The fog of war lifted yesterday when the largest vessel to be sunk with no survivors during the Second World War was found 66 years after she was last seen crippled and ablaze on the horizon off Western Australia. Two weeks after sailing into the Indian Ocean a survey vessel using sonar found the 6,800 tonne cruiser 12 nautical miles from the wreck of the Kormoran, which itself was located on Saturday about 430 nautical miles (495 miles) north of Perth.
Riddle of the last crewman may be solved after 65 years The body was in a navy liferaft, arms outstretched over the sides, when it washed ashore on Christmas Island, a speck in the Indian Ocean 1,600 miles (2,575km) from Australia. It appeared that the corpse had been drifting in the seas for weeks. The sailors overalls were shredded and bleached. He was buried in an unmarked grave on the island. That was 65 years ago. Who he was, we will never know, wrote an islander in his journal.