HMAS Sydney II Memorial

 

“OUR GIFT TO THE COMMUNITY”

 
In 1998 the Rotary Club of Geraldton (now Greater Geraldton) embarked on an ambitious journey to build a memorial on Mt Scott in Geraldton, dedicated to the 645 sailors lost at sea when the HMAS Sydney II was sunk off the Mid-West coast during World War II.  The HMAS Sydney II Memorial is by far the largest and proudest project the RCG has undertaken.
Australia’s worst naval disaster occurred on 19 November 1941 when HMAS Sydney II was lost following a battle with the German raider HSK KORMORAN, in the Indian Ocean off the Western Australian coast.  Geraldton was the last port visited prior to her demise. The loss of the SYDNEY with its full war complement of 645 sailors remains etched in the nations psyche.  The KORMORAN was also sunk, but 317 of its crew of 397 survived.  The fate of the Sydney remained one of Australia’s greatest wartime mysteries until the location of the wreck in 2008.
“LEST WE FORGET”