On November 19, 1941, the Kormoran encountered the 9,000 ton Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney off Western Australia. The German vessel was posing as a known Dutch freighter. According to accounts by crew members of the Kormoran, Sydney chased and overhauled the raider, while exchanging signals and attempting to verify her identity. Kormoran maintained the charade as long as possible, but when a password was demanded, it quickly went into action. According to the witnesses, Sydney had approached to close range, but was not fully prepared for battle, as its guns not were not trained on Kormoran. Sydney was immediately hit hard and partly disabled by gunfire and at least one torpedo. The two ships drifted apart and Sydney was last seen in flames on the horizon. It disappeared with the loss of all hands.
However, Sydney did enough damage to ensure that Kormoran was scuttled during the following day. Detmers and about 320 of his crew were rescued and spent the remainder of the war in an Australian prisoner of war camp.
HK Kormoran