sites virtually in the next three years

One of Australia's greatest wartime mysteries could be unlocked in as little as three years - as scientists work to create a 3D reconstruction of the final hours of HMAS Sydney.

The location of the HMAS Sydney wreck was unknown until 2008, when the ship was discovered about 200 kilometres off the west coast of Australia.

The ship sank in 1941 after an intense battle with the German raider Kormoran and was considered Australia's greatest naval disaster after all 645 crewmen died.

Researchers have now collected images and data of the ship and fed them into supercomputer 'Magnus', in an effort to recreate the ship's final moments.

One Australia's greatest wartime mysteries, the HMAS Sydney, could one day be toured virtually as a 3D underwater experience

The location of the HMAS Sydney (pictured) wreck was unknown until 2008, when the it was discovered about 200 kilometres off the West Australian coast

Research engineer Dr Andrew Woods told the Daily Mail Australia that the site is difficult to access - being 2.5 kilometres underwater.

'The project was highly ambitious and very risky but all of our dreams are slowly coming true and the early results are looking fabulous.

'We have around half a million photographs from the expedition and around 300 hours of high definition video, much of that in 3D.

'In the underwater environment it is not possible to just stand back and take one photograph of the whole shipwreck – in clear water the maximum visibility is around 20m whereas the HMAS Sydney is 171m long,' he said.

He added that the volume of data they collected presented obstacles for the team.

'The process of generating 3D models from the photographs we've taken is very computationally intensive,' Dr Woods said.

'The time it would take to process half a million photographs using our conventional techniques, using our standard computers, would take about a thousand years, so we needed to do something to bring that time down to something achievable.'

With 3D printing technology,people could one day experience of seeing an item that's still sitting on the ocean floor

Research engineer Dr Andrew Woods said that there are around half a million photographs from the expedition

Pawsey Supercomputing Centre has the most powerful supercomputer in the southern hemisphere called 'Magnus'

Researchers use the supercomputer to run photos and video through a piece of pattern recognition software, these photos are then stitched together to show the wreckage in 3D

Dr Woods' dilemma was solved with the introduction of the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre and the most powerful supercomputer in the southern hemisphere, Magnus.

Using the supercomputer, researchers run photos and video through a piece of pattern recognition software, these photos are then stitched together to show the wreckage in 3D.

David Satterthwaite from the Pawsey Supercomputing Centre told Daily Mail Australia that it was an honour to see the supercomputer used to benefit Australia's culture and history.

'You allow the ability for people to see or experience things they wouldn't otherwise be able to either for physical restrictions, political restrictions or any other kind of restriction, and so it quite an interesting use of Magnus.'

Dr Woods says the public could soon tour around the historic wreckage 2.5 kilometres underwater, without even getting wet.

'The results of this project will feed into a major exhibition at the Western Australia Museum in Geraldton, Perth and Fremantle as well as partner institutions including the Australian National Maritime Museum.'

The torn-off bow of HMAS Sydney. Researchers have collected images like this to uncover the mystery surrounding the ships final moments

Dr Andrew Woods says the project was highly ambitious and very risky but all of their dreams are slowly coming true and the early results are looking fabulous

Dr Woods hopes that one day 3D reconstruction could help also create physical reproductions of artifacts from the sea floor using 3D printing.