For sixty-six years it was Australia's greatest maritime mystery: what happened to the 'pride of the fleet' HMAS Sydney - was she beaten in a fair fight with the German cruiser Kormoran, or was there treachery involved? Could the Kormoran survivors' account of the battle and its aftermath be believed? Why were there no survivors from Sydney? And where was the wreck? One of the world's foremost shipwreck hunters, David L. Mearns first heard the story of the Sydney in 1996. It left an indelible impression on him. Hunting the Sydney ten years later tested all his skills as a detective, engineer, marine scientist and navigator. But find it he did, and with that momentous discovery came answers to the mystery; closure to relatives still grieving the 645 men dead; accountability to the RAN, which had all but given up hope of ever finding its most iconic ship; and a sad but gripping explanation of the staggering naval disaster, allowing Australians to finally make sense of the conflicting, conspiratorial and painful event.
