two anti-tank guns, five anti-aircraft autocannons, and six torpedo tubes (a twin above-water mount on each side, and two single underwater tubes). The guns were concealed behind false hull plates and cargo hatch walls, which would swing clear when the order to decamouflage was given. The secondary weapons sat on hydraulic lifts hidden within the superstructure. The ship could be disguised as one of several Allied or neutral vessels. Kormoran departed German waters in December 1940, under the command of (Commander) Theodor Detmers. After operating in the Atlantic, during which time she sank seven merchant ships and captured an eighth, the raider sailed to the Indian Ocean in late April 1941. Only three merchantmen were intercepted during the next six months, and Kormoran was diverted several times to refuel German support ships. As the raider was carrying several hundred sea mines and was expected to deploy some of these before returning home in early 1942, Detmers planned to mine shipping routes near Cape Leeuwin and Fremantle, but he postponed this after detecting wireless signals from a warship (Australian heavy cruiser ) in the area. Instead, he decided to sail north and investigate Shark Bay. At the time of the battle, the raider was disguised as the Dutch merchantman and carried 399 personnel: 36 officers, 359 sailors, and 4 Chinese sailors hired from the crew of a captured merchantman to run the ship's laundry. Battle Note: All times in this section are UTC+7. Identification On 19 November, shortly before 16:00, Kormoran was southwest of Carnarvon, Western Australia. The raider was sailing northwards (heading 025°) at . At 15:55, what was initially thought to be a tall ship sail was sighted off the port bow, although it was quickly determined to be the mast of a warship (HMAS Sydney). Detmers ordered Kormoran to alter course into the sun (heading 260°) at maximum achievable speed (which quickly dropped from because of problems in one of her diesel engines) while setting the ship to action stations. Sydney spotted the German ship around the same time, and she altered from her southward heading to intercept at . As she closed the gap, the Australian cruiser requested that Kormoran identify herself. Communications were initially attempted with a signal lamp to repeatedly send "NNJ" ("You should make your signal letters"), but those aboard the raider did not understand the uncommonly used signal and did not respond. Sydney