From Sep. 2, 2009 Yahoo News. From the hearings held about the ship's sinking off the west coast of Australia during World War II. Even to this day there are all sorts of conspiracy theories and rumors surrounding the event.
In regards to the Sydney being tricked by a message from the German raider Kormoran (which was disguised as a merchant ship), Gordon Johnson, a naval communications expert said naval ships used a different frequency and usually didn't monitor commercial activity on the air waves.
The HMAS Sydney did not manage to get off a distress call that was picked up by a short wave radio at a hotel in Geraldton as some people believe.
Mr. Johnson said that light cruisers like the Sydney were built for speed and because of that were lightly armored. A similar cruiser in the British Navy, the HMS Neptune, ran into a mine in the Mediterranean in 1941 and sank as fast as the Sydney with only four survivors.
When these ships were hit by shell fire or torpedoes, there was lots of damage.
The HMS Neptune was a Leander Class cruiser with a crew primarily from New Zealand. Wikipedia says there were 30 survivors of the 767 and only one was still alive when the life boat was picked up five days later. The ship struck the mine on December 19, 1941.
I'd never Heard of the HMS Neptune. --Cooter
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