Historical information

The striking image on the poster shows men crowded on the deck after the successful action against the Italian Cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni on 19 July 1940. On 19 November 1941, while returning from convoy duty in Java, HMAS Sydney was engaged by the German armed merchant cruiser Kormoran 130 miles off the West Australian coastline.
The faces of many of the 645 servicemen who died in Australia’s greatest naval tragedy feature on this special poster produced to commemorate the anniversary of the loss of the HMAS Sydney.

Significance

For more than six decades the location of the Sydney had remained a mystery until the wreckages of both HMAS Sydney and the German Armed Merchant Cruiser Kormoran were discovered around 112 nautical miles off Steep Point, Western Australia. The sinking of the Sydney and the loss of all her crew in the Second World War is the single greatest naval tragedy Australia has experienced in Australian waters.

Physical description

Black plastic frame with grey mount containing poster/photograph of Navy crew on ship and in foreground.

Inscriptions & markings

top left corner - Lest We Forget
Bottom of print - HMAS SYDNEY 19 November, 1941