soc.history.war.world-war-ii

"Phil McGregor" wrote in message
news:47eabe1b.10580468@news.individual.net...
> We may never know. But don't assume the German story is the truth,
> they had real potential reasons for lying ... and Detmers lied about
> *something*.

Possibly, any number of plausible scenarios crop up in mind. Maybe

1. the Kormoran signalled a distress signal and simulated a fire or some
other disaster to draw the Sydney close.

2. perhaps the Kormoran ignored the Sydney signals, then got hastily fired
upon and was damaged. Whereupon, she signalled Sydney that it was a
friendly. Don't shoot ffs. The Sydney pulled close to assist, and then the
Kormoran opened fire.

If I was a member of the German crew, I probably wouldn't want to disclose
that part of the story.

But frankly I don't know what the investigators hope to uncover from the
wrecks of the Sydney and Kormoran that might unravel.

The one thing that does amaze me is the fact that the Kormoran crew got off
so well. If it had been the other way around, their survival would have been
hushed up and the whole lot of them would have been taken somewhere tortured
for confessions of piracy, and executed.