Rowan-

Back in the Napoleonic War it was considered "bad form" to shoot up the ship's boats being towed behind, some of which were loaded with livestock and other assorted goods. I don't think crews were ever assigned to such boats; every man was needed for the battle.

Modern warfare, World War 1 and onward, did away with such "best practice."

In this desperate battle the Kormoran was greatly outclassed by the Sydney, and her only hope of survival was surprise, which she evidently achieved. And the fact that the Kormoran sank shortly after the battle provided little option for trying to rescue any of the Sydney's crew. I do seem to remember one story of a body being later washed ashore on a life-raft which may have been one of the Sydney's crewmen. The Kormoran's survivors were picked up, or in some cases towed in their lifeboats, by a coastal steamer and a tanker some four days later.

Charley Noble