Sailors' shoes spotted next to HMAS Sydney | NEWS.com.au
IMAGES of sailors shoes resting on the seabed near the watery graves of the HMAS Sydney and the Kormoran were revealed today by shipwreck hunter David Mearns along with new images of the twisted wrecks.
Mr Mearns, contracted to find the shipwrecks by the Finding Sydney Foundation, revealed the images today in Fremantle after the reconnaissance phase of the mission wrapped up yesterday.
The wreck of the Kormoran was located by the search crew last month which led searchers to the wreck of the Sydney 67 hours later.
Gallery: Ocean floor remains of an epic sea battle
Mr Mearns showed pictures of large calibre shell fire to Sydney's B turret which would have killed sailors in the turret outright.
Salvos from the Kormoran would have been fired every four to six seconds after the Kormoran took just seconds to decamouflage.
"It appears the German testimony was truthful and accurate and that in the first minute or two of the action at least 50 per cent of Sydney's firepower in terms of her A and B turrets and in terms of her and also all of her directory control and gunnery was eliminated," Mr Mearns said.
Hatches on the X turret, which the Kormoran survivors credited with inflicting damage to the German raider before it was scuttled, revealed open hatches.
Mr Mearns said the men of X turret would have been shooting independently, without command, after the bridge was taken out early in the battle.
"It's a real testament to their bravery," he said.
One of Sydney's five lifeboats found on the ocean floor revealed possible damage from small calibre machine gun holes.
A diagram Mr Mearns discovered in Germany sketched after World War II by a German officer revealed the Germans' strategy in the battle against Sydney.
"The big guns of Kormoran were going for the big guns of Sydney, the small guns were going for the decks and also the torpedo tubes to make sure that Sydney's men couldn't get to man the torpedo tubes," Mr Mearns said.
"So there was a real strategy as to where they directed their fire."
Mr Mearns said the diagram showed how Sydney was defeated.
The first images of shoes, which Mr Mearns said would have been stored on the ship rather than worn at the time of the battle, were shown for the first time today.
"It touches your soul when you see these images," he said.
"Anything that there's an element of humanity that's what people will remember and we saw the shoes and we kept coming back to them."