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Portal:New South Wales |
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Culture · Geography · Health · History · Mathematics · Natural sciences · Philosophy · Religion · Society · Technology New South Wales (abbreviated NSW) is Australia's most populous state and is located in the south-east of the country, to the north of Victoria and south of Queensland. The capital of New South Wales is Sydney, the most populous city in Australia. With an area of 809,444 km², it is the fourth largest state in Australia. New South Wales was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as New Zealand, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island. During the 19th century large areas were successively separated to form the British colonies of Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria, Queensland and New Zealand. The state is bordered on the north by Queensland, on the west by South Australia, and on the south by Victoria. Its coast faces the Tasman Sea. New South Wales contains two Federal enclaves: the Australian Capital Territory, and the Jervis Bay Territory. New South Wales' three major cities are Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong, which all lie along the coast. The World War II Attack on Sydney Harbour occured in late May and early June 1942, when submarines belonging to the Imperial Japanese Navy made a series of attacks on the cities of Sydney and Newcastle in New South Wales, Australia. On the night of 31 May – 1 June, three Ko-hyoteki class midget submarines, each with a two-member crew, entered Sydney Harbour, avoided the partially constructed Sydney Harbour anti-submarine boom net, and attempted to sink Allied warships. After being detected and attacked, the crews of two of the midget submarines scuttled their boats and committed suicide without engaging Allied vessels. The third attempted to torpedo the heavy cruiser USS Chicago but instead sank the converted ferry HMAS Kuttabul, killing 21 sailors. This midget submarine's fate remained a mystery until 2006, when amateur scuba divers discovered the wreck off Sydney's northern beaches. Immediately following the raid the five Japanese fleet submarines that carried the midget submarines to Australia embarked on a campaign to disrupt merchant shipping in eastern Australian waters. Over the next month the submarines attacked at least seven merchant vessels, sinking three. As part of this campaign, during the early morning of 8 June two of the submarines bombarded the ports of Sydney and Newcastle.
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