The Last Post Ceremony commemorating the service of (23619) Able Seaman Sydney William Hawkes, HMAS Sydney (II), Royal Australian Navy, Second World War.

The Last Post Ceremony is presented in the Commemorative area of the Australian War Memorial each day. The ceremony commemorates more than 102,000 Australians who have given their lives in war and other operations and whose names are recorded on the Roll of Honour. At each ceremony the story behind one of the names on the Roll of Honour is told. Hosted by , the story for this day was on (23619) Able Seaman Sydney William Hawkes, HMAS Sydney (II), Royal Australian Navy, Second World War.

23619 Able Seaman Sydney William Hawkes, HMAS Sydney (II), Royal Australian Navy
KIA 20 November 1941

Today we remember and pay tribute to Able Seaman Sydney William Hawkes.

Sydney Hawkes was born in Katanning, Western Australia, on 21 December 1919, the son of Sydney and Ellen Hawkes.

Little is known of his life until he joined the Royal Australian Navy on 6 October 1939, a month after the outbreak of the Second World War, signing on for a period of 12 years. After training at HMAS Cerberus, he transferred to HMAS Sydney in mid-May 1941.

One of three British modified Leander-Class light cruisers, Sydney was back in Australian waters having served with the British Mediterranean Fleet. During her eight-month deployment, Sydney covered herself in glory: sinking two Italian warships (famously including the Italian cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni), participating in multiple shore bombardments, and providing support to the Malta Convoys, while receiving minimal damage and no casualties. On her return to Australia in February 1941, Sydney received a hero’s welcome.

When Able Seaman Hawkes joined Sydney in May 1941, she was then tasked with escorting troopships to south–east Asia, following an Indian Ocean route along the coast of Western Australia. On the return of one of these voyages Sydney encountered HSK Kormoran on the afternoon of 19 November 1941. Disguised as a Dutch merchant vessel, Kormoran used the advantage of surprise and brought all its armament to bear on Sydney.

Hoisting the German ensign, Kormoran uncovered her armament and opened fire. Two ranging shots pitched short and over respectively, then a full salvo hit, smashing the Sydney’s bridge structure and director tower. Simultaneously, Kormoran fired two torpedoes. Her automatic 2-centimetre anti-aircraft guns and rapid firing 3.7-centimetre anti-tank guns played onto the cruiser's bridge and amidships, where the two port four-inch guns of the secondary armament and the torpedo tubes were mounted.

Sydney replied with a salvo from her six-inch guns that tore over the Kormoran. However, the cruiser's forward turrets were knocked out by the raider's third and fourth salvoes, then the fifth caught Sydney's aircraft on the catapult, wrecking it and spreading burning fuel over the ship amidships. About this time Sydney's aft turrets came into action, firing in local control: Y turret fired two or three unsuccessful salvoes before falling silent but X turret opened a rapid and accurate fire which hit Kormoran in the funnel, engine room and electrical installations, starting uncontrollable fires. Shortly after this, one of the raider's torpedoes hit the Sydney abreast her forward turrets. Within five minutes of the commencement of the action both ships were mortally wounded.

Sydney, down by the bow, turned sharply to port onto a southerly course as if to ram Kormoran or to bring her starboard torpedo tubes to bear. She passed close astern, under fire from the raider's after guns At 5.45 pm, as the range opened, the cruiser fired her four starboard torpedoes at the raider, all of which narrowly missed astern. About the same time Kormoran's engines broke down.

As Sydney struggled off to the south she was hit repeatedly by Kormoran's port side guns and at 6 o’clock the raider fired a torpedo from her port underwater tube which missed. Kormoran continued to fire until her own engine room was wrecked and uncontrollably ablaze. As a raider she was finished and, mindful of her full cargo of mines, her captain ordered her abandoned. As the crew left Kormoran, scuttling charges were set. They were fired at midnight when the last of the crew had departed. At 12.30 the mines exploded and Kormoran sank. Of her crew of 393 officers and men, 78 lost their lives, either in the action or the sea afterwards. Two captured Chinese were also killed.

Sydney was last seen about ten miles away, ablaze and limping off into the gathering evening. Her glare could be distinguished until 10 o’clock and then only occasional flickerings, which had ceased by midnight. Of her complement of 645, none survived.

Among the dead was Able Seaman Sydney William Hawkes, who was 21 years old.

In March 2008 the Australian government announced that the wrecks of Sydney and Kormoran had been found, approximately 112 nautical miles off Steep Point, Western Australia. The discoveries put an end to the mystery of the final resting place of these vessels.

With no grave but the sea, William Hawkes and the other members of Sydney’s crew are commemorated at the Plymouth Naval Memorial in England.

Able Seaman Sydney William Hawkes’s name is listed on the Roll of Honour on my left, among almost 40,000 Australians who died while serving in the Second World War.

This is but one of the many stories of service and sacrifice told here at the Australian War Memorial. We now remember Able Seaman Sydney William Hawkes, who gave his life for us, for our freedoms, and in the hope of a better world.

Duncan Beard
Editor, Military History Section