Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs

On November 19, 1941, the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney met a suspicious merchant ship off the coast of Western Australia. The ship claimed to be a harmless Dutch freighter. It was actually the German raider HSK Kormoran, and within hours, Sydney was gone. All 645 crew members were lost, making it the worst naval disaster in Australian history.

This episodes describes the entire service history of HMAS Sydney (D-48) the questions that haunted Australia for decades. Why did Captain Joseph Burnett bring his cruiser so close to an unidentified ship? How did Kormoran's disguise fool a warship built to fight? And why did a battle with so many German survivors leave no Australian ones?

Host Rich Napolitano follows the story from the fatal encounter and the survivors' accounts to the conspiracy theories, the long search, and the 2008 discovery of both wrecks on the ocean floor, more than 2,000 meters down. Two official inquiries have answered many questions, but the controversies surrounding HMAS Sydney persist.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, show notes, and transcripts can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com.

Original theme music is by Sean Sigfried, and you can find him at seansigfried.com.

🚫No AI was used during the production of this episode.

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This Week in Shipwrecks is the weekly maritime news series of Shipwrecks and Sea Dogs.

News from September 25 through October 1, 2026

Masts removed from the "bomb" ship Richard Montgomery in the Thames Estuary.

The death toll from the Virgo Transport 8 ferry disaster rises to 78

Shipwreck remains wash up on Nantucket shore after strong nor'easter.

The Batavia replica ship set for preservation efforts at Museum Batavialand.

17th century German shipwreck found during pipeline project

Criminal charges for those responsible for migrant deaths in English Channel.

More migrants die in a shipwreck in the Gulf of Gabes off Tunisia.

70 year old Canadian man saved by Australian Navy from a sinking catamaran

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, show notes and transcripts can be found at ⁠shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠

Original theme music is by Sean Sigfried, and you can find him at ⁠seansigfried.com⁠.

🚫No AI was used during the production of this episode.

**🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES + MERCH**

👉Subscribe on Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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In October 2015, the cargo ship El Faro sank in Hurricane Joaquin with 33 people aboard. Hear Captain Michael Davidson's emergency calls and the bridge transcripts from the ship's Voyage Data Recorder.

This episode reconstructs the final hours of the voyage from primary sources.

You'll hear the recorded emergency phone calls from Captain Michael Davidson as the ship took on water and lost propulsion. We also go through transcripts from the Voyage Data Recorder, the "black box" recovered from the ocean floor during the NTSB investigation. The bridge conversations show how decisions were made and how quickly conditions deteriorated.

Content note: this episode includes real emergency audio and may be distressing to some listeners.

This is a replay of Episode 38, originally released in January of 2024.

El Faro, El Faro sinking, Captain Michael Davidson, Hurricane Joaquin, Voyage Data Recorder, NTSB investigation, shipwreck podcast, maritime disaster, true story

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes can be found at ⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com⁠⁠.

Original theme music by ⁠⁠Sean Sigfried⁠⁠.

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This Week in Shipwrecks: September 18–24, 2026

From a sabotage plot hidden in a 160-year-old cargo of Guinness to the long-overdue removal of the masts on Britain's most dangerous wreck, and a modern maritime disaster still unfolding in Indonesia, this week's episode spans two thousand years of shipping history and picks up right where last week left off.

Stories in this episode:

The Mindoro, English Channel — New evidence points to a sabotage plot behind the 1864 wreck that gave up bottles of vintage Guinness this summer.

Iron Age Arms Cache, Austria — A hoard of prehistoric iron bars pulled from the Danube turns out to be one of Europe's largest.

F/V Mistress, Rhode Island — A fishing boat missing since 2019 is finally located near the Block Island Wind Farm.

Collision in the Singapore Strait — Viral footage captures a bulk carrier striking a Chinese fishing vessel in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

The Virgo Transport 8, Indonesia — An update on the ferry disaster, as the search enters its twelfth day with dozens still missing.

Fishing Boat off Sattahip, Thailand — A storm sinks a fishing vessel in the Gulf of Thailand, with crew still unaccounted for.

The SS Richard Montgomery, Thames Estuary — After 80 years, work begins removing the masts of Britain's WWII "bomb ship."

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. All episodes, show notes and transcripts can be found at shipwrecksandseadogs.com

Original theme music is by Sean Sigfried, and you can find him at seansigfried.com.

🚫No AI was used during the production of this episode.

**🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES + MERCH**

👉Subscribe on Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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In the dark hours before dawn on October 14, 1942, the passenger ferry SS Caribou was making her regular crossing between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland, when a torpedo from the German U-boat U-69 struck her starboard side. She sank in under five minutes.

Aboard were civilians, military personnel, and entire families, including the ship's own captain, Benjamin Tavernor, and his two sons serving as officers. Her naval escort, HMCS Grandmère, tried to hunt down the U-boat but couldn't stop what was already unfolding in the freezing water. Of the 237 people on board, 136 didn't survive.

This episode traces the final voyage of the Caribou from her construction in the Netherlands in 1925 through the tense wartime crossings of the Cabot Strait, where U-boats had already been sinking ships throughout the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The attack left passengers scrambling for lifeboats, most of which couldn't be launched. The loss of the SS Caribou was the most devastating loss of civilian life in Canadian waters from a single sinking during the Second World War.

Written, edited, and produced by Rich Napolitano. Original theme music is by Sean Sigfried, and you can find him at seansigfried.com.

🚫No AI was used during the production of this episode.

**🎧 LISTEN AD-FREE + BONUS EPISODES + MERCH**

👉Subscribe on Patreon: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.shipwrecksandseadogs.com/patreon⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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👉You can support the podcast with a donation of any amount at: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.buymeacoffee.com/shipwreckspod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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