A capture attempt offers one possible reason for Sydney's dangerous approach. A cruiser trying to put a boarding party into boats would need to close the range, and its trained guns might appear sufficient to deter an ordinary merchant crew. The hypothesis does not resolve why no warning signal was sent or how the first German salvos disrupted so many command and communication functions. The capture attempt remains a proposed explanation for closing the range, rather than an established decision by Sydney's command.
Notable Point · 1:30:26-1:32:50
Why Sydney may have closed on Kormoran
Sydney may have approached closely because her crew hoped to capture the suspicious merchant ship, but the surviving evidence cannot establish that intention.