November 10th, 1941
Off the coast of Western Australia - Extract from the official report transmitted to the Allied Admiralty
The course of events described below is still unclear. Indeed, they have been for the most part reconstructed by the officers of HMAS
Sydney after the interrogation of the French and German survivors.
On November 10th, 1941, at noon, in fine weather, the aviso
D'Iberville and the auxiliary cruiser
Aramis detected a ship sailing on course 260 at 15 knots in the central strait of the Abrolhos Islands. The two French vessels separated to encircle the suspect vessel, which identified itself as the Dutch
Straat Malakka. The
D'Iberville ordered the suspect to stop. After a moment of confusion on the radio, the ship turns to 250° and breaks down. The
D'Iberville sent a message, received by the high power radio station of Canberra HMAS
Harman, indicating that they had intercepted a suspect vessel. This message is picked up by the
Sydney, which accelerated to 30 knots to reach the interception zone as quickly as possible. The
D'Iberville remained in front of the bow of the suspect vessel while the
Aramis, more heavily armed, circled around it to get a better view of the alleged
Straat Malakka.
13:14 - The Aramis stops to starboard of the suspect, in accordance with the instructions of the British Admiralty concerning the interception of a possible raider (these instructions had been communicated to the French ships during their stopover in Singapore and Darwin). This position, to starboard and slightly astern, is considered safe. The mate of the
D'Iberville sees the
Aramis turn 10° or 20° to starboard before stopping to launch a boat to leeward to launch a boat to board the suspect.
13:17 - It seems that no one sees the vessel bringing the Dutch flag down when a violent explosion shakes the
Aramis, which starts to burn. The suspect vessel then opens fire withguns ranging from 150 mm to 20 mm on both the
Aramis and the
D'Iberville.
It is assumed that the suspect ship, now identified as the German KMS
Kormoran, was equipped with a submarine torpedo tube set at 135° on each beam. The
Aramis is put out of action by the torpedo, even if some of its 138.6 mm guns can open fire, but without reaching the
Kormoran.
Multiple 20 mm shells hit the bridge of the
D'Iberville, killing the commander, while the aviso is also hit by several 150 mm shells. However, its three 138.6 guns ar ready. They immediately open fire at short range (less than 1,200 metres), firing at least six and possibly eight shells before the two front guns are destroyed. At this point, the gunnery officer directing the fire from the rear gun can clearly see the German ensign on the enemy ship.
13:21 - Another explosion is seen on the
Aramis, where the fires seem to be out of control. At this time, the auxiliary cruiser is listing at least 15°.
However, fires were also raging on the German raider. It received at least two other 138.6 shells in the hull, below deck, and a dazzling explosion is seen, possibly caused by ammunition lockers.
The
D'Iberville is then hit in rapid succession by several 150 mm shells and most of its officers are now killed or wounded. According to the survivors, "on the bridge, it was a real butchery". All radio equipment is destroyed. A young midshipman manages to steer the aviso to the south, increasing the distance, while the German raider slowly moves away to the north, continuing to burn.
13:31 - The smoke of the battle is seen from the bridge of HMAS
Sydney. Captain Burnett, who is in command, is unable to reach the two French ships that he knew to be on patrol, orders the battle stations to be taken.
13:43 - Seeing two columns of smoke on the horizon, Burnett changes course to launch his Supermarine Walrus seaplane.
At this moment, the
Kormoran stops firing on the
D'Iberville, which manages to give 8 knots on its diesel, despite a violent fire. The
Aramis sinks by the bow, probably at this time, with heavy losses.
14:10 - The observer of the Walrus reports to
Sydney that he sees a severely damaged warship resembling a French or Dutch aviso, at heading 170, south of the Abrolhos Islands.
14:22 - The German raider, also heading north and burning, is seen. Burnett asks Fremantle to send two escorts to help the damaged ship, which he identified as the
Bougainville (it is of course the
D'Iberville), because he wants to catch up with the raider before nightfall. The Walrus begins to circle above the German ship, obviously trying to stay out of range of possible anti-aircraft fire.
15:15 - The raider stops and the fires seem to gain in intensity.
15:30 - The observer of the Walrus can report that he sees the German crew evacuating the ship. From the deck of the ship, the smoke of the
Sydney can be seen, which is approaching rapidly.
15:54 - The gunnery officer of the cruiser aims at the privateer, but two minutes later, a very violent explosion shakes the
Kormoran, which sinks very quickly, before the
Sydney has started to fire. The German survivors attribute the last explosion to mines carried by their ship.
While the Walrus continues to turn, the
Sydney returns to help the
D'Iberville. The French aviso stops, as the fire makes the engine room untenable. While approaching, the
Sydney establishes contact by optical signal. The
D'Iberville asked her to search for survivors from the
Aramis and Burnett is happy to do so.
18:00 - The HMAS
Sydney has recovered most of the
Kormoran's crew, but only 35 men from the
Aramis, six of whom will die from their burns.
18:30 - The crew of the
D'Iberville succeeds in controlling the fires and the diesel is restarted. The injured vessel isdragged at 6 knots to Geraldton, escorted by the
Sydney, with more than 130 dead and wounded out of 183 crew members.
French Auxiliary Cruiser MN Aramis, Battle of the Abrolhos Islands, 1941