A Shot of History: Attack on Sydney Harbour

On the night of 31 May 1942, Sydney Harbour was attacked by midget submarines of the Imperial Japanese Navy. An accommodation vessel of the Royal Australian Navy was torpedoed, and 21 sailors died. The midget submarines were hunted down, and two sunk.

War had already come to northern Australia, and now the southern cities were made bitterly aware that the world-wide conflict had reached them. The midget submarine attack was only the beginning: gun strikes were made against land targets, and more enemy submarines came south, attacking freighters up and down the continent’s eastern coast.

This new accounting of the night Sydney Harbour was attacked reveals new details of the fight that ensued and sets some of the previous historical accounts right. The text is supported by numerous photos as well as extensive plans of the midget submarines, and details of the curious stories following the war, including the discovery of the third midget submarine, sunk off the New South Wales coast.

About the Author

Dr Thomas Anthony "Tom" Lewis, OAM is an Australian author, military historian, editor, teacher, and former naval officer. An author since 1989, Lewis worked as a high school teacher, and served as naval officer for 20 years, seeing active service in Baghdad during the Iraq war, and working in East Timor.

In June 2003, Lewis was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for meritorious service to the Royal Australian Navy, particularly in the promotion of Australian naval history.

Dr Lewis is the author of 14 books and continues to work on a variety of military history research projects, including acting as Lead Historian for The Territory Remembers, the NT Government's commemoration of 75 years since the first air raid on the NT in 1942.