The economic blockade patrol continued drag on, with no incidents. Commander Collins and Chief Patterson continued relentlessly driving the training, as much to relieve the crew's boredom as to sharpen their skills. Chief Patterson's recurring rant could be heard from every part of Sydney, "I know you're doing your best. Now do it, faster."
One day in late November, a squadron of Italian warship sortied from Taranto, boldly approaching the 2nd Cruiser Squadron, and then paralleling their course for a while, but carefully staying outside the announced exclusion zone. Led by two Zara class heavy cruisers, the squadron consisted of another 3 Condottieri class light cruisers and 5 Navigatori class destroyers, all looking impressively dangerous from Sydney's bridge and deck. Any crew who weren't on duty, lined the rail to watch the Italian flotilla.
Sydney also observed the Italian flotilla, carefully comparing the girls she saw with herself and the rest of her squadron. The two heavy cruisers were tall and long legged, wearing white long-sleeved blouses with red neck ribbons, red mid-thigh length skirts trimmed in white, thigh length hose and knee length boots. Their light hair was down to mid back and pulled back into a ponytail, held there by their forward gun directors. The only difference between the two was that one's hair was a light grey and other's hair was a golden blonde. They both looked stunningly beautiful, fast and powerful. In comparison, her squadron mates, Devonshire and Kent looked kind of dowdy. Sydney also thought they looked a little too big to be Treaty-compliant, but that's not something you'd mention to a post-Treaty warship.
The light cruisers were petite but long legged and dressed similarly to the heavy cruisers. They were also slightly smaller than Sydney, although they looked to be extremely fast and heavily armed for their size. Sydney wondered how much space their machinery took and if they actually had any armor to speak of.
The destroyers were noticeably smaller still, but very pretty, very well armed and looked to be extremely fast as well. Sydney looked at the top-weight they were carrying and wondered about their stability and sea-keeping qualities. She shrugged. They were designed to operate in the Mediterranean "pond", not the high seas of the open Atlantic or Pacific oceans. Overall, they all looked beautiful, fast and deadly to Sydney; She felt, while she had faith in herself, her squadron mates and the rest of the Mediterranean fleet, any battle with the Italians was going to be a dicey proposition.
Captain Fitzgerald smiled, as he nodded to the senior rating on the bridge to hit the alarm bell. The senior bridge talker keyed open the ship wide intercom.
The alarm bell and the call "Action Stations! Action Stations! Set Condition 1 throughout the ship! All divisions report!!' sent the crew scrambling, cursing and stumbling over each other. Sydney tensed, ready to spring into battle as well.
Captain Fitzgerald checked his watch and smiled as the various parts of the ship reported in. Given the distraction by the Italians, the ship was at action stations in less than 8 minutes, a fair performance.
"Gunnery crews stand down. Fire direction party, identify those ships and get a firing solution on the third ship in line." the Captain said, turning to the senior bridge talker.
Within a minute, the fire direction parties had a firing solution on Alberto Guissano, identified as the third ship in the Italian column. In another 2 minutes, they had identified the heavy cruisers as Pola and Zara, the other light cruisers as Luigi Cadorna and Armondo Diaz, and the destroyers as Alvise de Mosto, Nicoloso da Recco, Luca Tarigo, Antonio da Noli, and Leone Pancaldo.
"Secure from Action Stations". Captain Fitzgerald told the senior bridge talker.
The message had been sent. This is who we will be fighting. They look impressive, powerful and ready to send us to the bottom of the Med, given the chance. Our job is to sink them first and stay afloat.
For days afterward, gunnery and damage control drills took on a new urgency, as everyone attacked their tasks with renewed motivation. Sydney worked hard as well, doing her best to be a stable gunnery platform and to answer quickly to her helm and engine telegraphs. She also spent time working with her Walrus seaplane. As Captain Fitzgerald stated, the Walrus' purpose was to "have a look-see beyond the horizon, and to call the fall of shot and issue corrections for the fire direction party". As thrilling to launch the seaplane was, it was just as tedious to wait for it to maneuver alongside, attach it to the crane, haul it up and set it back on the catapult.
This went on for a few more weeks. Then talk started up about sailing to Alexandria for a possible refit. The crew started getting excited, for that meant liberty in a foreign port! For most of them, this would be their first visit to an exotic foreign land, because England didn't count. Sydney was looking forward to it as well. She's been working as hard as the crew, and the chance to relax, change lubrication fluids, paint exposed metal and take care of other maintenance items that couldn't be done at sea would be welcome.
But something else intervened. Sydney noticed that the surgeon's office and sick bay were busy with sick crew members and that many of them had been excused from duty. This caused Commander Collins and Chief Patterson to work the remaining crew even harder, reminding them that having all members present during combat was an ideal situation that wouldn't last beyond the opening salvo. Finally, the surgeon reported to Captain Fitzgerald that he had confirmed an outbreak of rubella and mumps among the crew. After notifying Med Fleet command, he was granted permission to leave station and stop in Cyprus on the way to Alexandria to deal with the outbreak.
After the stop in Cyprus to take care of the sick crew members, Sydney arrived in Alexandria in time to greet the new year of 1936. Her current crew was housed onshore, as the refit crew took over. Workers swarmed all over Sydney, taking care of all the maintenance items on their lists. Her crew was allowed shore leave, but Commander Collins still kept tabs on them, and Chief Patterson did his best to keep them out of mischief and trouble.
Sydney came out of the refit in March, refreshed and ready to go. The crew was similarly refreshed and eager to get back to sea. After passing through the Suez Canal, Sydney joined 1st Cruiser Squadron, who was enforcing the embargo in the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the sea lane approaches to Ethiopia. After another 4 months of patrolling and training, Britain announced the end of the embargo.
Sydney and her crew soon received the word that they had been waiting for. She would be detached from the Mediterranean Fleet, attached to the Royal Australian Navy and ordered to undergo a minor refit in Sydney, her namesake city! The crew cheered, as most of them were heading home. Sydney was again eagerly looking forward to arriving at her new home, both excited about the new adventure in front of her, but apprehensive on how she would be received. She remembered the cold, dismissive reception she got when she tried introducing herself to Australia and Canberra during the embargo.
"She's only a light cruiser. Just another pretty face. Probably can't fight worth a damn." was their attitude.
One of the things Sydney had to get used to, was the reversal in seasons. Stopping in Fremantle in late July, it was COLD. Cold, almost like the middle of winter in Britain. Then she remembered that it WAS the middle of winter here. That was going to take some getting used to on her part.
Slightly disoriented by that, her stop in Melbourne increased her anxiety. Everywhere around the harbor, people crowded the docks to get a look at her, as she dropped anchor. She felt self-conscious, wondering if the crew cleaned her decks properly, if her flag halyards were hanging straight, if she was flying the right flags properly, even wondering if she'd been painted properly, with no unsightly smudges or blemishes. Everyone oohed and aahed over how attractive she was, which deepened her embarrassment and she was relieved to weigh anchor and depart early the morning after next.
As she slowly and carefully cruised into Sydney harbor, Sydney's anxiety increased dramatically. She lowered her foremast and mainmast to get under the big suspension bridge that dominated the harbor. She carefully navigated her way around the islands that dotted the harbor, as she made her way to Cockatoo Island and the dockyard there. With the help of a couple of tugboats, she moored at a slip near the dockyard.
As the mooring lines were secured, the gangplanks set, and her engines and boilers shut down, Sydney took the opportunity to look around at the dockyard, port and city that she was named after. The dockyard seemed to be a proper dockyard, even if it wasn't as large, modern and busy as Chatham, Portsmouth or Devonport. Raising her gaze to the city, it seemed to be more modern and open to her, compared to London or Alexandria.
"Ahoy there!" a clear voice rang out over the docks.
Sydney looked around and saw an old cruiser moored a couple of slips away. The four funnels, the tripod foremast and the single mounted Mark XI 6-inch guns were distinctive and unmistakable. Definitely a Chatham-class light cruiser from the Great War. On the old ship, near the bow stood a woman, who waved to Sydney, and Sydney tentatively waved back.
"G'day luv! You must be that new cruiser everyone's been talkin' 'bout! Ain't you a gorgeous lookin' sheila! Name's Adelaide. I'm currently in reserve, but I'm still the eldest ship in the whole bleedin' RAN. That's Royal Australian Navy, for you newcomers!" the woman proclaimed cheerily.
"Hello, I'm Sydney. I'm a modified Leander class cruiser, like my sisters Perth and Hobart, who are coming later." Sydney hesitantly replied.
"Welcome Sydney! First thing first. Haul down that white rag and run up the proper one!" Adelaide exclaimed.
Sydney watched a color party march to the quarterstaff on her stern, haul down the White Ensign of the Royal Navy, and run up the Australian national flag.
"Much better! Think those colors look much better on you" Adelaide exclaimed, as she tossed a headband in the same colors to Sydney.
Sydney picked up the headband, took off her White Ensign one and put it on. She took the opportunity to get a good look at Adelaide. She looked to be a slightly older woman, more petite and slender than Sydney, but appearing to have a wiry strength about her. Her short brown hair was lighter in patches, and her complexion was ruddy and slightly worn, as if she'd spent a lot of time in the sun. Her brown eyes sparkled with both intelligence and humor. She was wearing a khaki short sleeved shirt, khaki shorts down to mid-thigh and worn brown boots. On her head was a broad brimmed hat, with different colored bands around the crown, and the left side of the brim pinned to the crown with what looked like her ship's crest. She looked extremely casual and comfortable.
By contrast, Sydney felt awkward and out of place, with her blonde shoulder length hair, her fair complexion, and bright blue eyes. She felt totally over-dressed in her long sleeved white uniform blouse with the regulation blue neckerchief, her white mid-thigh length skirt trimmed in blue, white tights, and her calf-high boots in anti-fouling red.
"Stand up straight now! Want to make sure you look like a proper Aussie!" Adelaide called, pronouncing it like "Ozzie"
"Well, aren't you a pretty one! Haven't seen one like you before. And you say you have sisters that look like you coming later? A pack of regular heart-breakers you'll be. Well, I've been tied up here for the past few years, so you can ask me anything you'd like to know. I've got all the secrets!" Adelaide kept up the animated chatter, not giving Sydney a chance to say anything yet.
"I'm not just a pretty face! I'm a real light cruiser, and I can fight!" Sydney retorted sharply.
"I tried talking to Australia and Canberra when we were on embargo duty together the past year, but they didn't think I was worth bothering with. I wanted to come here and show that I can be a real warship and make a difference, but all anyone seems to care about, is how pretty I look." Sydney said, in a more subdued tone.
Adelaide gave her a speculative look.
"Got some feist and fire to ya lass, don't ch'ya? Keep hold of that. Light cruiser like you' s gonna need it. Anyway, don't pay no mind to those stuck-up County-class biddies! They just like putting on airs, 'cause they're the biggest warships in the RAN now, but they're actually decent girls, so don't you worry about them. Just give it a fair go, and you'll do just fine." Adelaide replied in an encouraging tone.
"I heard that there was another cruiser named Sydney. Can you tell me about her? What was she like? What did she do during the War? I want to hear everything about her!" Sydney blurted out.
"Took you long enough to ask! Figured that would be the first question you'd ask me! 'Course I can tell you all about the first Sydney! She was my older sister and she was famous!" Adelaide exclaimed, as she threw her head back and laughed.
She then launched into a long, exciting story about the first Sydney, starting with her keel laying at the Middleton Yard of London and Glasgow Shipbuilding in 1911. She was commissioned in the RAN the day she was completed in 1913. When she arrived in Australia in early 1914, she was assigned to patrol off Australia's eastern coast. Once war broke out in August, Sydney was put to work escorting convoys.
The German light cruiser Emden had broken out of Tsingtao, China at the beginning of the War in August. With the rest of the German East Asia Squadron, she evaded the Japanese Navy, and was loose in the Pacific. Emden split off from the rest of the squadron, who turned east, heading towards South America. She then turned west to conduct a raiding campaign in the Western Pacific and the Eastern Indian Ocean.
Over the next six weeks, not only had Emden sunk or captured over 100,000 tons of merchant shipping, paralyzing almost all trade from Australia and the Far East to England, but she had snuck into the port of Penang, (ironically disguised as a Chatham-class light cruiser). There, Emden torpedoed and sank a Russian cruiser at anchor, bombarded the port facilities, and got away unscathed, while sinking a pursuing French destroyer. The merchant ship girls throughout the Indian Ocean were all having Emden-themed nightmares, many refusing to sail, unless they had a battle-cruiser escort.
It was in escorting an ANZAC (Australian/New Zealand Army Corps) convoy to Egypt, that the escort flagship HMAS Australia (an Indefatigable-class battle-cruiser) received a distress call from the communications station on Direction Island, in the Cocos/Keeling island group northwest of Australia. This station was important, because it was the main wired and wireless telegraph link between Australia and the rest of the Commonwealth. Sydney was detached from the convoy escort to investigate and perhaps bring Emden to battle.
Approaching Direction Island, lookouts saw the distinctive pall of black smoke from a coal-fired warship rising to the south. Sydney's captain laid out his plan. Emden and her sisters, were small light cruisers, armed with only 4.1-inch guns, and had a top speed of only 24 knots. Sydney was bigger, faster and more heavily armed and armored, with 6-inch guns. So, she could outrun, out-range and out-shoot the Germans. They were all surprised with Emden started firing at 10,000 yards. Apparently, no one picked up on the fact that Emden's main battery had their elevation increased to 30 degrees, enabling it to reach out to equal range of Sydney's main battery, but without the penetration and explosive potential of Sydney's 6-inch guns.
By sheer luck, Emden's fourth salvo scored lucky hits, wrecking the aft rangefinders, and hitting the bridge and the forward rangefinders without exploding. In one stroke, Sydney had to rely on local control for her main battery. The single mount Mark XIs were reliable and durable, but very heavy and unwieldy to manually traverse and elevate, which complicated Sydney's situation further. Sydney turned away, opening the range before firing. She scored hits on her third salvo, hitting Emden's forward superstructure and one of the forward guns. This seemed to cause Emden's gunners to slacken their barrage, so Sydney closed in, firing her starboard battery as it would bear.
By the time, Sydney got within 5500 yards, Emden was in serious trouble. A hit to the aft magazine caused to be flooded, lest it explode. Several of her guns had been knocked out. The foremost of her three funnels was gone, and her foremast had fallen and crushed her bridge. Sydney turned to starboard, unmasking her port guns, who opened a whirlwind of fire at Emden. The second funnel and then the remaining funnel went over the side, and flames could be seen shooting up from amidships, and from her engine room. In danger of sinking with half of her crew dead or wounded, Emden ran herself aground on North Keeling Island, Sydney stood off and kept firing until the Imperial German Navy flag was struck and a white sheet hoisted in its place.
"Emden beached and done for." Sydney radioed back to the convoy.
The message was re-transmitted throughout the Empire's wireless network. The troops on the convoy were granted a half day holiday. All of the merchant ship girls celebrated, while breathing sighs of relief that Emden was gone. Sydney spent the next two days tending to Emden's wounded and helping repair the communications station. Once a merchant cruiser came to take most of Emden's remaining crew, Sydney headed toward to Colombo, to catch up with the convoy, and escort it to Egypt. Sydney was awarded Emden-1914 battle honors, the first time in the 20th century where battle honors were awarded for an action involving a single vessel.
Sydney was then reassigned to the West Indies/North America station until November 1916, and then to the Home fleet till the end of the War. She was one of the escorts for the Imperial German fleet as it was interned at Scapa Flow, and was a witness to its scuttling. Returning to Australia in 1919, she was put into reserve and spent a lot of time talking with Adelaide, who had just been completed.
Both were witness to the wholesale mass scrapping of ships, especially after signing the Washington Naval Treaty. They both understood the necessity, but were saddened by the loss of so many grand ships. Brought out of reserve in 1924, she was made the flagship of the RAN. But it was only a temporary reprieve for Sydney. In 1928, she was stricken from the RAN list of active ships and turned over to the scrappers at Cockatoo.
"So, what was she like?" Sydney asked.
"I never got to know her before the war, since I was laid down in 1915. What she was like when I knew her, was that she was just like a big sister. She'd tease me a little about being late to be completed, but she did her best to share all that she had learned during the war. For the most part though, she was serious, very focused on readiness and very protective of her captain and crew. As for combat, she went out of her way to emphasize that it's nothing like she had trained for, but the training helped her to adapt and do what needed to be done. She felt bad for the crew that were killed fighting Emden, that somehow it was her fault in failing to protect them. She was actually embarrassed by the battle honors, saying she didn't do anything extraordinary to deserve them. She said most of the credit should go to her captain and her crew." Adelaide said quietly.
"With her rangefinders disabled and all of her guns on local control, how did she manage to score so well against Emden?" Sydney asked.
"That she attributed to Captain Glossop and his endlessly drilling the gunners to operate independently. There were often contests between the guns, like speed to fire the first shot, the most accurate, which gun fired the first 5 rounds the fastest and most accurately, and which gun could operate most effectively with the smallest crew, things like that. It also helped that her crew stayed together from the time she was launched until the end of the war." Adelaide replied.
"Were you sad when she was scrapped?" Sydney asked, feeling sad just thinking about it.
Adelaide thought for a moment.
"I was. We both cried when we got the word that she was to be scrapped. She did all that she could to say everything she wanted to say before it happened. We both understood that we were becoming obsolete, and an obsolete warship is just a casualty waiting to happen. As it was, she was replaced by Australia and Canberra, those two new County-class heavy cruisers. It was agonizing to see her cut up as her voice fell silent. But she's not truly gone. They took her bow, fore mast, main mast, compass platform and some of her guns and put them in parks around the city. We can't talk like we used to, but I can still feel her presence here." Adelaide said, in a small voice, trying to hide a sob.
Sydney listened intently to Adelaide's story about the first Sydney. She felt the weight of the name and the history behind it. The old Sydney wasn't a pretty ship, but she had gone on to do heroic things, protected her crew and helped to win the war. This thought ignited a renewed determination to prove that she was worthy of the name and to do her best to emulate the first Sydney.
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