Oversight

Résumé du livre

 The circumstances of the loss of HMAS Sydney II in November

1941 have, until now, largely been determined by officialdom. A

Parliamentary Inquiry Report by the Joint Standing Committee

on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade in 1999 was noncommittal

in explaining the actions of the Sydney’s Captain, Joseph Burnett,

in approaching the German raider, HSK Kormoran, whereas the

Cole Commission of Inquiry conducted in 2008-9 held Burnett

completely responsible for the loss of the cruiser.

Commissioner Cole alleged that Captain Burnett chased the

unknown vessel for an hour and a half at a speed of 14 knots

(approx 20 nautical miles) after the vessel had turned away upon

encountering the cruiser, that Burnett carelessly assessed the

disguised raider as appearing innocent at all times, and that Burnett

did not go to action stations and approached the vessel to within

point-blank range to finally ascertain her identity. However, new

evidence based on Kormoran’s actual navigation has found the raider

sailed a much shorter distance (approx. eight nautical miles) from

the turning point to the battle site, and as a consequence, Burnett

had earlier ordered the suspected enemy vessel to stop.

That Kormoran was ordered to stop clearly demonstrates that many

of the findings made by Commissioner Cole are now unsustainable

and that far from being careless, Burnett had indeed followed the

prescribed challenge procedures. The navigation also confirms that

both vessels were stationary or moving very slowly at the moment

the action began, exposing Kormoran’s Captain Detmers’ use of the

underwater torpedo tube in delivering the initial catastrophic blow

to the Sydney.