HMAS Sydney wreck found near German nemesis

By Carmelo Amalfi
“I told them,” Carnarvon resident and HMAS Sydney researcher Lex Fullarton said after learning of the discovery of the World War Two wreck off Shark Bay.
“I was only 15 miles off.”
Mr Fullarton, whose father Bob Fullarton helped capture Kormoran survivors who landed at Red Bluff in 1941, said his sea charts now held at the WA Maritime Museum were not far off from where Sydney and Kormoran have been found.
The German raider was found on March 12 near the position Kormoran captain Theodor Detmers gave to his Australian captors - 26 degrees south, 111 degrees east.
HMAS Sydney was discovered a few days later in about 2.5km of water 240km south-west of Carnarvon and just 12 nautical miles from the Kormoran wreck.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd announced the discovery of the Sydney wreck on Monday.
“I’m a little sorry they found it,” Mr Fullarton said from Carnarvon where the 1941 battle is commemorated on a memorial cairn in the main street.
“I’m worried about souvenir hunters. If they can steal the safe off the Titanic and bell off the Bismarck, they can take artefacts from Sydney.”
The Federal Government yesterday issued interim protection declarations for both sites to avoid people searching for souvenirs.
The first sonar images of the Sydney wreck were posted online by the Perth-based search company, Finding Sydney Foundation.
The grainy image, reproduced here, is a magnification of HMAS Sydney’s main hull. The acoustic shadow to the left of the hull is used to help identify structures that have height. Careful analysis and measurements of the hull length suggest that while the hull is sitting upright on the seabed and is largely intact, a portion of the bow could well have broken away. This could have led to its sinking and loss of all 645 crew, the foundation says.
A remotely operated vehicle is due to be deployed next week to capture still photographs of the wreckage strewn over 1700m of seabed. There are no plans to raise the ships.
Most people, including family and friends of Sydney sailors, who have commented since the discoveries say the Sydney wreck should be declared a war grave at sea.
The WA Government has promised to provide funds for Anzac Day or other ceremonies to mark the finding of HMAS Sydney.
Chief of Navy Rear-Admiral Russ Shalders said the next part of the Sydney mystery is to determine what happened, which will take some time.
“It will be helped by the ROV activity that, we hope, will happen next week. It will take some time to try and ascertain what happened that day 66 years ago."