HMAS Sydney and Kormoran Documents

The following are images of original documents relating to the HMAS Sydney/Kormoran engagement on 19 November 1941.

These documents were forwarded to Australia by the Admiralty in 1947 and subsequently returned to England. Their actual origin is not clear but they may have been sent to England from Australia during the Second World War.

The letter from the Director of Naval Intelligence (see Naval Intelligence Letter below) provides background information on the documents and their authors.

In 2000/2001 Captain Peter Hore RN (rtd) conducted a search of various British Archives in an attempt to locate certain documents relating to the loss of HMAS Sydney (II). In particular he was tasked to address the following specific questions raised in the March 1999 Report on the Loss of HMAS Sydney by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs Defence and Trade:

that a search be undertaken by the Australian Government at the Public Record Office in London for any records of a court or board of inquiry report into the loss of HMAS Sydney? (Recommendation 2)
that the Australian Government continue inquiries to determine if, within the records of the Public Record Office London, there are any records relating to a coronial inquiry undertaken on Christmas Island on the unknown sailor? (Recommendation 4)

The results of these investigations were published by the Sea Power Centre - Australia in 2001 as 'Papers in Australian Maritime Affairs No 9: HMAS Sydney (II) - The Cruiser and the Controversy in the Archives of the United Kingdom'.

Further independent research, based on leads contained in other records, disclosed the existence of the following records. The records were digitised and sent to Australia by the Naval Historical Branch in London.