Shipboard personal diary of HMAS SYDNEY II crewman Petty Officer (Gunner) Francis Richard Evans, RAN
Date1940
Object number00054972
NameDiary
MediumPaper, ink, photographic emulsion
DimensionsOverall: 340 × 215 × 20 mm
Copyright© Francis Richard Evans
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Joseph Davis
DescriptionShipboard personal diary of HMAS SYDNEY II crewman Petty Officer (Gunner) Francis Richard Evans, RAN. Evans served aboard the Modified Leander class cruiser HMAS SYDNEY II during its deployment to the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea between February 1940 and February 1941. Evans perished aboard the vessel during its mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser HSK KORMORAN on 19 November 1941.
Approximately half of the diary is Evans' handwritten account of his time aboard HMAS SYDNEY during its Second World War operations in the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea between February 1940 and February 1941. Several pages also feature black-and-white photographs that have been pasted into the diary and have been annotated. Among the subject matter depicted by these photographs are HMAS SYDNEY's famed naval engagement against the Italian cruiser BARTOLOMEO COLLEONI, as well HMAS SYDNEY coming under aerial attack by AXIS aircraft, and the destruction of the Italian destroyer ARTIGLIERE by the British cruiser HMS YORK. Several postcards of destinations around the Mediterranean are also included, as well photographs of Anzac Cove, Lone Pine Cemetery and other destinations on the Gallipoli Peninsula.HistoryThe Modified Leander Class light cruiser HMAS SYDNEY (II) was launched in September 1934 as HMS PHAETON and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy (and renamed) the following year. It served with distinction in the Mediterranean during the Second World War before being reassigned to Australian waters in early 1941 to serve as a convoy escort. On 19 November 1941, SYDNEY entered into a mutually destructive engagement with the German auxiliary cruiser HSK KORMORAN and sank with the loss of all hands. SYDNEY's loss is one of the most significant in the history of the Royal Australian Navy, and until its discovery in 2008 was one of Australia's most enduring naval mysteries. As a consequence, items associated with the vessel have considerable historical importance and sentimental value.SignificanceFrancis Richard Evans was assigned to SYDNEY in April 1938 and was serving aboard the vessel at the outbreak of the Second World War. During the period covered in the diary, Evans was a Petty Officer (Gunner) and served with distinction. He remained with SYDNEY following its return to Australia in early 1941 and was aboard the ship when it was lost with all hands following its engagement with KORMORAN. Few personal diaries exist that detail SYDNEY's operations in the Mediterranean and Indian Ocean, and fewer still are accompanied by photographs that visually document the ship's travels and military engagements during this time.
27 November 1944
c 1940
