Shipping register

Pore over the hundreds of entries depicting the historic comings and goings from Midwest Port Authorities’ Geraldton Port and one item in the shipping register stands out. In scrawling black pen is the handwritten entry for HMAS Sydney II, which anchored in the bay at Geraldton on October 18 1941. The Sydney’s crew were heroes of the time, having experienced several maritime victories. Her arrival in Geraldton attracted adoring crowds and well wishers. But just a month after the Geraldton visit, the Sydney embarked on a battle with German warship the Kormoran. Both ships sank in the battle, but many Kormoran sailors survived in lifeboats. The Sydney was last seen, ablaze, heading towards the horizon. All of her 645 sailors perished, their watery graves undiscovered until 2008. Find out more about this infamous battle at Carnarvon Heritage Precinct, Birdwood Military Museum in Geraldton, and Geraldton’s HMAS Sydney II Memorial and Shark Bay’s World Heritage Discovery Centre.