By Tim Binnall
An Australian man who had come to be known as the 'unknown sailor' after his unidentified remains were found following an epic World War II naval battle has reportedly been identified at long last. Considered by historians to be the country's biggest maritime mystery, the case began back on November 19, 1941, when the HMAS Sydney was attacked by the German cruiser Kormoran as it was sailing off the coast of Western Australia. The explosive encounter ultimately saw both ships damaged to the point that they wound up sinking into the ocean and the Sydney lost its entire 645-man crew.
Although it was thought that everyone had perished with the sinking of the ship, a life raft containing the body of a sailor from the vessel washed ashore three months later and his identity remained a mystery until this week. In conjunction with the 80th anniversary of the Syndey's final battle, the Royal Australian Navy announced that genetic testing has determined that the 'unknown sailor' was a man named Thomas Welsby Clark. The identification was made possible by way of genealogical research centered around a paternal lineage uncovered using the man's Y-DNA, which was extracted when his body was exhumed back in 2006.