Lifeboat from HSK KORMORAN
Vessel numberHV000030
Datec 1930s
DimensionsVessel Dimensions: 7.5 m (24.6 ft)
DescriptionThe lifeboat is made of rivetted steel plate, fitted with thwarts and had an engine as well. It may have been built for HSK KORMORAN when it was a cargo vessel STEIERMARK, built in Keil Germany and launched in 1938 for the Hamburg-America Line . However under its guise as an armed raider the German auxiliary cruiser HSK KORMORAN, the ship had seized items including lifeboats from some of the vessels it raided and sank, so this may have come from another cargo ship.
The battle between the HSK KORMORAN and HMAS SYDNEY took place off the Western Australian coastline on 19 November 1941. They engaged at very close range after HMAS SYDNEY had moved in to investigate HSK KORMORAN which was attempting to pass itself off as the Dutch ship STRAAT MALAAKA .
HMAS SYDNEY went down with the loss of all of its crew, while HSK KORMORAN was scuttled after receiving extensive and disabling damage from HMAS SYDNEY's guns.
318 survivors from HSK KORMORAN made it to shore on lifeboats from the ship, and it is understood 60 were in this steel lifeboat. They then became prisoners of war in Australia.
No trace of the wreck of HMAS SYDNEY or HSK KORMORAN was found for decades despite many searches of the area where the short battle took place. The exact location of the battle and the subsequent course the disabled HMAS SYDNEY took before sinking out of sight of HSK KORMORAN remained uncertain for many years. However, the wreck of HMAS SYDNEY II was located on 16 March 2008 near the coast off Steep Point, Western Australia 66 years after it sank. It was situated 10 kilometres from HSK KORMORAN, which had been located a few days earlier.
In 2001 a surviving HSK KORMORAN crew member came back to Australia for a memorial service, and confirmed that this was a lifeboat that had brought some of the survivors to the shore. In 2013 the lifeboat has been housed and conserved by the Carnarvon Heritage Group as one of the feature vessels in their collection.
SignificanceThe lifeboat from the World War II German armed merchant raider HSK KORMORAN is a metal craft whose construction background remains unknown. It carried survivors from HSK KORMORAN after the naval engagement between HMAS SYDNEY and the HSK KORMORAN in November 1941 where both vessels were lost. Its builder and background are not documented and it may even have come from another craft raided by HSK KORMORAN. The lifeboat has symbolic importance as one of the few items that remain extant in connection with this tragic and significant battle.
c 1934
c 1905
