By manoeuvring in close to "Kormoran", Burnett removed the advantage provided by his longer-ranged primary armament, and put "Sydney" in a position where the raider's main guns could penetrate the cruiser's armour. Because there were no Australian survivors, Burnett's decision is inexplicable; writers on the subject can only speculate on his reasoning, and indicate what factors they believe influenced him. Up until the 1980s, most of the material published relating to the loss of "Sydney" accepted the German interpretation of events (that Burnett was deceived by "Kormoran"s disguise, and placed his ship in a tactically unsound position) and assigned Burnett various levels of blame for his role in the cruiser's demise.