How Psychology Solved A WWII Shipwreck Mystery Originally
published on Mon April 23, 2012 11:52 am In November 1941, two
ships crossed paths off the coast of Australia. One was the
German raider HSK Kormoran. The other: an Australian warship
called the HMAS Sydney. Guns were fired, the ships were damaged,
and both sank to the bottom of the ocean. The loss of the Sydney
in World War II was a national tragedy for the Australians,
particularly because none of the 645 men onboard survived. In
the years that followed, there was intense interest in finding
the wrecks, particularly the wreck of the Sydney. The idea was
that doing this might give the families of the lost sailors some
measure of peace, a sense of closure and certainty. The problem
was that the only witnesses to the battle and the sinking were
about 300 German sailors who had abandoned their ship after it
had been hit. They were eventually picked up by the Australian
military. After their capture, most of these Germans were
interrogated and asked to id