, we obviously will never know.

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HMAS Sydney is a Chatham-class light cruiser of the Royal Australian Navy, famous for its victory in battle with the famous Emden raider. Laid down on February 11, 1911 at the London and Glasgow Engineering Company shipyard,

launched on August 29, 1912 and in 1913 became part of the Australian Navy.
September 19 "Sydney" arrived in Australia.

Main characteristics:

Normal displacement 5400 tons, total displacement 6000 tons.
Length 139.6 m.
Width 14.9 m.
Draft 4.9 m.
Reservation belt - 51 mm; deck - 38-12.7 mm.
Engines 4 PT Parsons.
Power 25 000 l. With. (18.4 MW).
Travel speed 25.5 knots (47.2 km/h).
Crew 475 people.

Armament:

Artillery 8 × 1 - 152 mm / 45, 4 × 1 - 47 mm.
Mine-torpedo armament 2 × 1 533-mm TA.
Aviation Group 1 Sopwith Pup (since 1918).

With the outbreak of the First World War, the cruiser took an active part in the capture of German colonies in the Pacific Ocean and the protection of the Entente's sea lanes. In October 1914, "Sydney" was engaged in escorting transports from ANZAC.

On November 1, 1914, while escorting another convoy by Sydney together with the cruiser Melbourne, the commander of the detachment, Captain 1st Rank M. L. Silver, received a radiogram from Direction Island, located 55 miles south of the convoy's course, reporting the appearance of a suspicious ship on the horizon. Assuming that this ship could be a German raider, Silver ordered the Sydney to break up steam and go at full speed to the Cocos Islands.

Battle of the Cocos Islands

At 09:15, the Sydney spotted ground ahead, and then, almost immediately, smoke, which turned out to be the Emden coming towards them. At 09:40, the enemy opened fire from a long distance, and the weakest Emden covered the Australian ship with a third salvo, which disabled the bow rangefinder and killed the rangefinder.
"Sydney" was a little delayed with determining the distance and sighting, but in the twentieth minute of the battle the German cruiser began to receive hits, and by 10:20 she lost the front tube; the fire control system, steering and radio station were also disabled, there was no power supply. The Sydney's commander, Captain Glossop, tried to keep his distance in order to take advantage of his longer-range and heavier guns.
At 11 o'clock the battered "Emden" ceased fire and began to move towards the shore. At this time, the German collier "Buresk" appeared on the horizon, and "Sydney" set off in pursuit of him.

After sinking the collier, the Australian cruiser returned to the Emden, which was aground, and offered to surrender; having received no answer, Captain Glossop ordered to open fire, but after five minutes the Emden lowered the flag and capitulated. Losses "Sydney" in the battle amounted to 3 killed and 8 wounded.

Further service

In 1915, Sydney was transferred to the European theater of operations and remained there until the end of the war.

In 1922, the cruiser made a number of visits to US ports. In 1929, it was dismantled for metal.

The Royal Australian Navy received its baptism of fire on November 9, 1914. In the battle of Cocos Island, the cruiser Sydney sank the German raider Emden, forever leaving her name in naval history.

In this battle, the Australians paid for the death of Russian sailors from the Zhemchug cruiser, sunk by the Emden on October 28, 1914. At the beginning of the First World War, Pacific Ocean there was a German squadron consisting of two armored and four light cruisers, among which was the Emden built in 1908, a light armored cruiser with a displacement of 3592 tons, armed with 10 4.1-inch caliber guns. Being the last of the German cruisers that had steam engines, she developed a relatively low speed (24.1 knots). The combat career of this raider, which lasted only a little more than three months, was so successful that he forever left his place in naval history. Painting by artist A. Burgess - Burning "Emden" On July 31, 1914, the "Emden" left the port of Qingdao - the German naval base in China. It was obvious that only a few days remained before the entry into the war of the largest European states, and the captain of the German cruiser Von Müller preferred to meet her on the high seas. On August 2, the Emden team learned that Germany had declared war on Russia, and the next day, upon learning that France had joined Russia, the captain of the German cruiser Von Müller began hunting for the ships of the Allied powers. The cruiser "Emden" On August 4, near the island of Tsushima, "Emden" met the Russian steamer "Ryazan" with a displacement of 3500 tons, heading for Nagasaki. The Ryazan, carrying about 80 passengers and some cargo, tried to evade pursuit into the waters of neutral Japan by sending radio signals for help to Vladivostok. Having drowned out the radio signals of the Russian ship, the Emden, after an hour's chase, overtook him and forced him to stop with a series of 12 warning shots. When prize crew officer Julius Lauterbach boarded the Ryazan, the Russian captain tried to feign complete ignorance German language, however, Lauterbach, laughing, reminded him that just a month ago they had a lively conversation in one of the bars of Qingdao ... Von Müller, impressed by the speed of the new Russian steamship (ironically built in Germany), decided to keep it for later use as an auxiliary raider. Subsequently, the Germans installed eight 4-inch guns on the Ryazan, taken from the old gunboat Kormoran, and completed the newly minted raider with a team from the same vessel. On August 27, 1914, he was included in the Pacific squadron of Count von Spee under the name "Kormoran II" *. Without achieving any results, the newly minted raider was interned in December of the same year in the port of Guam. On the twelfth of August, the Russian cruisers Askold and Zhemchug, which at one time took part in naval battles Russo-Japanese War , were attached to the Anglo-French squadron under the command of Admiral Gerram, whose main task was to search for and destroy German cruisers. Russian ships took part in the hunt for the colliers of the von Spee squadron and the escort of English and French transports ... Meanwhile, the Emden captured and sank one transport after another. On September 22, the raider managed to shell the Indian port of Madras and cause serious damage to its oil storage facilities. As a result of the shelling, 5 port workers were killed and 12 were injured. On October 26, 1914, the Pearl arrived in Penang (an island off the northwest coast of Malaya) for a boiler cleaning station. Against the advice of Admiral Gerram, who warned of the need to take increased precautions, the captain of the Pearl, Cherkasov, left the cruiser on October 27 to spend the night on the shore. The cruiser's torpedo tubes were unloaded, only 12 shells were stored near the guns. The number of sailors on watch was no more than usual ... The cruiser Zhemchug The captain of the Emden, meanwhile, correctly calculated that the cruisers of the allied squadron would have to call at ports from time to time for repairs and replenishment of water and coal. The most convenient place for parking was Penang Bay, and von Muller decided to try his luck. On the morning of October 28, 1914, the Emden, carrying a false tube and disguised as the British cruiser Yarmouth, entered Penang Bay. The only large warship at anchor was the Zhemchug, which was turned to port to the entrance to the bay. At 0513 Emden raised the German flag and opened fire, and at 0518 fired the first torpedo from a distance of about 360 meters, which exploded in the stern of the Russian cruiser's hull. Half of the Pearl's shells were stockpiled near the stern gun, which failed when a lifeboat torn off by an enemy shell fell on it. Another six shells were stacked at the starboard N2 gun. The gun crew dragged the shells to the bow gun and returned fire, but to no avail - one of the shells flew over the Emden and hit the anchored cargo ship. At 05:28, turning 180 degrees, the German cruiser fired another torpedo from the port side apparatus from about 700 meters. The hit of this torpedo turned out to be fatal for the "Pearl" - the cruiser exploded, broke in half and sank. Eighty-nine Russian sailors died and 143 were injured. The death of the "Pearl" cost dearly to two of its officers - Captain Cherkasov and Senior Lieutenant Kulibin. For criminal negligence they were sentenced to imprisonment (3.5 and 1.5 years respectively) and deprived of officer ranks, awards and noble ranks. The French gunboat D'lberville was also in the bay. She began to fire on the Emden, but he evaded the battle, as his signalmen saw a warship a few kilometers from the entrance to the harbor, which was first mistaken for a cruiser. Deciding that a small gunboat would not get away from him, von Müller focused his attention on a larger enemy ship. It was the French destroyer Mousqet, rather nonchalantly approaching the entrance to the bay. When the distance between him and the Emden decreased to about two miles, the Emden fired a salvo with all sides. Only now did they realize on the destroyer who they had to meet. The Mousqet turned sharply to the left and went full speed, trying to get away, but it was too late. According to the memoirs of the senior officer of the "Emden" H. Myukke, already on the third salvo, the German sailors noticed 5 hits on the hull of an enemy ship. Then there was a terrible explosion, apparently from the detonation of one of the cellars, and a thick cloud of smoke and coal dust enveloped the entire rear half of the destroyer. The French sailors managed to fire two torpedoes and several shells at the Emden, but it was too late - ten minutes after the start of the battle, the Mousqet sank. The captain, who received several wounds, shared the fate of his ship ... When rescue boats from the Emden approached the place of death of the destroyer, the French sailors, frightened by stories about the cruel treatment of prisoners of war by the Germans, tried to swim away, although there was no hope of reaching the shore. The Germans managed to pick up 36 French sailors. Meanwhile, Emden's signalers noticed another destroyer emerging from the bay. He tried to chase after the German cruiser, but it left him behind behind a wall of tropical rain. Among the rescued French sailors, there were many wounded. The Germans gave them medical attention, but three of the wounded died on board the German cruiser and were buried at sea with military honors. A platoon of the Emden team in full dress, a rifle guard and all the officers took part in the funeral ceremony. Von Müller delivered a short speech in French - the chivalrous attitude of the warring parties to each other during the First World War was commonplace ... Later, after the Germans landed the prisoners on the shore in the port of Saban, another wounded French officer died in the coastal hospital . On "Askold" they learned about the tragedy of "Pearl" in Bombay, where on October 31 he brought another transport from Colombo. The sailors of the cruiser were very upset by the death of their comrades, with whom they had served together for many years in the Siberian military flotilla. But "Askold" was not destined to avenge the death of his comrades, although he went to sea more than once in search of a German raider. After the sinking of the Pearl and Mousqet, the Emden cruised in the waters of the Indian Ocean for about two more weeks. In total, he chalked up 22 sunk and captured ships. Passengers and crews of merchant ships were not harmed by this - they were treated with exceptional generosity and were transported ashore as soon as possible. Raider activity "Emden" turned into serious problem for the fleets of the allied powers. In addition to material damage, it also undermined the prestige of British, French and Russian sailors, who for two months could not catch the annoying German raider. However, an inevitable accident soon ruined the Emden ... Early in the morning of November 9, 1914, the captain of the Emden, von Muller, landed a sabotage party on Cocos Island in order to destroy the local radio station. The military contingent of the island recorded the coded radio signals of the German raider and soon noticed an unfamiliar vessel approaching. The radio operator managed to transmit an alarm signal, after which the island’s radio station went silent ... Von Muller did not know that two weeks earlier, a convoy with soldiers of the ANZAC corps had departed from the coast of Western Australia, heading under the protection of the British, Japanese and two Australian cruisers to Alexandria. The SOS signal transmitted by the radio operator of Cocos Island was received by the convoy ships. The commander of the Japanese cruiser Ibuki requested that he be granted the honor of going to the aid of the island's garrison, but the captain British cruiser"Silver", leading the convoy, did not dare to leave the convoy without this powerful armored cruiser . He radioed an order to the Australian cruiser Sydney, which was closer than the rest of the allied ships to the island (about 80 km), to go to him at full speed. "Sydney" - the newest cruiser with a displacement of 5700 tons, was built in 1913 in Scotland and transferred from the British Navy to the Australian. Most of its experienced sailors were British, and, in addition, the team included about 60 Australians who were on board combat training ... Cruiser "Sydney" At 9.15 in the morning, the signalman reported to Von Muller that a four-pipe ship appeared on the horizon. The captain of the Emden realized that he would have to fight with one of the Allied cruisers. There was so little time left that he had to leave a sabotage group on the shore and go out to sea towards the approaching enemy ship. Von Müller felt quite confident, as he initially mistook the Sydney for the British light cruiser Newcastle. In fact, the Australian cruiser was superior to the German opponent in speed (27 knots), armor protection and armament: she carried eight six-inch guns firing 100-pound shells. The Emden's rapid-firing 4.1-inch guns weighed only 38 pounds. The captain of the Sydney, Glossop, decided to open fire from a distance of about 8.5 kilometers, since, based on the technical information he had, he believed that at such a distance he would be out of reach of the Emden guns. However, the first shells of the German cruiser fell into the water just 180 meters from Sydney even when the distance to Emden was about 9.5 kilometers. So at 9.40 in the morning the battle between the two cruisers began. At first, luck accompanied the gunners of the Emden: their shells damaged the deck superstructures of the Sydney, several sailors were killed and wounded. However, only a few minutes passed, and the heavy shells of the Sydney began to inflict one serious damage after another on the German cruiser: the radio station was destroyed, the steering and rangefinders were disabled. The forward funnel and mast were blown off by the explosions and fell overboard, taking the fire control tower with them. There were many dead and wounded in the team, and there was no one to replace them, since three officers and forty sailors from the sabotage group remained on the shore. 40 minutes after the start of the battle, both fire control stations on the Emden were destroyed. The ship was on fire, but continued to return fire to fire. By 11 o'clock, only one gun was operating on the German cruiser. Von Müller decided to withdraw from the battle and throw the ship onto the reefs to rescue the surviving crew members. "Sydney" tried to cut off the path to salvation for "Emden" and fired the last salvo from a distance of about 5 kilometers, but it was too late - after 15 minutes the burning ship landed on the reefs. Glossop left the helpless Emden alone and headed for the coal carrier Buresk, a British ship that was previously captured by the Emden on its way from Australia to the UK, located near the battlefield. However, when the prize crew boarded the transport, it was already too late - the German sailors opened the kingstones and the ship quickly sank. At 4 p.m., the Sydney returned to the Emden. He had to fire two more volleys at the helpless German cruiser before a white flag appeared on his mast. The victory cost the Sydney team 4 killed and 12 (according to other sources, 8) wounded team members. The losses of the Emden team were much heavier - 8 officers and 126 sailors were killed, 65 were wounded (according to other sources, 8, 111 and 52, respectively). Thus ended the dizzying career of the German raider (in the photo on the right - the ruins of "Emden"). In his report to the British Admiralty, Captain Glossop praised the behavior and actions of the 60 young Australian sailors who were trained on his cruiser. In this battle, the Royal Australian Navy received a baptism of fire, and the cruiser Sydney paid off for the dead Russian and French sailors and for the ships sunk by the Emden.

HMAS Sydney

Historical data

common data

EU

real

dock

Booking

Armament

Ships of the same type

General information

HMAS Sydney was the first light cruiser built Amphion(which is why it is sometimes called type Sydney). What is characteristic HMAS Sydney was laid down a few days after the laying of the first ship of this type - HMS Amphion, but went into operation almost a year faster than its sisterships due to the better work of the shipyard. An interesting fact is also that the ship was laid down under the name HMS Phaeton and was intended for service in the Royal Navy, but during the construction process was transferred to the Australian Navy and renamed HMAS Sydney. In exchange for 3 type cruisers Amphion Australia handed over a hydro-aircraft carrier to the mother country HMAS Albatross .

The ship is also called Sydney (II), as it was the second ship of the Australian Navy to bear that name. Except this ship name Sydney wore:

1. HMAS Sydney (1912)- Town-class light cruiser
2. HMAS Sydney (1948)(when bookmarked - HMS Terrible) - type aircraft carrier Majestic
3. HMAS Sydney (1980)- frigate type Adelaide

November 19, 2015 another ship was laid down HMAS Sydney- type destroyer Hobart which should be operational by 2020.

History of creation

predecessors

Communications, detection, auxiliary equipment

HMAS Sydney became the first Australian ship to be fitted with the British-made Type 125 sonar. Also on board were 4 × 47 mm Hotchkiss rapid-fire salute guns.

Modernizations and conversions

In the summer of 1940, the ship underwent a minor upgrade - the number of 7.62 mm Lewis machine guns was reduced to 9, and the 7.62 mm Vickers machine guns and 47 mm Hotchkiss saluting guns were removed. In December 1940, as part of a minor overhaul, degaussing equipment was installed on the cruiser.

Service History

pre-war period

• HMAS Sydney fully completed the tests and left Portsmouth on October 29, 1935. Immediately after leaving the port, he receives an order to go to Gibraltar to connect with the 2nd British Navy Cruiser Squadron, whose task was to enforce economic sanctions against Italy.
• In January 1936, the cruiser underwent maintenance in Alexandria, and in March HMAS Sydney was reassigned to the 1st Cruiser Squadron, where he continued to monitor compliance with sanctions against Italy and participated in the exercises of the British fleet.
• Due to the easing of tensions, on 14 July 1936 the cruiser sailed for Australia, arriving at the port of Fremantle at the end of July. On August 8, the ship visited Melbourne, and on August 11 - visited Sydney, after which it was named.
• In Australia, the cruiser spent most of her time on exercises and training trips. At the beginning of August 1939 HMAS Sydney was in the port of Darwin. Due to the aggravation of the situation in the world (which served as the beginning of World War II), the cruiser was ordered to arrive in Fremantle, where she arrived on August 22, 1939.

Service at the start of World War II

HMAS Sydney at Port Fremantle, 1939

At the time of Great Britain's entry into the Second world war, September 3, 1939, HMAS Sydney was at his base in the port of Fremantle. Its crew was transferred to the wartime staff and increased to 645 people. First combat missions HMAS Sydney were patrolling and escorting ships in Australian waters.

The cruiser participated in patrols in the Indian Ocean until the end of 1939, when she received orders to return to Sydney for docking and Christmas mooring. February 8, 1940 the ship again arrived on combat duty to the western shores of Australia. From February to April 1940, the ship escorted convoys off the coast of Australia and in the Indian Ocean.

May 1, 1940 HMAS Sydney returned to Fremantle after escorting another convoy and was ordered to proceed at maximum speed to Colombo. Stopping in Singapore for refueling, the ship arrived in Colombo on May 8, 1940. However, already on May 12, he received an order to go to the Mediterranean Sea, and on May 26 he arrived in Alexandria, where he joined the British forces in the Mediterranean Sea.

Service in the Mediterranean

At the beginning of June 1940 HMAS Sydney participated in the exercises of the 7th cruiser squadron, where he quickly gained a reputation as a well-trained and, most importantly, successful ship. June 10, 1940 Italy declared war on Britain. HMAS Sydney at that time he was in Alexandria and received orders to immediately go to sea to search for Italian Navy and ensuring the safety of navigation in the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean. During the patrol, the ship did not meet with the enemy.

June 21, 1940 HMAS Sydney first participated in hostilities - the shelling of the Italian port of Badria. The artillery of the ship fired for 22 minutes military base. At the same time, a Supermarine Walrus seaplane launched from the ship was mistakenly attacked by British aircraft. Pilot T.M. Price managed to land the plane, but it was beyond repair.

On June 22, France signed an armistice with Germany, which meant that French ships were to be disarmed under the supervision of German and Italian forces. The command of the British fleet ordered that the French fleet should not be allowed to go over to the side of Germany at any cost. In Alexandria, where at that time he was HMAS Sydney, the entire British fleet was ordered to point the guns at the French ships and be ready to open fire. However, the conflict was resolved peacefully, the French ships were disarmed and their crews were reduced to 30%.

June 28, 1940 HMAS Sydney participated in the pursuit of 3 enemy destroyers discovered by allied aircraft. Realizing that they could not escape pursuit, the destroyer commander Espero sacrificed his ship to enable the other 2 destroyers to leave. After a long fight HMAS Sydney sunk Espero and, picking up 47 surviving Italian sailors, he went to Alexandria. On June 30, the ship was attacked by Italian aircraft and once again confirmed the reputation of a happy ship without receiving any damage.

July 9, 1940 HMAS Sydney participated in the battle near Calabria, where he acted along with the rest of the cruisers of the 7th squadron.

July 18 HMAS Sydney left Alexandria with the destroyer HMS Havok in the direction of Athens, where they were supposed to join the flotilla of British destroyers in the Aegean Sea and protect the northern coast of the island from the Italian fleet. Crete. July 19 radar HMAS Sydney discovered 2 Italian cruisers that were trying to avoid a collision with the British fleet. As it turned out later, the Italian cruisers Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni delle Bande Nere went to Libya with a cargo of fuel and ammunition placed directly on the decks. Italian ships suspected the presence of British destroyers and decided to turn back to the coast of Italy when they suddenly encountered HMAS Sydney and accompanying destroyers. HMAS Sydney managed to sink Bartolomeo Colleoni and seriously damage Giovanni delle Bande Nere with virtually no damage. This battle went down in history as the Battle of Cape Spada.

After this momentous battle, the cruiser until the end of 1940 performed the tasks of patrolling and escorting convoys. So, July 27, 1940. ship along with HMS Neptune participated in the sinking of an Italian tanker Ermioni, and on September 3-4, 1940, disguised as an Italian light cruiser of the type Condottieri, bombarded the air base in Scrapanto from the sea.

After a minor repair in Malta, on January 8, 1941, the cruiser was ordered to return to the coast of Australia. The plans were to carry out a large-scale modernization of the cruiser (mainly it consisted in strengthening air defense) and rotate Australian ships in the Mediterranean. The immediate task of the cruiser was to protect the coast of Australia from German raiders and the Japanese fleet. Along the way HMAS Sydney several times he was involved in escorting merchant ships and searching for German raiders in the Indian Ocean. On February 5, the ship arrived at its base in the port of Fremantle.

For 8 months of service in the Mediterranean, the cruiser's crew lost only one sailor who died due to illness.

HMAS Sydney in combat camouflage

Service off the coast of Australia

Ship in camouflage as of August 1941.

• On February 9, 1941, the cruiser arrived in Sydney, where her crew was greeted like heroes. After a short renovation HMAS Sydney departed for Fremantle 27 February 1941. and received the task of escorting convoys and patrolling in the Indian Ocean.
• April 19, 1941 the ship took the Australian delegation to Singapore for a secret meeting of representatives of the British Commonwealth, the Dutch East Indies and the United States.
• Already May 15, 1941. the cruiser again arrives in Singapore, now with the task of escorting transport ships that delivered troops to Singapore.
• All summer 1941 HMAS Sydney escorted convoys in the Indian Ocean.
• September 19, 1941, after painting in a new camouflage, the cruiser left Melbourne for Fremantle with the task of patrolling the western coast of Australia.
• During October 1941. the cruiser passed the entire western and northern coast of Australia, escorted convoys, reconnoitered minefields.

Finally, on November 17, the cruiser received orders to return to Fremantle, where she was supposed to arrive on the evening of November 20.

Doom

Battle scheme

November 19, 1941 the cruiser met with an unknown merchant ship, which was moving at a speed of 14 knots in the direction of the coast of Australia. The cruiser commander made an unacceptable mistake and approached an unknown vessel, which introduced itself as a Dutch transport Straat Malakka, at a distance of 1.3 km. For almost an hour, the ships exchanged flag signals until at 17:30 it became clear that the unknown vessel was a German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran .

After a half-hour battle at close range, the opponents dispersed. Kormoran received serious damage to the engine room, in addition, a fire broke out on the ship, which threatened the magazines with ammunition, so at 18:25 the commander ordered the crew to leave the ship. Surviving team members Kormoran stated that they saw on the horizon a glow from a fire on board HMAS Sydney until 22:00.

As it turned out later, HMAS Sydney, having received severe damage, retained controllability and tried to approach the shore, but at some point lost buoyancy, rolled over to the port side and sank.

Of the 645 crew members who were on board at the time, no one survived. It was the biggest loss of the Australian Navy in its entire history, and HMAS Sydney became the largest Allied ship to die with the entire crew during World War II.

Search for the remains HMAS Sydney

Remains of a cruiser (computer reconstruction)

After all possible deadlines for the ship's arrival in Fremantle had passed, the command of the Australian Navy began searching for the missing cruiser. November 26 HMAS Heros found a damaged empty lifeboat, which was identified as a lifeboat with HMAS Sydney.

However, this story was mysterious only for the layman, because in both English and German military history literature, the details of this incident were given back in the 1950s. Moreover, these books were soon translated into Russian, but are practically unknown to the general reader.

Therefore, although there have been a number of publications in popular publications, I will take the liberty, based on the analysis of several such sources and the latest data obtained during the survey of the sunken cruiser, to try to highlight this truly unique case in more detail.

To disrupt British shipping, the German naval command on initial stage World War II made extensive use of auxiliary cruisers. These ships, going on a mission, disguised themselves either as a merchant ship of a neutral country, or even as an enemy ship. Medium-caliber artillery was secretly placed on them, and sometimes the raiders were even armed with torpedo tubes and reconnaissance aircraft. All the free space was occupied with supplies necessary for many months of uninterrupted voyage. The most courageous and resourceful officers were selected for the position of commanders, and the crews were recruited, as a rule, only from volunteers.

Auxiliary cruiser "Kormoran" before entering the raid

One of these raiders was the auxiliary cruiser Kormoran (HSK-8 Kormoran). In peacetime, the ship was called "Steiermark" ("Steiermark") and belonged to the company "Gapag". It was a brand new diesel-electric ship with a displacement of 9500 tons, which had a maximum speed of 18 knots and could travel 70,000 miles at 10 knots. After her transformation into an auxiliary cruiser, she was armed with six modern 150 mm and one 75 mm naval guns, four 40 mm, two 37 mm and five 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and six torpedo tubes.

In addition to supplies, 280 anchor and 40 bottom mines were stored in the holds, as well as two Arado Ar-196 reconnaissance aircraft (unassembled). The crew consisted of 18 officers and 391 sailors and foremen.

On December 3, 1940, under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Theodor Anton Detmers (Theodor Anton Detmers; 1902-1976), the Kormoran left Kiel for the sea to fight against merchant fleet enemy in the central Atlantic and southern Indian Oceans.

After he was lucky enough to break through the Denmark Strait, the raider headed for the central part of the Atlantic, where on January 6, 1941 he met his first victim - the Greek ship "Antonis" ("Antonis"; 3729 brt, 1915) of the Lemos company. Approaching up to three kilometers, the Germans demanded to stop and not use the radio. The boarding party found that the ship was carrying 4,800 tons of coal from Cardiff to Rosario (Uruguay) on a British charter. 29 people, 7 sheep, food supplies and several machine guns with ammunition found on board were transported from the coal miner to the auxiliary cruiser. Then "Antonis" was launched to the bottom with explosive charges.

After 12 days at night, he sank a large English tanker "British Union" ("British Union"; 6987 brt, 1927). The captain of the tanker, L. Atthill, joined the battle and began to transmit distress signals. Then the Germans opened fire to kill. The British managed to respond with only four shots from a single cannon. The bitter truth was that all the armament of the tanker was much older than the ship itself and was serviced by crew members who had experience in handling such weapons only as part of a one-day course hastily conducted while staying in port, so the “battle” ended quickly. When the team began to lower the boats, the raider stopped firing, took the British on board and finished off the ship with a torpedo. The British auxiliary cruiser Arava, who was very close by, noticed gun flashes and hurried to the battlefield, but the Germans managed to get away. January 29 "Carmoran" sank the British ships "Afrik Star" ("Afric Star"; 11,900 GRT, 1926), and "Eurylokus" ("Eurylochus"; 5723 BRT, 1912). The latter had on board the most valuable military cargo - combat aircraft, with which it went to Takaradi. Both sunken ships managed to give radio messages about the attack. Commanding maritime forces in Freetown, he immediately sent the heavy cruisers Norfolk (HMS Norfolk) and Devonshire (HMS Devonshire) to survey the area. However, this time the raider managed to slip away and headed for the South Atlantic for a rendezvous with the Nordmark tanker. The raider pumped 1339 tons of fuel from it, 170 prisoners proceeded to the tanker in the opposite direction.

The commander of the Kormoran Theodor Anton Detmers, the photo was taken in captivity, he is already wearing the shoulder straps of a captain of the 1st rank and with the Knight's Cross

On February 25, 1941, in the South Atlantic, the Carmoran met with two German submarines U-37 and U-65, to which they transferred fuel and food. On March 15, a long rendezvous with U-124 took place, commander Lieutenant Commander Georg-Wilhelm Schulz (Georg-Wilhelm Schulz; 1906-1986), torpedoes, supplies and fuel were transferred to the boat. The divers, who have been locked in a steel “box” for more than 30 days, at that time were able to fully feel the comfort on board a large ship, not only taking a shower, but also swimming in the pool built on the deck of the Kormoran, and then enjoying lunch from fresh food, beer and movie watching.

"Kormoran", photographed from the submarine U-124

On March 22, the raider sank the small English tanker "Agnita" ("Agnita"; 3552 brt, 1931), and three days later, captured the large-capacity tanker "Canadolite" ("Canadolite"; 11 309 brt, 1926) with cargo gasoline, which he sent to Bordeaux as a prize ship. Under the command of Lieutenant H. Blo (Henrik Blo), the tanker safely reached the mouth of the Gironde on 13 April.

In early April, the raider met with two auxiliary supply vessels, replenished supplies, handed over the prisoners and returned to the former area again. Here, on April 9 and 12, 1941, he came across two more victims. British dry cargo ship "Craftsman" ("Craftsman"; 8022 brt, 1922) and the Greek timber carrier "Nikolaos D. L." ("Nicolaos D.L."; 5486 brt, 1939). However, the allies also really “stirred”. Therefore, frightened by the increased activity of the English ships, Detmers asked for a decision to end fighting in the North Atlantic, lasting four and a half months, during which he destroyed or captured 8 ships with a total tonnage of 58,708 tons, and head south.

Six days later, the raider arrived in his new area. But luck turned away from the Germans, the first four weeks of the search did not bring them success. On June 24, 1941, the Kormoran was 200 miles southeast of Madras, in front of the entrance to the port of which she intended to lay mines. The warship that appeared on the horizon forced us to abandon this intention and hastily retreat. And since a hurricane was raging in the Calcutta area, chosen as the second goal, at that moment, Detmers decided to temporarily abandon the supply of barriers and headed southeast, leaving the Bay of Bengal. The mines remained on board, subsequently playing a fatal role in the fate of the ship.

Two days later, the Germans managed to sink two more ships (Yugoslavian and English) "Velebit" ("Velebit"; 4135 brt, 1911) and "Mariba" ("Mareeba"; 3472 brt, 1921), bringing the total tonnage of their victims up to 64,333 tons. The raid to the islands of Java and Sumatra did not produce results. Therefore, the commander of the Carmoran headed to the area east of Madagascar, where three months earlier another German raider had discovered many tempting targets.

After a week of patrolling in the indicated area, the Germans were finally able to overtake one Greek ship "Stamatios G. Embirikos" ("Stamatios G. Embiricos"; 3941 brt, 1936). In just 5 months of sailing in the Indian Ocean, the raider sank only 3 ships with a total displacement of 11,566 tons. At the end of September 1941, he met with the Kulmerland supply ship, which brought food and fuel from Japan.

Replenishing supplies and handing over prisoners, the Germans went to the shores of Western Australia. The auxiliary cruiser commander, of course, did not know that the British Admiralty had put in place an identification system by plotting the location of all friendly merchant ships on a tablet and providing them with individual secret identification signals.

The raid in Australian waters did not bring results for the first days. Finally, on November 19, 1941, at 4:00 pm. the watch signalers reported the appearance of the tops of the masts and a light haze on the horizon. The sea was calm, a slight breeze was blowing, the sky was clear, the visibility was simply amazing. The Carmoran approached, and the oncoming ship did the same. A few minutes later, the commander was able to see through binoculars the characteristic silhouette of a twin-tube warship. Detmars glanced at the identification guide and went cold: the Australian light cruiser Sydney (HMAS Sydney) was approaching his ship.

Just before the war, in 1937, the cruisers "Phaeton" ("Phaeton"), "Amphion" ("Amphion") and "Appolo" ("Appolo") appeared in the British fleet, soon transferred to the Australian fleet and renamed accordingly to Sydney, Perthes and Hobart. These were rather large ships with a length of 170 m and a displacement of 6985 tons. Four steam turbines with a total capacity of 72,000 liters. With. allowed to reach speeds of up to 32.5 knots. The armament consisted of eight 152-mm guns in four turrets, four 102-mm universal guns in deck mounts, and eight 40-mm anti-aircraft guns. The armor belt had a thickness of 102-52 mm, the deck was covered with 51 mm armor, and the turrets with 25 mm.

From the above technical characteristics, it can be seen that the Sydney cruiser was not only a full-fledged, but also a very worthy representative of its class. Therefore, it is completely incomprehensible why, in fact, a fairly objective, well-known English naval historian Stephen Wentworth Roskill (Roskill Stephen Wentworth; 1903-1982) in his major 3-volume work "Navy and War" modestly calls "Sydney" an escort ship ( vol. 1 p. 537).

Detmars was well aware that in an open battle with a modern cruiser his ship would be instantly sunk, so he decided to use a small chance - to try to deceive the enemy. Guns and other military items were carefully disguised. After each attack, the Germans, with the help of special shields, changed the outlines of the superstructures, the color scheme, and even sometimes put a fake pipe. First-class radio equipment of the most modern type made it possible not only to maintain reliable communication with Germany, but also to listen to enemy communications, as a result of which the Kormoran commander knew perfectly well which allied ships were in the area, and chose the most plausible cover legend. At the moment he was posing as a Dutch merchant ship "Straat Malacca" ("Straat Malakka"). Australian waters were still practically untouched by the war, and what if the cruiser was in a hurry somewhere, so she would get by with only a superficial survey and would not waste time on a full search.

At the same time, the warship was inexorably approaching, at 16 hours 30 minutes. the first command was received from him: "Give your identification signal." The Germans complied with the order, continuing to follow the same route. Approaching at 1800 m, "Sydney" lay down on a parallel course, trying to establish the true nationality of the detected vessel. The commander of the Australian cruiser, Captain 1st Rank Joseph Burnett (Captain Joseph Burnett; 1899-1941) repeatedly tried to ask the "merchant ship" for his identification marks, but the German captain tried his best to play for time. The vigilance of the Australian team was low, it seems that the Sydney commander believed that the Dutch Straat Malacca was in front of him and simply formally carried out the order to search all ships.

Then the Germans, continuing the game, filled the air with calls for help: “A peaceful ship is being pursued by an enemy raider! Help, who can! However, this did not make any impression, and the command followed: "Stop the machines." Detmers also carried out this order, since he clearly understood that in the event of a battle it was better to deal with a stationary enemy, because only then would his torpedoists have a chance to excel.

The ships stopped, at which point the Australians demanded that a secret identification signal be raised. On the raider, they realized that the game was lost, but Detmers was playing for time as much as possible, because his high-sided vessel drifted towards the squat under the influence of the wind. warship, which reduced the already small distance between them. Finally, the cruiser began to lose patience, and the order took the form of an ultimatum. The ships approached already 1100 meters and the Germans decided it was time to get down to business.

Experienced Marine officer(in the Navy since 1921) the raider commander assessed the situation for the last time. The sight of the enemy ship gave him some hope that his situation was not so hopeless. The combat posts were not crowded, and although the two bow towers of the main caliber "just in case" were aimed at the ship being surveyed, other artillery crews were absent in their places, and there were a lot of "loitering public" on the deck. Apparently, the "combat alert" was not even played. Detmars thought feverishly where to direct the first salvo, try to destroy the bow towers, or disorganize the ship's control by knocking down the command bridge, where a large group of officers was clearly visible? Behind the folding, camouflage shields, gun crews froze in terrible tension. They did not see the target, but the fire control devices gave out all the data necessary for firing.

Finally, the decision was made: sirens howled, camouflage shields fell, the Nazi flag flew up on the mast. The first volley brought great success to the Germans: the commander's bridge with the artillery fire control post was practically destroyed on the cruiser. Detmers' calculations were fully justified, the return salvo of the Australians gave a large flight (this is from 1100 m!). But the Germans, with their second salvo, literally demolished the bow towers of the cruiser. Almost simultaneously, one of the torpedoes fired by the Kormoran formed a hole in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe bridge of the enemy ship, and the Sydney abruptly settled on the bow. Apparently, the torpedo severely damaged the propulsion system. Another salvo of the Germans destroyed the airborne aircraft and all the ship's boats, the cruiser flared up like a torch. The close range allowed the raider's team to launch automatic anti-aircraft guns, thereby preventing the Sydney from using weapons openly mounted on superstructures.

The confusion of the Australians did not last long. "Sydney" finally got together and answered for real: two six-inch shells fired from the aft turret demolished the tank gun of the "Carmoran" along with the calculation. At 5:45 p.m. the German raider lost its course, a large shell hit the car, a strong fire started. However, the situation of the Australians was even worse: almost all the artillery on the starboard side was destroyed, the bow turrets of the main battery were broken, the stern turrets jammed on the port side, numerous fires raged on the ship. Despite this, the cruiser made a feeble attempt to turn around to bring the surviving 102-mm port-side guns into action, but the Carmoran again covered her with rapid fire from all the remaining guns. The Germans fired with great speed, the long hours of training of their gunners had an effect. Then the Australians decided to withdraw from the battle, and engulfed in flames, "Sydney" began to slowly move away. His guns no longer responded, the masts were missing, deck superstructures were destroyed. The Germans showered shells on the helpless cruiser until she was at 1830 hours. did not disappear beyond the horizon. By this time it was almost completely dark. A bright flash lit up the night sky at 22:00. in the direction where the wrecked ship went, was apparently caused by its explosion. The details of the last hours of the unfortunate cruiser are unknown, since not a single person managed to escape from the Sydney. According to another version, the Sydney remained buoyant for four hours, but then its nose came off. The ship sank quickly.

The position of "Kormoran" was also very difficult. In addition to the fact that 46 people from the crew were out of action and the car was broken, strong fires continued, and there were a large number of mines on board. If not for this ill-fated cargo, the crew, who had already localized the fire to some extent, would certainly have managed to cope with the fire, and the presence of an excellent workshop and qualified mechanics on the ship gave hope for repairing the engine.

But all efforts were in vain: when the temperature in the "mine holds" began to approach critical, the commander ordered the ship to be abandoned, and shortly after midnight it took off with a terrible roar. A whole flotilla of lifeboats under sail moved to the Australian coast. Soon, the mayor of a small town in western Australia received alarming news: the Germans were landing on the coast. Moreover, not a couple of dozen people from a sunken submarine, but hundreds of military sailors. Panic broke out in the city. However, the Germans, maintaining perfect discipline, meekly surrendered, not showing the slightest desire to conquer Australia. Another part of the crew was caught at sea from life rafts by Australian ships.

These were 315 sailors and 3 Chinese laundresses out of more than 400 who left almost a year ago on the Kormoran from the other end globe in a difficult and dangerous raid, to disrupt British merchant shipping. Only 16 people from the prize party returned home on a captured tanker. 80 people died - 2 officers and 78 sailors (of which 34 on an overturned life raft), the rest were captured for a long time. On December 4, 1941, T. Detmers, while in captivity, became a holder of the Knight's Cross, and on April 1, 1943 he received the rank of captain of the 1st rank. The raider team was released only at the very beginning of 1947. During his stay in the camp, despite the more than tolerable conditions of detention, one of the sailors died of illness, the rest returned home safely.

As for the reasons why this completely unique event in naval history occurred, the blame for the defeat, of course, lies entirely with the commander of the Australian cruiser. Those few seconds for which the raider preempted him in opening fire, and most importantly, managed to launch torpedoes at point-blank range, turned out to be decisive. Having shown criminal carelessness and complete disregard for elementary security measures when meeting an unfamiliar vessel at sea, the commander actually destroyed a mighty warship and 645 human lives. The most amazing thing is that Sydney received twice a day reports on the position of all merchant ships of friendly countries, and should have known that not one of them was within an area closer than 200 miles. Some historians believe that Barnet was confused by conflicting instructions from his superiors. For the raiders were supposed to be shot from a distance, and the enemy’s merchant ships had to be boarded and then replenished with them by the Allied fleet. However, we must pay tribute to the captain of the 2nd rank Detmers, he used all the mistakes of his opponent by 100%.

For Australia, the death of the Sydney became a true national tragedy - all 645 members of her crew died, which is the largest loss of the Australian fleet in its history, amounting to 35% of the total losses. personnel Australian navy throughout World War II. Not only that, the cruiser also became the largest allied ship to die during World War II with the entire crew.

For a long time, the place of death of both ships was known only approximately. The cruisers were only found in March 2008, after the Australian government allocated funds for a program to search for them. They were discovered at a depth of two and a half kilometers, about 100 nautical miles off the west coast of Australia. Interestingly, the Sydney was found less than a day after the sunken Kormoran was found in the same area, with which the Australian sailors fought in November 1941. The discovery of the wreck allowed experts to examine the damage done to both ships and cross-reference it with official records and testimonies taken from the surviving crew members of the Kormoran, making it possible to determine what happened to the cruiser Sydney. In total, during the hour-long battle, Kormoran fired about 550 150-mm shells and achieved, according to German data, more than fifty hits (underwater studies showed at least 87 hits of 150-mm shells). The reconstruction of the battle made it possible to obtain evidence that 70% of the Sydney team immediately died from shells and torpedoes. Many crew members were injured or trapped in the compartments of the ship, which were smoky with combustion products and toxic substances. Those who were not injured and were able to get on deck had no chance of surviving on the high seas without lifeboats.

Terence Cole, the expert who led the study, also concluded in a 1500-page report that Captain 1st Rank Joseph Burnett made an unforgivable mistake by not ordering his crew to take up combat posts when approaching an unfamiliar ship, which turned out to be German auxiliary cruiser. As a result, according to the expert, the Sydney approached the Kormoran at a dangerous distance, where all its tactical advantages were nullified, and the German ship got the opportunity to attack using the surprise effect.

Of course, I sincerely feel sorry for the Australians - and not only as a human being, but also because they fought hand in hand with my ancestors against our common enemy. But this story should once again emphasize the idea that any military person from the first days of service was repeated and repeated by many commanders of all degrees: “To the last letter, learn the Charter, learn combat manuals, learn instructions, because their pages are written with the blood of distant and lest their death and mutilation be wasted, teach!”

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