The Backward OX

At approx. 1600 hours local time on 19th November 1941, Kreigsmarine auxiliary cruiser Kormoran, disguised as a merchant ship, was encountered by the cruiser HMAS Sydney off the coast of Western Australia. After running up the German ensign Kormoran fired on Sydney, and the ensuing battle resulted in the loss of Sydney with all 645 hands and the scuttling of Kormoran.

Sydney remained afloat for over two hours after disengaging.

Information available regarding the loss of all hands on Sydney only states “Kormoran had inflicted sufficient damage on Sydney for the Australian warship to be lost without survivors.”. That tells me nothing, and leads me to seek others’ speculation.

How would it have been possible that all hands could perish?

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How Beautiful it is to Do Nothing, and then Rest Afterwards . . . . . Spanish proverb

Non Serviam

Maybe the German vessel had savagely Nazi officers.

They could've picked up the survivors, who climbed aboard the Kormoran because those waters were infested with sharks, then lined them up on the deck and machinegunned them.

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Born naked, helpless, unable to care for himself and completely open-minded, Non Serviam has subsequently surmounted all these difficulties and gone on to become a decently-clothed, self-sufficient, close-minded sod.

Nimbus1944

As it's told, Sydney sidled up to the disguised Kormoran, thinking it was a merchant ship. She was then attacked broadside, heavily damaging her guns, and devastating the deck crew and others who had come topside to look. She was also hit by a torpedo. Sydney belatedly maneuvered to attack, and in the process exposed its other side to Kormoran, whereupon more deck fire and torpedoes were unleashed. Thus all Sydney's lifeboats were probably ruined on both sides; in shark-infested waters, the crew was now doomed to the last man. Sydney steamed 12 miles and sank.

Kormoran was also heavily damaged, and the crew took to the lifeboats. Hours laters, she sank at the battle scene.

To account for Sydney being beaten by an inferior warship, there is a speculation that Kormoran had unexpected help in the form of a Japanese submarine, which did not disclose itself or keep a record because Japan and Australia/Britain were not at war yet. (Even if they did not attack Sydney, what if they later surfaced at the burning ship, to see if it should be boarded to look for code books, etc?)

A nice theory, if only to save face. The basic facts: a small ship sank an unprepared big ship, and the big ship returned the favor in its dying moments. Neither rescued the other's crew, becuase neither crew had abandoned ship yet. Apparently, the small ship had useable lifeboats; the big one did not.

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It wouldn't be right to dream, while
Forgetting to live, it seems;
Nor would it be right to dwell on life
And yet forget our dreams.
-If There Were No Magicians

Non Serviam

After reading some more speculation on a different site, I'm starting to think the Kormoran landed hits with a torpedo and/or at least one six inch shell in the first salvo. Distance would've been under 1000 metres.

Apparently, the Sydney had a seaplane aboard, seemingly landed somewhere near her bows. In that first exchange of fire, the seaplane's fuel-tank could have ignited and dumped burning fuel into one of the Sydney's forward magazines. That's a theory that might explain the incredibly severe damage to the Sydney's bows.

As for why the ship went down with all hands... the Kormoran was also strafing the Sydney's decks with their anti-aircraft guns. They could've scored some direct hits on the bridge and killed key personnel, meaning the order to abandon ship was never given.

Personally from a literary point of view, I prefer the "machinegunning the survivors" version, but that does sound quite a lot like Allied propaganda.

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Born naked, helpless, unable to care for himself and completely open-minded, Non Serviam has subsequently surmounted all these difficulties and gone on to become a decently-clothed, self-sufficient, close-minded sod.