HMAS Sydney (D48)

HMAS Sydney in 1936
History
Australia
Name	Sydney
Namesake	Sydney, Australia
Builder	Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne, England
Laid down	8 July 1933
Launched	22 September 1934
Christened	HMS Phaeton
Commissioned	24 September 1935
Identification	Pennant number: I48/D48
Motto	"I Take But I Surrender"
Nickname(s)	"Stormy Petrel"[1] "Grey Gladiator"[2]
Honours and awards	Battle honours: Calabria 1940 Spada 1940 Mediterranean 1940 Kormoran 1941 plus three inherited honours
Fate	Sunk in battle with all hands, 19 November 1941
Notes	Wreck rediscovered in 2008
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Modified Leander-class light cruiser
Displacement	6,701 tons (light) 7,198 tons (standard) 8,940 tons (full load)
Length	562 ft 4 in (171.40 m) (overall) 530 ft (160 m) (between perpendiculars)
Beam	56 ft 8.5 in (17.285 m)
Draught	15 ft 3 in (4.65 m) forward 17 ft 3 in (5.26 m) aft
Installed power	72,000 shaft horsepower (54,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 Admiralty 3-drum boilers, Parsons geared turbines, 4 shafts
Speed	32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph)
Range	7,000 nautical miles (13,000 km; 8,100 mi) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	33 officers, 557 sailors, 4 RAAF (at commissioning) 41 officers, 594 sailors, 6 RAAF, 4 civilian canteen staff (at loss)
Sensors and processing systems	Type 125
Armament	8 × 6-inch (150 mm) breech-loading Mk XXIII guns (4 × Mk XXI twin turrets) 4 × 4-inch (100 mm) quick firing Mk V guns (4 × Mk IV single high-angle mountings) 12 × 0.5-inch (13 mm) Vickers Mk III machine guns (3 × Mk II quadruple mountings) 14 × 0.303-inch (7.7 mm) Lewis machine guns (reduced to 9 before 1939) 2 × 0.303-inch (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns (removed before 1939) 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) deck-mounted torpedo tubes (2 × QR Mk VII quadruple mountings, 8 × Mk 9 torpedoes) 4 × 3-pounder (47-mm, 1.9-in) Hotchkiss quick-firing saluting guns (removed in 1940)
Armour	1-inch (25 mm) hull plating 3-inch (76 mm) belt over machinery spaces 2-inch (51 mm) belt over magazines and shell rooms
Aircraft carried	1 × Supermarine Walrus
Aviation facilities	1 × revolving catapult amidships

HMAS Sydney, named for the Australian city of Sydney, was one of three modified Leander-class light cruisers operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Ordered for the Royal Navy as HMS Phaeton, the cruiser was purchased by the Australian government and renamed prior to her 1934 launch.

During the early part of her operational history, Sydney helped enforce sanctions during the Abyssinian Crisis, and at the start of World War II was assigned to convoy escort and patrol duties in Australian waters. In May 1940, Sydney joined the British Mediterranean Fleet for an eight-month deployment, during which she sank two Italian warships, participated in multiple shore bombardments, and provided support to the Malta Convoys, while receiving minimal damage and no casualties. On her return to Australia in February 1941, Sydney resumed convoy escort and patrol duties in home waters.

On 19 November 1941, Sydney was involved in a mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, and was lost with all hands (645 aboard). The wrecks of both ships were lost until 2008; Sydney was found on 17 March, five days after her adversary. Sydney's defeat is commonly attributed to the proximity of the two ships during the engagement, and Kormoran's advantages of surprise and rapid, accurate fire. However, the cruiser's loss with all hands compared to the survival of most of the Germans has resulted in conspiracy theories alleging that the German commander used illegal ruses to lure Sydney into range, that a Japanese submarine was involved, and that the true events of the battle are concealed behind a wide-ranging cover-up, despite the lack of evidence for these allegations.