History: The Ship and Crew

Who was she?

In 1941, HMAS Sydney (II) was the pride of the Royal Australian Navy fleet.

She was a 6,830 ton modified Leander class cruiser with an illustrious battle record.

After engagements in the Mediterranean during 1940 when she famously sank the Italian battle cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni, Sydney returned to Australian waters and in late 1941 was carrying out troop ship escort duties between Australia and SE Asia.

HMAS Sydney (II) berthed infront of the Sydney Harbour Bridge
HMAS Sydney (II) berthing in Sydney Harbour, NSW. (source: RAN)
Diagram of HMAS Sydney (II)
Port side elevation diagram of Sydney (II).
Entire crew of HMAS Sydney in full uniform posing on the deck of the ship.
Portrait of the crew of HMAS Sydney (II) after a successful mission in the Mediterranean. (source: AWM (P00795.001))

Statistics

Type Modified Leander Class Light Cruiser
Displacement 6,830 tons
Length 562 feet 3 inches
Beam 56 feet 8 inches
Builder Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd, Wallsend on Tyne, England
Laid Down (as Pheaton)
Launched (as Sydney), by Mrs Bruce, wife of the Australian High Commissioner, United Kingdom
Horsepower 72,000
Speed 32.5 knots
Armament 8 x 6-inch guns,
4 x 4-inch guns,
3 x 5mm machine guns,
12 Lewis Guns,
8 x 21 inch torpedo tubes (in 2 quadruple mounts)
Complement 645 (Click here to view the Honour Roll)

Commanding officers

Assumed Command Commanding Officer
Captain J.U.P. Fitzgerald RN
Captain J.W.A. Waller RN
Captain J.A. Collins RAN
Captain J. Burnett RAN

Ship Schematics

View a high resolution version of the HMAS Sydney (II) schematics in PDF format.

Detailed schematics of the HMAS Sydney showing top and side elevations.
Schematics for the HMAS Sydney (II). (source: RAN)