First images of Australian wreck

The ship's 'B' turret shows evidence of a direct hit between gun barrels

Experts who found the wreck of the HMAS Sydney, the Australian ship sunk during World War II, have released pictures of the vessel on the ocean floor.

The Sydney was sunk by a German ship in 1941, with the loss of all 645 sailors on board.

The Finding Sydney Foundation, which located the wreck last month, said the ship was resting upright on the seabed at a depth of almost 2.5km.

The underwater pictures show the ship's gun barrels, portholes and an anchor.

In a statement on the foundation's website, search director David Mearns said that the team had not been able to locate the warship's bell.

"But there was no mistaking that the wreck before us was that of HMAS Sydney and that her damage matched perfectly to what we expected from the side-scan sonar imagery and from the German accounts of the battle," he wrote.

'Powerful aura'

HMAS Sydney was sailing back to Australia from Sumatra on 19 November 1941 when a German vessel, the Kormoran, launched its attack.

The team identified several of the ship's components

Both ships sank, but 317 of the 390 crew on board the Kormoran survived, rowing to the Australian coast where they became prisoners of war.

Australians have long been fascinated by the mystery of how exactly the Sydney was lost to the German cruiser.

For years theories have abounded - including that a Japanese submarine really sank the Sydney or that the Kormoran's crew machine-gunned Australian survivors.

Days after the wreck was found, the Australian government announced the establishment of a board of inquiry to investigate the ship's sinking.

John Perryman, a senior naval historian, said that there were large shell holes along the port side of the vessel, while the bridge area and superstructure showed signs of "severe punishment".

Part of the bow was missing, with "signs of what may have been a violent explosion, as the deck had been rent upwards and folded up over the gun barrels of 'A' turret," he wrote on the foundation's site.

The underwater images of the ship left a strong impression, he added.

"Although in a badly damaged state, this great warship retains a powerful aura, in her final resting place off the Western Australian coast."