German Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran - Search and Rediscovery

Search and Rediscovery

Despite the approximate last position of Kormoran being known (most German accounts giving the battle coordinates as 26°S 111°E / 26°S 111°E / -26; 111), efforts to find Kormoran and Sydney were hampered by the size of the search area indicated by such broad coordinates, and claims by Australians that the Germans had lied about the coordinates (among other aspects of the fight) and the ships would be found further south and closer inshore.

Several searches were made by the Australian military in the years following the war, but these were primarily concerned with finding the Australian cruiser, technologically restricted to shallow waters, and made to verify or prove false civilian claims that Sydney or Kormoran was at a particular location. In 1990, Robert Ballard and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution were approached to lead a search for the ships, which he agreed to on the condition that the search area be narrowed down considerably. A forum in 1991 unsuccessfully attempted to do this, and Ballard withdrew his offer. A 1999 Australian government report recommended that a seminar be organised to identify the most likely search area for the warships, but again, participants were still split between the battle location given by the Germans (referred to as the "northern position") or a point off the Abrolhos Islands (the area for the battle advocated by supporters of the "southern position").

American shipwreck hunter David Mearns first learned of the battle and mutual destruction of Sydney and Kormoran during a conference in 1996, and began studying the battle in 2001. With the assistance of historians and the Western Australian Museum, Mearns focused on primary source documents, during which he discovered or rediscovered several archive files and diaries of Kormoran personnel believed lost; these documents led him to believe that the German accounts were truthful. After identifying a potential search area, the Australian government announced several million dollars of funding for the search, but German government assistance was limited to formal approval for Mearns to film Kormoran if she was found.

Mearns plan was to determine a 'search box' for Kormoran by plotting the possible starting points of the two rafts from the raider through a reverse drift analysis. This search box (which was calculated to be 52 by 34 nautical miles (96 by 63 km; 60 by 39 mi) in size) would then be inspected over the course of several days with a deep-water, towed side-scan sonar mounted aboard the survey vessel SV Geosounder. Mearns chose to focus on finding Kormoran first, as locating the German ship would significantly narrow down the search area for Sydney. After locating one or both vessels, Geosounder would return to port and replace the sonar with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) to photograph and video the wrecks, although funding limitations meant the search and inspection of both ships had to be concluded within 45 days. After problems with equipment and weather, Geosounder commenced the search, and located Kormoran during the afternoon of 12 March 2008. The wreck site was 2,560 metres (8,400 ft) below sea level, and consisted of two large pieces 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) apart, with an oval-shaped debris field between them, centred at 26°05′46″S 111°04′33″E / 26.09611°S 111.07583°E / -26.09611; 111.07583Coordinates: 26°05′46″S 111°04′33″E / 26.09611°S 111.07583°E / -26.09611; 111.07583. The raider's discovery was publicly announced by Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on the morning of 17 March.

Mearns was then able to plot a search area for Sydney based on Kormoran's location, as although there was no specific information on the cruiser's location, much more information was available concerning her last known position relative to the raider. Sydney was located on 17 March at 26°14′31″S 111°12′48″E / 26.24194°S 111.21333°E / -26.24194; 111.21333, 11.4 nautical miles (21.1 km; 13.1 mi) south-east of Kormoran. Discovery of the vessel was made only hours after the locating of Kormoran was publicly announced. On discovery, both wrecks were placed under the protection of the Australian Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976, which penalises anyone disturbing a protected shipwreck with a fine of up to A$10,000 or a maximum five years imprisonment. Both wrecks were placed on the Australian National Heritage List on 14 March 2011.

After the side-scan sonar aboard Geosounder was switched out for the ROV (again delayed by technical issues and more bad weather), she returned sea for detailed inspections of the wrecks, with Sydney was filmed and documented during 3–6 April, and a sonar contact thought to be debris from the battle was visually inspected on 6 April and found to be outcrops of pillow lava. Observation of the Kormoran wreck confirmed that the mine deck explosion had torn the stern half of the ship apart, with few recognisable items in the large debris field. The search was declared complete just before midnight on 7 April, with Geosounder returning to Geraldton.