HMAS Sydney 3D

Deep down off the coast of Western Australia lie two 75-year old shipwrecks, the HMAS Sydney and a German ship that battled it during World War II. In 2008 the ships were discovered after a long search. But since then very few people have been able to see them. Now 3D technology and the fastest computer in the southern hemisphere are helping to bring the Sydney back from the deep for others to enjoy.

At the height of the Second World War, one of the most famous and successful ships in the Australian Navy, the HMAS Sydney, set out for home after protecting troop ships around Asia. But just 200 kilometres from Western Australia the Sydney was attacked by a German ship called the Kormoran. Both ships were sunk and more than 700 men died. It was, and still is, the worst naval disaster in Australian history.

For almost 70 years the Sydney and the Kormoran lay undiscovered somewhere in the Indian Ocean, until this moment in 2008. These are the first rough images of the shipwrecks 2,500 metres below the sea. Now, eight years later, the researchers have come back for a closer look at the ships. In fact, a MUCH closer look!

ANDREW WOODS, RESEARCH ENGINEER: We've collected around half a million photographs and around 300 hours of high-definition video and much of that in 3D.

So why all the filming? Well two and a half kays is too far below the sea for most people to visit. So instead, the researchers came up with a pretty sophisticated way to bring HMAS Sydney back up onto dry land. This is a full 3D recreation of the HMAS Sydney as it sits on the bottom of the ocean. But being able to create 3D images like this is no easy feat.

ANDREW WOODS: The amount of time it would take for us to process half a million photographs using our conventional techniques, using our standard computer would take about 1,000 years. So, we needed to do something to bring that time down to something achievable. So they got some help from Magnus.

DAVID SCHIBECI, PAWSEY SUPERCOMPUTING CENTRE: If you gave all eight billion people on the planet a hand calculator, it would take them over 10 years to do what Magnus does in a second.

Magnus is a giant super computer. In fact, it's the biggest in the Southern hemisphere. These rows and rows of computers are all linked up and they work together to stitch information, like images from the Sydney, together. And now not only do they have a 3D recreation of the ship, all that information could now be used to 3D print a real life replica too. The HMAS Sydney has had a long, important and tragic story. But now its full story will be easier for the next generation of Australians to learn about.

• Carl Smith | Reporter
• HMAS Sydney: 3D reconstruction reveals more details of Australia's biggest naval disaster: ABC News | website
• HMAS Sydney(2008): Behind the News | history
• HMAS Sydney: Australian War Memorial | weblink
• Australia:WA | Map
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