Long considered one of the world's most significant wartime mysteries, the fateful dusk encounter between HMAS Sydney (II) and the German raider Kormoran stands as Australia's single largest naval disaster. The loss of both ships on the night of 19 November 1941 with Sydney's full war complement of men and boys sparked a growing mystery spanning sixty-six years for Australia's most famous fighting ship and for one of Germany's best known raiders. The 2008 discovery of the wrecks captured the imagination of two young researchers who dreamt and then lived their impossible dream -- bringing what lies in total darkness on the seabed nearly three kilometres beneath the waves and over 100 kilometres from the coast to the surface for all to experience. From Great Depths features the results of their astounding success, presenting absolutely stunning underwater photography and fascinating new discoveries, brought together with inspiring and heartrending personal accounts of wartime service on the ships, and their fierce battle with the devastating loss of over 700 souls from both sides.

HMAS Sydney was the pride of the fleet during the Second World War. A light cruiser and one of Australia’s main combat vessels. On the 19th November 1941, off the coast of Western Australia, The Sydney engaged in a fierce and bloody battle with the German raider Kormoran. Following this action, The Sydney failed to return to port. An extensive search and rescue carried out, but the warship had disappeared with all 645 men on board. Whilst the battle lasted little more than an hour, this single ship engagement remains Australia’s greatest naval disaster. More Australian servicemen died in the battle between the German raider Kormoran and the light cruiser HMAS Sydney than perished in the Vietnam War. It was not until 2008 that the wreck was discovered. The passage of time between the sinking and the discovery led to numerous mystery and conspiracy theories, all of which started replacing the truth. Now, with an explanation of how those on board lived, fought, and died, this book tells the full story.

No-one will ever know what made him do it. In 1942, 18-year-old Edward “Teddy” Sheean was one of the youngest and most inexperienced sailors on board the the corvette HMAS Armidale. Whilst on operation in the Timor Sea this warship came under heavy attack by Japanese aircraft. Armidale began sinking while swarmed by Japanese aircraft, strafing and bombing the stricken vessel and the crew who were desperately trying to Abandon Ship. The wounded Ordinary Seaman turned back to his gun, an Oerlikon 20mm anti-aircraft cannon and strapped himself into the harness. He began firing at the attacking Japanese aircraft, a courageous young man, determined to do his best to save his mates. This selfless act of valour helped save the lives of 49 crew, before Teddy himself went down with the Armidale. No member of the Royal Australian Navy has ever been awarded a Victoria Cross. Teddy’s family and many others took up his case and fought for his recognition. It took more than 70 years for Teddy to becomes the first in Australia’s Naval history to receive this highest award ¬– confirming Teddy Sheean is an Australian hero. Sheean is the 101st VC awarded to an Australian

Tells the action-packed story of the hunt for the Sydney - and the Kormoran - and reveals what really happened on that fateful day in November 1941.

A British naval historian recounts the victories and defeats of two of the most infamous German Navy vessels during World War II. Bernard Edwards’s Beware Raiders! tells the fascinating story of two German ships and the havoc they caused amongst Allied shipping in World War II. One was the eight-inch gun cruiser Admiral Hipper—named for World War I’s German fleet Admiral Franz von Hipper—fast, powerful, and Navy-manned. The other was a converted merchant man, Hansa Line’s Kandelfels armed with a few old scavenged guns manned largely by reservists, and sailing under the nom de guerre Pinguin. The difference between the pride of the Third Reich’s Kriegsmarine’s fleet and the converted cruiser was even more evident in their commanders. Edwards emphasizes the striking contrast between the conduct of Ernst Kruder, captain of the Pinguin, who attempted to cause as little loss of life as possible, and the callous Iron Cross–decorated Wilhelm Meisel of the Admiral Hipper, who had scant regard for the lives of the men whose ships he had sunk. Contrary to all expectations, as Edwards reveals in his thrilling accounts of the missions performed by each ship, the amateur man-of-war reaped a rich harvest and went out in a blaze of glory. The purpose-built battlecruiser, on the other hand, was hard-pressed even to make her mark on the war and ended her days in ignominy.

In 1924, when the grand old battle cruiser HMAS Australia I, once the pride of the nation, was sunk off Sydney Heads, there was a day of national mourning. In 1928, the RAN acquired a new ship of the same name, the fast, heavy cruiser HMAS Australia II, and she finally saw action when World War II began, patrolling the North Atlantic on the lookout for German battleships. By March 1942, Australia had returned home, where the ship was stunned by a murder. One night one of her sailors, Stoker Riley, was found stabbed. Before he died, he named his two attackers, and the two men were found guilty and sentenced to death under British Admiralty law. Only weeks later Australia fought in the Battle of the Coral Sea near Papua New Guinea, the first sea battle to stop the Japanese advance in the Pacific. She was heavily attacked and bombed from the air but, with brilliant ship-handling, escaped unscathed. In 1944, she took part in the greatest sea fight of all time, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, which returned General Douglas MacArthur to the Philippines. She was struck by a kamikaze bomber, killing her captain and 28 other men. The next year, she was hit by four kamikaze planes on four successive days. She was attacked by more kamikaze aircraft than any other Allied ship in the war, and in the end this finished her war. She retired gracefully, laden with battle honors, and was scrapped in 1956--the last of her name, for the navy no longer uses Australia for its ships.