ON THREE occasions before its fatal encounter with a German raider, HMAS Sydney challenged unidentifiable vessels which failed to carry out recognition procedures but did not engage them in battle and did not go to action stations, the HMAS Sydney inquiry heard yesterday.
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Commander Jack Rush, QC, counsel assisting the inquiry by Terence Cole, QC, into the sinking of the Sydney by HSK Kormoran on November 19, 1941, said that on two of those occasions the Sydney had recognised the ships by visual inspection and had moved on.
On the third occasion, it had directed the convoy it was escorting to change course to get outside the range of the suspect ship. Mr Cole said that on each of those occasions, there had been no record from Sydney's logs of it going to action stations.
The inquiry has heard that when the Sydney sighted the Kormoran on November 19, the Kormoran initially tried to get away, which was totally against recognition procedures. When the Sydney came closer it identified itself as a Dutch merchant vessel, the Straat Malakka.
The Sydney's captain, Joseph Burnett, made the decision to come very close, to within 1200 metres, and when it asked the ship to display a secret recognition signal, the Kormoran decamouflaged and opened fire. The Sydney was sunk, with the loss of 645 men.
Professor Tom Frame, a naval historian and theologian who wrote a book in 1992 on the sinking, HMAS Sydney, told the inquiry yesterday that something must have "happened" when the Sydney was 14,000 metres away, at a point where it still had a tactical advantage over the Kormoran, for Captain Burnett to have decided to come closer.
He said the captain was a cautious man and would not have put himself in a vulnerable position without good reason. But the reason, he agreed, had to remain in the realm of speculation.
The inquiry has heard that merchant ships tended to use flags to signal. Mr Cole said yesterday it would have been impossible to have read the Kormoran's flags at 14,000 metres, and that there was abundant evidence it would have been difficult even at 6000 metres, especially as it was sailing into the setting sun.
Professor Frame said he questioned whether the Sydney was not at action stations when the Kormoran decided to engage, because the Sydney was able to retaliate quickly with some of its 15-centimetre guns. But Mr Cole said the evidence was that the smaller, 10cm guns were not manned. Nor were the machine-guns.
According to German survivors, there were sailors standing on the decks when the battle started and then there was a rush of officers trying to get to the bridge.
The inquiry will have its last day of hearing today.
