HMAS Sydney was lost with all hands in November 1941. She had come across a German raider disguised as a Dutch tramp steamer not far off the Queensland coast. She approached too close, and insufficiently suspiciously. When the Germans, who were in a very high state of training, eventually dropped their disguise it took them only 12 seconds to open fire and their very first salvo destroyed the Sydney’s bridge, gun control system and one of her four gun turrets. Sydney, though mortally wounded, managed to return fire and disable the German ship which had to be scuttled, most of her crew surviving in life rafts. Sydney drifted off and sank, her whereabouts unknown until 2008 when she was discovered by a sophisticated sonar search. 

645 Australian sailors died on the Sydney, a tragic disaster overshadowed almost immediately by Pearl Harbor early the next month. But Australia has built a splendid memorial here at Geraldton. Here it is:

                     

Every sailor killed is named on granite slabs, and there are 645 stainless steel gulls comprising the dome. The flag is flying from a full scale replica of Sydney’s bow. The site is on a hill looking out to sea where the Sydney sunk. It is very poignant, and very well done.