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Lost Military · War grave

HMAS Sydney (II)

Lost 1941 · found 2008, Indian Ocean, off Western Australia
PROTECTED
Evidence status: Historical tradition. no documented source (historical tradition); legal status unknown (manual verification recommended). This account is presented as historical tradition, not verified fact. Manual verification recommended. Repository evidence: 0 sources · 0 timeline events · 0 media items · legal unknown · view on the Map Evidence on file: historical tradition

HMAS Sydney (II): still unexplained.

A WWII cruiser & 645 lost

The law of this ground: Protected war grave, strictly no disturbance.
The subject
developing the photograph…
The manifest
A WWII cruiser & 645 lost
The account

Australia's worst naval loss, the cruiser sank with all 645 hands after a mutually destructive battle with the German raider Kormoran. Both wrecks were found in 2008, ending a 67-year mystery.

Leads, where the trail points now
  • Pin down the most specific last-known position in the record before going; the search centers on Indian Ocean, off Western Australia.
  • What you are chasing is A WWII cruiser & 645 lost. Work the documented record of HMAS Sydney (II) back to primary sources and separate what is attested from folklore.
  • Protected war grave, strictly no disturbance.
What the record holds

What remains open

  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
What we know, and what we don't
Established

No documentary claim is yet established. The account rests on tradition.

Still open
  • No period map of the site has surfaced.
  • No contemporary press coverage has been found.
The evidence room

No documentary or visual exhibits have been located yet. The trail below and the open leads are where this dossier grows next — every exhibit that enters here carries a source.

Where the trail points now
  • Pin down the most specific last-known position in the record before going; the search centers on Indian Ocean, off Western Australia.
  • What you are chasing is A WWII cruiser & 645 lost. Work the documented record of HMAS Sydney (II) back to primary sources and separate what is attested from folklore.
  • Protected war grave, strictly no disturbance.
  • Search Library of Congress + DPLA (IIIF) for period cartography of the site.
  • Run Chronicling America for dated newspaper mentions.
  • Query NARA for archival records tied to the site.

Have a source, a map, or a clipping? Add a lead and it enters the record with its citation.

Start the hunt here
The first leads, so no one walks in cold.
Sources and the record
Related case files

The full hunt kit

Starting brief, what's known and disputed, evidence timeline, source list, map card, coordinate-confidence and legal-access summaries, and a field checklist, free with a Fellowship account.

Latest Word From the Newswire

Context, not proof. The dossier's own sources remain the evidence record.

Checking the wire…

Chart position -26.270°, 111.220° (approx.) View on the Map