Customer Reviews

Bitter Victory: The Death of Hmas Sydney

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I have always been an avid reader of maritime and naval history but must confess I was totally ignorant of HMAS Sydney and the mystery surrounding her dissapearance. I only became aware of the story of Sydney and her crew when I stumbled on the internet site, "finding Sydney" and seeing the first photographs of her wreck, which was discovered in March of 2008. Reading the history of HMAS Sydney on the web site, I was hooked.
Following a violent surface battle with the German Commerce Raider Kormoran, off the West Coast of Australiain, on November 19, 1941, the Australian Light Cruiser HMAS Sydney sank with no survivors from her crew of 645 souls, yet 317 German Survivors from Kormoran were eventually resucued.
The Author, Mr. Olson, has done a superb job of researching the loss of HMAS Sydney. As the book was written before the discovery of both sydney and Kormoran, it was more than a little interesting to see just how close many of the authors conclusions were - if not 100% acurate at least close enough - to the evidence provided by photographs of the wreck site.
Mr. Olson - working from a veritable sea of original documentation, including transcripts of interrogations with Kormoran Survivors - has carefully pieced together the most logical, and I feel the most likely, explanation of how a superior warship could have placed itself in a position to be surprised and initially overwhelmed, by what should have been an inferior opponent. And, how her entire crew could have perished virtually without a trace. In so doing Mr. Olson, on ballance, vindicates Sydney's Commanding Officer, Captain Joseph Burnett, RAN who, over the years has born the brunt of much criticism for placing his ship in such a vulnerable position.
In this age of Terrorism it is worth mentioning that asymmetrical warfare is nothing new. The perspective of asymmetrical warfare and it's consequences, while not a main theme of the book, come across very clearly. In this age of renewed piracy and terrorism this book should be mandatory reading for any prospective naval commanders who will be taking their ships into harms way.
It is the final chapter in which the author pays fitting tribute to the crew of HMAS Sydney and quite rightly points out that, "The enduring tragedy of Sydney's death is that its loss has been perceived as something shameful...Sydney's loss, however, was not shameful. Captain Joseph Burnett and the men under his command upheld the proud traditions of the ship and the Royal Australian Navy."
The Royal Australian Navy and the Australian People can rightfully take great pride in HMAS Sydney and her Crew. As an American I am thankful and grateful that over many years and many conflicts, Australians have been staunch allies and good friends to my country.