HMAS Sydney
Sunk
| Type | Light cruiser |
|---|---|
| Class | Leander (modified) |
| War | Second World War |
| Main guns | 8 × 6-inch (150 mm) breech-loading Mk XXIII guns (4 × Mk XXI twin turrets) |
Under Captain John Collins she sank Bartolomeo Colleoni off Cape Spada. Lost with all 645 hands in a battle with the German raider Kormoran off Western Australia on 19 November 1941.
Armament and specifications
Armament
- 8 × 6-inch (150 mm) breech-loading Mk XXIII guns (4 × Mk XXI twin turrets)
- 4 × 4-inch (100 mm) quick firing Mk V guns (4 × Mk IV single high-angle mountings)
- 12 × 0.5-inch (13 mm) Vickers Mk III machine guns (3 × Mk II quadruple mountings)
- 14 × 0.303-inch (7.7 mm) Lewis machine guns (reduced to 9 before 1939)
- 2 × 0.303-inch (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns (removed before 1939)
- 8 × 21 inch (533 mm) deck-mounted torpedo tubes (2 × QR Mk VII quadruple mountings, 8 × Mk 9 torpedoes)
- 4 × 3-pounder (47-mm, 1.9-in) Hotchkiss quick-firing saluting guns (removed in 1940)
Armour
- 1-inch (25 mm) hull plating
- 3-inch (76 mm) belt over machinery spaces
- 2-inch (51 mm) belt over magazines and shell rooms
| Builder | Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend-on-Tyne, England |
|---|---|
| Laid down | 8 July 1933 |
| Launched | 22 September 1934 |
| Commissioned | 24 September 1935 |
| Displacement | 6,701 tons (light) 7,198 tons (standard) 8,940 tons (full load) |
| Length | 562 ft 4 in (171.40 m) (overall) 530 ft (160 m) (between perpendiculars) |
| Speed | 32.5 knots (60.2 km/h; 37.4 mph) |
| Complement | 33 officers, 557 sailors, 4 RAAF (at commissioning) 41 officers, 594 sailors, 6 RAAF, 4 civilian canteen staff (at loss) |
As built, from the ship's Wikipedia article. Figures there may cover later refits too.
Career
Launched
22 September 1934
Battle of Calabria
Survived
9 July 1940
Battle of Cape Spada
Damaged
19 July 1940
Captain John Collins; one hit in her funnel
19 November 1941
Lost with all 645 aboard