Conversely, the Cole report stated that Sydney may not have been at action stations. Ship's logs for several Australian warships showed that it was not common practice to do so when approaching unidentified merchant vessels in home waters.Cole, The Loss of HMAS Sydney II, vol. 1, pp. 292–3 This, combined with Detmers' observation and the belief that Sydneys approach followed procedures for an 'innocent' instead of a 'suspicious' vessel, prompted Cole to conclude that the Australian cruiser was not at action stations.Cole, The Loss of HMAS Sydney II, vol. 1, pp. 302, 307–16
