The National Archives of Australia

The National Archives of Australia ensures that full and accurate records documenting Commonwealth Government activities are created and kept. From this massive body of information, the Archives selects, cares for and makes available to all those records of continuing value. This collection constitutes the archives of the Commonwealth Government – a vast and rich resource for the study of Australian history, Australian society and the Australian people.

The collection spans almost 200 years of Australian history. The main focus of the collection is material which documents Federal Government activities since Federation in 1901. There are also significant holdings of nineteenth-century records which relate to functions transferred by the colonies to the Commonwealth Government at the time of Federation and subsequently. The records described in this guide are a small but significant part of the collection.

Access to the National Archives collection is provided free of charge in public reading rooms located in each capital city. Researchers are assisted by specialist reference staff and are provided with reference tools to help them identify and use the records in the collection. These reference tools include the RecordSearch and PhotoSearch databases, guides, publications and fact sheets. Researchers unable to visit a reading room may seek information and help by telephone, mail, facsimile or email.

RecordSearch and PhotoSearch provide information about agencies, persons and series as well as descriptions of over two million individual records. They are available for online searching in reading rooms located in all offices of the National Archives, at the Australian War Memorial and on the National Archives website.

The National Archives website provides more information about the Archives, its collection and the services it offers. A visit to the site will help you determine whether the Archives holds records relevant to your research. Fact sheets on various topics are also available on the Archives website.

About this guide

The scope of the guide

The loss of HMAS Sydney with its full war complement of 645 virtually without trace remains to this day Australia’s single worst naval disaster. The circumstances surrounding the loss have never been fully explained.

This guide describes all Commonwealth Government archival records that are known to exist on the loss of HMAS Sydney. As well as describing the records in the official record collections of the National Archives and the Australian War Memorial, the guide describes those records still held by the Department of Defence and records held by the Australian War Memorial in privately donated collections. Apart from one manuscript in the National Library of Australia, details of which are also given, no other Commonwealth Government agency or institution is known to hold relevant archival material.

The guide describes all records identified as dealing in any way with the sinking of the Sydney or related events. Some of the records described bear only indirectly upon the sinking, but have been included to provide a complete picture for those wishing to pursue research into any aspect of the loss or its aftermath.

This guide builds upon an earlier ‘source analysis’ published by the National Archives in 1991. Many records included in the 1991 source analysis have been excluded from this guide as not relevant – for example, those relating to the Sydney’s construction, sea trials, repairs and refits, and wartime service in the Mediterranean. Many additional records relevant to the sinking have been identified since the 1991 source analysis was published and descriptions of these are included.

The guide’s purpose is to describe in one place the range of archival material on the subject. Of the many authors who have published works on the Sydney none has had access to all relevant archival material; much that is relevant has only been identified during the preparation of this guide.

This guide will facilitate access to all known Commonwealth Government archival records. It addresses ongoing concerns that relevant official records continue to be withheld from public scrutiny.

The identification of relevant records

The records described in the guide have been identified after an extensive search conducted by the author, an officer of the National Archives in Canberra. The author has had unlimited access to all the records described.

In the compilation of the guide the search for archival material has been systematic and extensive, but it is not possible to claim that all relevant records have been identified. With almost 500 shelf kilometres of records, the collection of the National Archives alone is vast. For practical reasons the search has been targeted at the most likely sources of relevant material rather than all possible sources.

Since the guide was first published in January 1997 additional material has been identified. In the November 1997 edition the following information was added: the file Raiders in the Pacific (AWM 124, 4/342) and the papers of Major Roland Seymour Browne, 1940–1942 (PR00835) both held by the Australian War Memorial; and the series Dossiers containing reports on Internees and Prisoners of War held in Australian camps, 1939–1945 (MP1103/2) which is held by the Archives Melbourne office. This edition includes descriptions of three recently located items in series A11163. More information is given in Chapter 3.

The guide will be updated if additional records are identified, including this online version.

Using this guide

The structure of the guide

Most record items described in the guide deal chiefly with one or two issues. For the sake of comprehensibility they have been arranged into 10 chapters according to the subject matter with which they predominantly deal. Where there is overlap (ie where particular files contain documents that fall into subject areas covered by other chapters) this will be evident from the descriptions provided. To avoid repetition, the description of individual documents within a file is usually limited to one chapter, according to the main subject matter of the file.

The chapters cover the main aspects of the Sydney’s loss. Each chapter includes an introductory narrative that gives the background to the events. To help impart some of the flavour of the records they are quoted from and referred to extensively in the introductory narratives to each chapter.

The Introduction to the guide provides information about the National Archives and how to obtain access to the records described. Chapter 1 gives an overview of the history of the release of official information about the sinking of the Sydney. For those unfamiliar with the story of the ship’s loss, an account originally prepared in 1945 but suppressed from publication at that time by the Naval Intelligence Division of the Department of the Navy is also provided. This is followed by a summary of the information found in the records that relates to the three main areas of current research interest: whether the Government had any explanation for the Sydney’s loss other than that which it publicly disclosed; whether there was a court of inquiry into the sinking; and whether there is documentary evidence to suggest that the Sydney sent a distress signal either during or after the battle.

Each of the chapters deals with a specific subject area, except for Chapter 10 – Replacing the Sydney and writing the official history – which brings together a number of records of interest that are not adequately covered by the other chapter headings, including a description of the records of G Hermon Gill, the author of the Navy volumes of the official history of Australia in World War II.[1] Supplementary information is provided in the Appendixes.

Description of the records

To fully understand a record it is often helpful to know certain things about it in addition to its contents. For example, it helps to know who created the record, when it was created and what other records exist that deal with the same general subject or issue. This information provides the context of the record, which helps researchers to interpret what the record is really about, determine its relevance, and decide how accurate or complete it might be. The National Archives documents this contextual information for each record in the collection using the Commonwealth Record Series (CRS) system.

Under the CRS system records are described and controlled as series. A series is made up of items, which are the individual files, volumes, maps, cards, diaries, etc that were received into custody by the Archives from the creating department, agency, or individual. Series usually consist of many items, but can occasionally consist of just a few or even a single item. A definition of series is given in Fact Sheet 5.

When the Archives registers a series it gives it a (CRS) series number and describes the creating agency, the subject matter of the series, its date range, the format of the individual items making up the series, their quantity (expressed in shelf metres), where they are held and details of related series. Sometimes series are registered by the Archives even though they are still in the custody of the creating department or agency. This is the case with a number of the series described in this guide.

The records described in each chapter are listed in numerical order according to their series number. Most items also have the original item number allocated by the creating agency, and this, together with the CRS number must be cited in any inquiry about the records. Together the series and item numbers provide a useful shorthand way of referring to a specific record item. Details of how to cite the records described in this guide are given below under Citing the records.

Each item and the series to which it belongs is described as set out below.

Note that this guide identifies and describes rather than analyses the records. It is for researchers to make their own assessment and to place their own interpretation on the informational content of the records.

It will be noted that the volume of some series is very large. Usually these contain only one or two items having any relevance to the Sydney. Also, series which span a large number of years will often have been recorded (ie created) by a number of agencies in succession (eg series MP1074/4). Where this is the case only the agency or agencies which created records spanning the period of relevance to the Sydney’s loss are given, in order to limit the size of the entries. In other cases (eg series A5954) it has been necessary to give all the recording agency details, since they all cover the relevant period.

More detailed information about the series and items described in this guide is available on the Archives database which is available in each of the Archives reading rooms, at the Australian War Memorial and on the Archives website.

Location of the records

The records described in this guide are held in 10 different locations. These locations and the way they are identified is as follows:

Location		Location code
National Archives National Office, Canberra		ACT
National Archives, Melbourne		VIC
National Archives, Perth		WA
National Archives, Sydney		NSW
Australian War Memorial, Canberra		AWM
Naval Historical Section, Department of Defence, Canberra		NHS
Directorate of Sailors’ Career Management, Department of Defence, Canberra		DSCM
Directorate of Naval Officers’ Postings, Department of Defence, Canberra		DNOP
RAAF Historical and Archives Section, Department of Defence, Canberra		RAAF
RAAF Personnel		RAAF Personnel

Access to the records

The access status of the records

With respect to Commonwealth Government records on the Sydney, the position in 1997 is that any person may obtain access to any relevant records over 30 years of age. No information described in this guide relating to the Sydney continues to be withheld from public access.

In a small number of cases portions of some of the records unrelated to the Sydney are not publicly available because they contain sensitive medical or disciplinary information about Service personnel which just happens to occur in the same file or folder as records which relate to the Sydney. Where this occurs mention of it is included in the item descriptions provided.

Two records previously withheld from public access on national security grounds have now been released. These are:

Series B5823 – Detmers’ Diary – Account of Action between Kormoran and Sydney. Decode and Translations. [Folder of papers containing encrypted, German plain-text and translated English versions of the deck log and the engine room log of HSK Kormoran]; and

Series B5554 – Cryptographic Section. Melbourne Communications Intelligence Unit, 1940–45 [Volume of technical records concerning codes and cyphers]

Series B5823 is released in its entirety. All information related to HMAS Sydney in series B5554 has also been released, although some technical cryptographic information unrelated to the Sydney is still withheld on national security grounds. A full description of series B5823 is given in Chapter 6, while all information relating to the Sydney in series B5554 is quoted in full in the same chapter. With the release of these records, there are now no records related to the loss of the Sydney that are subject to national security or other restrictions on access.

With respect to the records mentioned above that are still withheld, any person is entitled to apply for access to these, unrelated though they are to the Sydney, and to obtain a statement explaining the reasons if access is refused. If you would like a full statement of reasons and details of how you may appeal these decisions please contact whichever office of the Archives or the Australian War Memorial holds the records. Contact addresses are provided in Fact Sheet 1.

Obtaining access to the records

Records held by the National Archives and the Australian War Memorial
Where the records listed are held by the National Archives or by the Australian War Memorial, researchers are welcome to visit the reading rooms and examine the records described. Before you visit please make sure that the record you wish to see is held by the reading room you plan to visit. There is no equivalent of the inter-library loan system for archives. To safeguard the records they are not moved between the Archives offices. To see them you will need to visit the reading room shown as the location of the records.

If you cannot visit a reading room you may arrange for a representative to do so on your behalf, or alternatively you may wish to obtain a photocopy of the record. To do so you may telephone or write to the relevant office of the Archives or the War Memorial. Staff are happy to give photocopy quotes for specific items upon request. Please be sure to have ready the details of the series and item number you wish to request.

Records held by the Department of Defence
Where the records are held by the Naval Historical Section (NHS) or by the RAAF Historical and Archives Section (RAAF) in the Department of Defence, requests for access to, or for copies of, these records should be directed to one of the following addresses, as appropriate:

Naval Historical Section
A-G-20, Russell Hill
Department of Defence
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Tel: (02) 6265 3082
Fax: (02) 6265 4723

or

The RAAF Historical and Archives Section
E-4–10, Russell Hill
Department of Defence
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Tel: (02) 6265 5491

If the records are shown as being held by the Directorate of Sailors’ Career Management (DSCM), by the Directorate of Naval Officers’ Postings (DNOP), or by RAAF Personnel in the Department of Defence, requests for access to, or for copies of, these records should be sent to:

National Archives National Office
PO Box 7425
CANBERRA MAIL CENTRE ACT 2610

Tel: (02) 6212 3900
Fax: (02) 6212 3999
E-mail: ref@naa.gov.au

Charges

No charges apply to the services described above unless photocopies of the records are requested. Copy charges are set out in Fact Sheet 51. At the Australian War Memorial the photocopy charge is $0.30 cents per A4 pages, $0.50 cents per A3 page, and $5 per A1 page (eg maps).

Citing the records

The correct citation of archival records is important both when requesting them and when referring to them in written or published works. Using proper citations will not only help staff to more readily locate the records you are seeking, but will help other researchers to find the material you have used if they wis sh to examine it for themselves.

The correct form of citation for records held by the National Archives of Australis is expressed as follows: the name National Archives of Australia follwed by a colon, the series number followed by a comma, and then the item nuinber. An example is:

National Archives of Australia: K997, 1/15/2

The name National Archives of Australia may be abbreviated to NAA provided the full name has been used in the first citation. This form of citation should be used for all official records regardless of whether they are held by the Archives or by the Australian War Memorial. If they are still held by the Department of Defence it is suggested that you check with the Archives for advice on how the records should be cited.

Citations for records in the private records collection of the Australian War Memorial shoud include: the name Australian War Memorial, the collection number and name, and the item number and details. An example is:

Australian War Memorial
PR88/178. Records of Capt J L Hehir, Australian Intelligence Corps, 1941–42.
Interrogation reports from the crew of the raider Kormoran

Where to obtain more information

If you are unsure what to do to request access to any of the records described in this guide, or if you have other questions about the records, we suggest that you contact the National Archives office in your State or Territory by mail, telephone, facsimile or e-mail, the Australian War Memorial, or the Navy Historical Section or RAAF Historical and Archives Section in the Department of Defence.

All contact numbers and addresses are given in Fact Sheet 1.

Notes on time zones

Persons using this guide will observe that four international times zones are used in the quotations and extracts taken from the records themselves. The most commonly used time is Greenwich Mean Time or GMT (also known as Zone Zulu or Z time). The Sydney and other navy, army and air force units in and around Fremantle kept H (Hotel) time, calculated as GMT + 8 hours; the eastern states of Australia kept K (Kilo) time, which is GMT + 10 hours; and the Kormoran kept G (Golf) time, which is GMT + 7 hours.

Times given in the introductory narrative to each chapter are given in local Western Australian time.

Notes on spelling

Some names are spelt in a variety of ways in the records: Cormoran, Comoran, Cormorant, and Kormorant, occur, as do Dettmers, Dietmers and Dietmars, and Straat Malakka and Straat Malacca. Except where information is being quoted directly from the records, the spellings used in this guide are Kormoran, Detmers and Straat Malakka.