• Cover

• The Story

• The Memorial

• The Discovery

On the 19th of November, 1941,  the HMAS Sydney was lost at sea with a total of 645 soldiers. The captain claimed they were a ship from Holland and as the Sydney got closer they were attacked.

  The ship was equipped with guns, torpedoes, and canons. Their mission was to safely guide the troop ship, Zealander, across the ocean to Indonesia. They succeeded and were crossing the ocean back to their home land (Fremantle),. when they spotted another ship, it was the HSK Kormoran , a ship that was planting bombs.  The Sydney assumed it was a friendly ship because of its great disguise (a German raider), but they were still unsure. They asked the ship for an identity and there came no response. The captain of the enemy knew that their ship was much smaller than the Sydney and didn’t carry as many weapons. 

The Dome  The Dome of lost souls is for remembering the lost sailors. It is made of 645 stainless seagulls...Each seagull represents a lost sailor's soul.  The idea came when a large flock of sea gulls flew over the memorial as the committee were discussing the building of the memorial. The dome is a half sphere which is made of stainless steel seagulls,  held up by some 7 pillars. It is like a tree of life. It’s also called the dome of souls.  There is a large propeller, which serves as an altar, for people on Anzac day to place flowers on the propeller.

Inside the dome are two lights, red and green.  Red for Port and green for Starboard.  These lights are called the memorial's internal lights and stay on always.  They do not face out to the ocean, because they may confuse the ships coming into the port.  .

There is a huge propeller under the dome; it was donated by one of the first ships in Geraldton and serves as an altar during formal ceremonies . 

When the sun shines through the dome the seagull make a wave formation on the floor.

• The Sculptors were John and Kerry Smith. They made The Waiting Lady, The Memorial and the Stele. They all looked realistic.

• The memorial was built to give those people, who lost loved ones, somewhere to ease their pain.

• There are 4 elements at the memorial. There is the dome of souls (the circle), wall of remembrance the semi circle), the waiting lady and the stele.

• The Wall of Remembrance

• The whole structure is in the shape of a circle to resemble the circle of life and the soldiers names are engraved into the granite and curved around the entrance to resemble the arms of the community reaching out.

• In the memorial there is a big wall of remembrance, shaped as the arms of the nation. On the wall are the names of all 645 soldiers lost at sea. At the end of the wall there is a quote- the rest is silence- meaning that all should keep this place sacred.

• The photos on the wall were computer generated and then sandblasted on to the granite. 

• The Waiting Lady • The waiting lady represents all the mums, sisters and daughters who waited for the

soldiers to return.  The family of the soldiers were not told what had happened until 10days later. The waiting lady is dressed in clothing worn in that era.  Around her neck she wears a chain with an anchor and on her finger, she wears a wedding ring, given to her by the captain, her husband.  Red roses behind her symbolises courage, The Rosemary symbolises remembrance and seagulls represent the lost soul of a sailor.

• The Waiting Lady is facing in the direction of where the Sydney was found.• View a movie about the HMAS Sydney memorial in Geraldton below

• The HMAS Sydney lies 25kms underwater. It is now a protected war grave and is to remain where it lies. 

• Australia's oldest naval mystery has been finally solved.  • It took 66 years to find the HMAS Sydney. Still parts of the ship were intact as

well as some of the lettering.

 • On July 2001 the Finding Sydney Foundation was formed.  David Mearns, also known as the Shipwreck

Hunter, had been researching the HMAS Sydney since 2003.  The SV Geosounder found the HSK Kormoran first and then less than 4 days later, on the 16th  of March, 2008, the HMAS Sydney was found about 12.2 nautical miles south east from the Kormoran.  The damage matched perfectly to what they expected to find. 

• The HMAS Sydney lies 25kms underwater. It is now a protected war grave and is to remain where it lies. • Australia's oldest naval mystery has been finally solved.  • It took 66 years to find the HMAS Sydney. Still parts of the ship were intact as well as some of the

lettering.

•

• Less than 24 hours after the Kormoran was found they found the Sydney.• After years of searching, the wreckage of the vessel that sank HMAS Sydney, the auxiliary

cruiser Kormoran, was found on 12 March2008. On 17 March2008 the Prime Minister announced that the wreck of HMAS Sydney had also been discovered, on 16 March2008. HMAS Sydney was found 150 kilometres from Shark Bay, Western Australia and 22.6 kilometres from the