COURSE: THE SEARCH FOR HMAS SYDNEY - FROM THE MAN WHO FOUND HER

For 66 years it has been Australia's greatest maritime mystery; what happened to HMAS Sydney - was it beaten by the German raider Kormoran in 1941, or was there treachery afoot? Why were there no survivors? And where was the wreck? David has built a formidable reputation as the world's foremost shipwreck hunter, hunting down 21 major ships, but finding the Sydney proved his toughest challenge. The search for Sydney took him from the war archives in Germany to the Kormoran's most senior living officer in Santiago, and then to Fremantle, WA, and out into the depths of the Indian Ocean. He would encounter conspiracy theories, false clues, wild weather and myriad mechanical problems, but, in 2008, he would finally record in his personal log the astonishing words Australia waited decades to hear, 'HMAS Sydney found!' Based on his new book, 'Search for the Sydney', David tells for the first time how he found both vessels, capping an epic 6-year journey. In riveting detail he recounts how he solved the mysteries which had baffled those who went before him, and how he pieced together the story of what really happened on a fateful day over half a century ago. Course Code: 094200 Tue 7-8.30pm Aug 25 $33 Bookings Essential - 6488 2433 or www.extension.uwa.edu.au