Thomas Welsby Clark was a sailor in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), whose body was found on a life raft in the Indian Ocean, off Christmas Island, on 6 February 1942. Before his body was identified, he was widely believed to originate from the RAN cruiser , which sank off Western Australia in November 1941 after a battle with the German auxiliary cruiser . While 318 of 399 personnel survived, the crew of Sydney was lost with all 645 hands. He was identified on 19 November 2021 as Able Seaman Thomas Welsby Clark. Background Clark was born on 28 January 1920, in Brisbane. He enlisted in the Royal Australian Navy on 23 August 1940, and was trained as a submarine detector at HMAS Cerberus and HMAS St Giles. Clark joined Sydneys crew on 19 August 1941, and was promoted to Able Seaman several days later. He was newly engaged at the time of Sydney'''s sinking. His body was found on 6 February 1942. It is reported that an inquest was held on Christmas Island, soon afterwards. His remains were buried with military honours, in an unmarked grave, in the Old European Cemetery on the island. At the Battle of Christmas Island, Japanese forces captured the island on 31 March 1942 and it remained in their hands until 1945. Records, including any relating to the inquest, appear to have been lost or destroyed during the occupation. Witnesses on Christmas Island believed that the float and sailor had come from Sydney. A post-war investigation by the RAN, including attempts to reconstruct the lost records by those who wrote them, determined that the body could possibly be a member of the service. Christmas Island's assistant harbour master at the time, Captain E. Craig, stated that "the Carley float was typical of those in service with the RN and RAN". A government inquiry concluded "on the balance of probability, that the body and the carley float ... were most likely from HMAS Sydney." An archaeological team commissioned by the RAN recovered the body in 2006. A DNA profile and other data about the individual's background were recovered, before from the remains were reburied, at Geraldton, in the Australian war cemetery closest to the wreck of Sydney. Due to items found with the body, including clothing, it was considered most likely that he had been an engineering officer or NCO. By 2014, a process of