07 April 2008
Teak
Sea anemone on HMAS Sydney
The properties of the wood cut from the teak tree are quite remarkable. The timber is used in the manufacture of outdoor furniture, of course, which is important in the coming patio season, and in boat decks and other applications where weather resistance is desired. It is easily worked, and has natural oils that make it durable, particularly the wood taken from old-growth trees, such as those that used to grow in Burma and the Philippines, where the trees are now endangered due to over-harvesting.
The Hong Kong firm of Choi Lee was famous for its luxurious yachts back in the day due to the extravagant use of teak. They got it from the forests of China, of course, though there are other sources. I am going to get around to the start of the Japanese yacht market that Choi Lee inherited tomorrow, since it was the teak decks of the sunken Japanese fleet in Yokosuka that stated it, that and the material stolen through the black market from the Americans on the base.
Hideki Tojo’s yacht was one of the prime sources, since although he was an Army man, he had good taste in nautical things, and part of his strategy was to occupy the areas that produced good wood: Burma, and Malaysia, and north China.
Teak is a unique material, and some would consider it worth going to war about. That is one of the things I thought when I saw the first pictures sent back from the ocean depths that hold the wreck of His Majesty’s Australian Ship Sydney.
Just last summer the whereabouts of the light cruiser was still one of the great national mysteries that troubled Australia. All through the National War Museum in Canberra were references to the loss of the ship with all hands, and the lack of narrative to accompany it. As I wandered the corridors last June I looked at a shrapnel-damaged spar in a display case from the ship, the only confirmed artifact that survived the disaster.
Her sinking with all 645 men on board was the greatest loss of life in the history of the Australian navy, and the largest ship of any country to be lost with all hands during WW II.
No survivors, no wreck, no bodies. It was unfinished national business, similar to Gallipoli, though with less to mourn. The facts of the matter were clear enough, but only from the Germans who sank her. The Kriegsmarine raider Kormoran was an integral component of the Nazi effort to disrupt the worldwide commerce of the British Empire.
In November of 1941, she was conducting operations in the Indian Ocean. She was a merchant ship in appearance, but had been extensively modified with six 5.9 inch guns concealed behind counter-balanced covers, anti-aircraft guns and six torpedo tubes, mount above and below the water.
Sydney was returning to Freemantle, West Australia, after escort duty for merchants headed for fortress Singapore on the Malacca Strait. Lookouts sighted what appeared to be a commercial ship on the horizon, and the cruiser altered course to challenge. Closing to around a thousand yards, Sydney was not at full action stations.
Kormoran opened up with her main battery and torpedoes before the Australians could man their secondary batteries and bring them to bear. Over one hundred and fifty rounds went into her, a third before she was able to respond.
A torpedo damaged Sydney’s proud bow, hampering her maneuverability.
The Australians managed to get a round into the engineering spaces on Kormoran, and fires broke out that could not be extinguished. The ships drifted apart, and as the Germans prepared to abandon ship,Sydney went hull-down on the horizon, and survivors reported hearing an explosion.
That was the last word for more than sixty-five years. Because of the emotion, several attempts were made to resolve the mystery.
Kevin Rudd is the new Australian Prime Minister. He replaced bluff John Howard in the biggest election swing since 1975, and the transition ought to be useful in getting ready for what is going to happen here in America this fall.
The sniping between the two was at the top of the news when I was Down Under last year, and the outcome had the same air of inevitability. Now, Prime Minister Rudd is happy to provide the news that lost Sydney has been found.
American ship-wreck hunter David Mearns, sponsored by the Finding Sydney Foundation, had identified the wreck 112 miles west of Steep Point, West Australia, in 8,400 feet of water. He had dispatched robotic cameras to confirm the identity.
One of the first pictures of the wreckage was that of a sea anemone that grew from a niche in the teak planking of Sydney’s deck.
What was remarkable was that the planking looked in great shape, almost as good as new.
Like I said, teak is remarkable wood.
Copyright 2008 Vic Socotra
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