Both crews fought valorously, and both deserve full credit for it. The Germans were quite fortunate that the Sydney II approached close enough for them to do fatal damage, since the Sydney II definitely was the superior fighting vessel. The Australians were most unfortunate to have lost all hands. It was one of the most desperate naval encounters of the war.

(Charlie, Richard was merely alluding to a comical folksong about a polar bear who is worried about his relatives who were on the iceberg when the Titanic struck it. He was making a joke, based on that song. Period. The song is called "Have You Got Any News of the Iceberg", and one hears it quite a bit at various song circles, but if you weren't a folksinger, I doubt you'd ever have heard of it.)

The Sydney II was a beautiful looking fighting ship with a glorious combat record in the Med. Her clean and classic lines and well balanced armament were typical of the best in British warship design at that time. She was indeed unlucky in the encounter with the Kormoran.