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05 April 2008
David Mearns -
Search Director, The Finding Sydney Foundation
The top objective
of today’s ROV dive to HMAS Sydney’s debris field was to identify
the largest sonar target, which I was confident was Sydney’s
detached bow. This was achieved, along with many other objectives,
very early in a highly successful dive that lasted over 17 hours and
yielded another 421 still photographs. For all the difficult and
frustrating time we endured dealing with technical problems and
awful weather, the results over the past several days have truly
been worth the wait many times over.
Sydney’s debris
field yielded up a large amount of her superstructure and deck
equipment that we found missing from her hull. Our finds included:
the bow, director control tower and roof of the compass platform,
both masts, the radial engine and possible framing of the Walrus
aircraft, the entire aircraft catapult, an intact funnel, the high
angle control station, one of the port side 4-inch high angle guns,
a couple of 0.5-inch machine gun mounts, five of Sydney’s wooden
boats, one of the quadruple torpedo mounts with 2 torpedoes still
loaded and one loose torpedo, various winches and spools of wire, a
gas mask and a number of loose shoes.
Nearly everything
found in the debris field listed above, excluding the bow, would
have been ripped away from Sydney by the enormous water forces as
she sank at rapid speed. The general absence of twisted and torn
hull plating in the main debris field tells me that it is probable
Sydney did not suffer any large explosion in her bow. It seems
increasingly likely that Sydney’s bow, severely damaged and weakened
by the torpedo strike, broke away with Sydney pointed on a heading
of 140 degrees, and still possibly underway. All the evidence
indicates that the weather and sea conditions worsened on the
evening of November 19th and rough seas may have played a factor in
Sydney losing her bow and finally sinking. A number of other WWII
ships were torpedoed in the bow like Sydney but none lost their
bows, nor sank. Desperately unlucky, Sydney appears to be the first.
Glenys McDonald
- Director, The Finding Sydney Foundation (Observer)
On Saturday I saw
team work at its best. At 11.15am we commenced a detailed inspection
of the Sydney debris field and almost immediately we came onto the
entire main mast complete with Crow’s Nest. As we moved over targets
our collective pool of expertise, photographs and plans of HMAS
Sydney on hand in the survey room assisted greatly. John Perryman
did an incredible job for us this day.
There was
anticipation as we approached our second target which we believed to
be the bow of Sydney. The bow was inverted with both anchors and
numerous scuttles (port holes) visible. The scuttles were counted
from the bow to the break to determine the break had occurred in the
vicinity of water tight bulkhead No 5.
The amount of
debris logged and photographed is too extensive to go into here, but
at various times the excitement mounted as we struggled to identify
objects, some of them badly tangled or upside down. One such piece
was the Director Control Tower with part of the Bridge roof lying
over it. The ROV team did a superb job filming every detail of this
structure, and the sharp edges of some of the debris meant that the
ROV crews had to be particularly skilled. Where possible we zoned in
on objects, for example we were able to read the brand “Barnett” on
a rubber tyre.
The greatest and
most overwhelming part of a long day however was the finding of five
lifeboats. These all sat pale and ghostly on the sea floor, still
proudly displaying their anchor emblem, white with a blue anchor on
some boats and blue with red anchor on another. In one case we
located one lifeboat resting over the other.
The finds continued
to fill us with awe. Just prior to a tea break we saw the first of
many black shoes. A torpedo trolley caused debate for some time as
did a piece of debris with letterbox like slits. This turned out to
be a boat cradle base. There was various shell cartridges and one
torpedo, not far away from where the torpedo tubes, with two
torpedoes still in the right hand side were located.
By 04.00am we had
completed (and I had logged) the traverse of the debris field. I
called it a night and went to bed, it had been a day that words
cannot even begin to describe and I am so privileged to have been
part of it.
John Perryman –
Senior Naval Historian (Observer)
Having spent two
days concentrating on surveying the wreck of HMAS Sydney (II) it was
now time for us to venture into her nearby debris field some 450
meters to the north of her position.
We had tracked a
number of large contacts of interest strewn amongst the debris field
on our side scan sonar during the search phase, and it was now time
to try and determine what these were. We closed up in the survey
room in Geosounder shortly after 11:00 and twenty minutes later the
ROV came upon Sydney’s foremast lying on the seabed. This was
readily identifiable by its height, wire aerials and the distinctive
crow’s nest which was still affixed to the masthead.
Having obtained
imagery of the foremast, the ROV was maneuvered toward the next
large contact which turned out to be Sydney’s severed bow lying
upturned on the sea floor. Both of her anchors were all the way home
in the hawse pipe and secure. We were able to determine where the
bow had severed by counting the scuttles aft of the anchors.
Totaling six, we concluded that the bow parted approximately 66 feet
from the stem of the vessel. Lengths of chain cable were strewn in
the vicinity of the bow and an inspection of the bows opening
revealed that all of the forward decks within it had collapsed.
The ROV then
carried out an inspection of the sea bed for other significant
pieces of debris. Before long we came across a large structure which
we were initially unable to identify. After some time we determined
that it was actually two large pieces lying on top of each other. A
close investigation soon revealed that we had found the
distinctively shaped flat bridge roof top, resting over the front of
the Director Control Tower.
As the afternoon
progressed we identified numerous pieces of wreckage including the a
funnel, ships aircraft catapult, aircraft engine, starboard forward
4-inch Mk V gun, 20-inch searchlight, port 12-foot UK-1 rangefinder
and five of Sydney’s nine boats.
The discovery of
the boats in the debris field was both remarkable and sobering. We
were able to identify several different types of boats ranging in
size from 27-foot whalers to the larger 35 and 36-foot motor
cutters. Distinguishing features included the presence/absence of
propulsion and the type of build such as clinker or carvel. Some
showed signs of damage by gunfire and in one instance two of the
boats were resting on top of one another. This certainly supported
our earlier assessment that few of Sydney’s boats were launched
following the action. The most striking feature, however, was the
presence of Sydney’s badge mounted proudly on the bows of all boats
found. These carefully hand painted coloured icons remain in tact,
undisturbed, and will continue to serve as a silent epitaph to HMAS
Sydney (II) and her valiant crew.
Dr. Michael
(Mac) McCarthy – Curator of Maritime Archaeology, WA Museum
(Observer)
The examination of
the HMAS Sydney debris field commenced at 1110H on Saturday 5 with
the ROV’s arrival at the first of many targets plotted by Williamson
and Associates Senior Geophysicist Mike Kelly and Senior Survey
Technician Brian Bunge. They had remained on board from the search
phase.
The survey finished
at 0430H on Sunday 6 with all absolutely exhausted especially the
ROV team, Mike and hydrographic surveyor Nigel (now dubbed ‘the
Navigator’) Meikle. He was supported by survey technician Hannes
Vanroyen. The nearly 18 hour survey was an immense drain on all, the
pressure, the hours of staring at the video screen and monitors, the
fatigue, all occasionally showing. Mike Kelly had worked virtually
non-stop calling distances and bearings to the ROV pilots, quickly
responding to David Mearns’ requests for updates, bearings,
distances, heights and information as he worked to fit all that was
unfolding into his store of experiences and expectations. He had
planned and was now executing the inspection phase in the debris
field meticulously and to a pre-ordered plan, refusing to be
sidetracked.
For his part John
Perryman proved amazingly quick and effective in drawing on the
plans of HMAS Sydney he had copied to the Sea Power Centre laptop,
on the contemporary photographs and on images from the HMAS Sydney
model in the War Memorial. Using these and his own experience on
naval ships he rapidly identified all bar a few of the features
encountered and to help explain the pieces missing from each, for
few, if any, were intact. Each large target numbered S1-S13 and a
host of smaller items seen en route like shoes; cartridges
(including some embedded vertically in the seabed); paint tins; and
the like were logged in time and position. Glenys MacDonald and I
also kept individual chronological manual logs of findings, adding
descriptions and identifications as they were made. I also plotted
the ROV’s course on Mike Kelly’s map of the debris field. This had
been overlaid on his and Brian’s sidescan sonar record. David, John
and Glenys will have described many of the significant ‘finds’ in
their blogs.
The totally
unexpected appearance of the first of the ship’s boats saw Glenys
Macdonald flourish some of her photographic collection. These showed
some of them in operation and together with John’s detailed plans
allowed us to quickly identify each type and the external fittings
and fixtures on them. To me, seeing the frames and the remaining
ghostly strakes of planking on the carvel vessels was one of the
most striking images of my archaeological career. Then to find the
largest boat, diagonal planked, square-sterned, with the skeletal
remains of a carvel cutter across its gunwhales was even more
remarkable.
At 1155H, Sunday
back down in the survey room after rising at 0800 to write up and
prepare for this next phase, I finish with the note that the badges
on each boat were another of the most evocative images I have ever
seen. Without exception these retained their features, their emblems
and colours apparently undiminished on each bow. Not wishing to
appear too effusive I could not help thinking as I looked at them of
the shoulder patch on John Perryman’s naval overalls in which he
always appears. Under the naval ensign appear the words ‘These
Colours Don’t Run’. |
Above Photograph -
Sydney’s inverted bow was our first major discovery within the
debris field.
Above Photograph - The
buckled stern and collapsed quarterdeck clearly indicated that
Sydney had struck the sea floor stern first.
Above Photograph - The
crow’s nest sitting atop Sydney’s downed foremast.
Above Photograph - The
distinctive bridge deck head (roof) lying against the front of the
Director Control Tower.
Above Photograph -
Without doubt the most chilling find in the debris field was the
presence of five of Sydney’s life boats. Note Sydney’s official
badge mounted on their bows.
Above Photograph - One
of Sydney’s 21-inch quadruple torpedo tubes lying upside down on the
sea bed. Two torpedoes remain in their tubes.
Above Photograph - The
area of impact where Kormoran’s torpedo inflicted fatal damage on
Sydney’s upturned bow section.
Above Photograph: Gas
Mask on sea bed.
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