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The Naval Association

You may be interested in the subject and the email below. I believe many in the Naval Association would also be interested and if you or the Secretary of the association have a group email address for your members I would appreciate it if you would promulgate the attached email.

FYI, getting the word out to the broader submarine community.

----- Original Message -----

From: Gus Mellon

To: Norm Williams

Sent: Saturday, November 18, 2006 4:14 AM

Subject: Documentary on HMA Submarine AE1 - ABC, Sunday 26th November 2006 at 5.50 pm

I would be much obliged if you could find space for the following information in this week's newsletter.

Many of our members would be aware of the efforts which are currently being made regarding HMA Submarine AE2. On 06 November, The Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, the Hon. Mr Bruce Billson, MP, held a media release, at which it was announced that the Australian Government will provide the Submarine Institute of Australia (SIA) with $368,500 in funding for a project aimed to protect, preserve and tell the story of the Australian Submarine HMAS AE2, which played an important role during the Gallipoli campaign of 1915. The SIA and all other parties involved are to be warmly congratulated on their most successful efforts to promote and preserve this important part of Australia's national, naval and submarine heritage.

Our members may be less aware of what is going on regarding the search for the last resting place of Australia's first submarine, HMA Submarine AE1. Both AE1 and AE2 were purchased from Great Britain as part of the Royal Australian Navy's 'first outfit' of ships, in 1910. Both AE1 and AE2 were commissioned simultaneously at Portsmouth on 28 February 1914 and on 02 March, 1914, AE1 accompanied by AE2, sailed for Australia via the Suez and Singapore. About two thirds of that voyage was made under their own power, the remainder being made under the tow and/or escort of HMAS SYDNEY (1). This small flotilla arrived in Sydney on Empire Day (who still remembers that from their childhood?), 24 May, 1914. Both boats were promptly interred at Cockatoo Island Dockyard, to make good defects which had accrued during their voyage from Blighty (some things have never changed). Both boats were crewed jointly by British and Australian sailors.

When the First World War broke out in August 1914, both submarines were still in refit. They were quickly prepared for sea (most of us know how that went, as well) and then proceeded north, where they eventually joined up with the rest of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF - perhaps our very first military force acronym - was this where the random acronym generator was first used?) to undertake the invasion and capture of Rabaul, the capital of the (then) German colony of New Guinea. On 10 September, the invasion force arrived off Blanche Bay, New Britain and began the landing operations at Herbertshohe (now called Kokopo). German warships of Admiral von Spee's Pacific Squadron were known to be at large in the Western Pacific and ships of the Australian invasion fleet were ordered to maintain patrols to seaward, to provide advance warning of the arrival of any German warships.

On 14 September, AE1, accompanied by HMAS Parramatta, left Blanche Bay, New Britain, to patrol off Cape Gazelle. She was last seen by Parramatta at 3.30 pm that day, when she turned to return to harbour. When she failed to arrive at the anchorage before sunset, a search was launched. The search lasted for two days however no trace was found of the AE1, or her company, ever since. It has been presumed that AE1 struck an uncharted reef and sank, however even that remains a best guess.

A brief enquiry was held by the Fleet at the time but no other formal enquiry was ever conducted. The invasion of the German Colony of Rabaul being successfully concluded, the invasion force moved on and re-deployed, as the tempo of the War increased. The AE1 however, simply faded into official obscurity. The widows, relatvies and descendants of the ship's company, British and Australian alike, have been left to wonder as to their fates.

The AE1 remained in obscurity until 1976, when an Australian naval officer, CMDR John Foster (who was posted as the Commanding Officer of HMAS BASILISK in Port Moresby at the time) heard about the submarine from a former PNG Patrol Officer. John, who strangely enough, was an ASW officer, decided to take up the cudgels and has pursued the quest of finding the AE1 for 30 years now. In 1976, HMAS FLINDERS made an ad hoc search along the submarine's most likely track on its return to harbour. One contact was made, which was subsequently found by an ROV from another vessel, to be a rocky outcrop.

John made a number of trips back to the area over the subsequent years, mostly in connection with the implementation of aid programs to the local communities, which were carried out by his Rotary Club in Australia. He gathered a substantial amount of local knowledge and intelligence about the area, the waters, currents, island, islets, reefs and native knowledge of wrecks in the area.

In 2003, in conjunction with the Western Australian Maritime Museum and the ABC, John led an expedition to the area, in the hope of finding AE1's last resting place. Whilst the expedition's goal was not achieved, it was the first serious attempt to find the AE1 since 1914 and the ABC made a documentary about the search for the AE1.

That short documentary film about John's long search for HMA Submarine AE1 is being aired on ABC TV on Sunday 26 November at 5.50PM.

It will be shown on the program "Rewind Moments" and is entitled Sub Hunt.

If you would please spread the word amongst the members of the Submarine Association and others of our community, via your most excellent website, we would be most grateful.

In the last couple of years, John has formed a group of like minded individuals, of which I am one, who, under the banner of "PROJECT AE 1" continue to lobby for support to achieve our aims of locating the AE1 and, if possible, discerning what caused her loss.

John has also written a book about the AE1 and his search for her, entitled "AE1-Entombed But Not Forgotten" (it is currently available online through the www.boatbooks-aust.com.au website and can be purchased at all good bookstores). On the 10th of November, the book was publicly launched by the former Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Doug Anthony. I commend it to you all (and no, I don't have a piece of the action).

We have a detailed search plan in place, a very well defined search area has been resolved and we have identified suitable resources with which to conduct the sea bed search. The persons and institutions involved with our project are professional and expert in the areas of competence required to successfully conduct such a search. Some of those we have consulted were involved with the finding of such iconic shipwrecks as the Titanic, the Bismark, the Lusitania, the Israeli submarine, INS Dakar and the Japanese submarine, I-52.

Our resolve is strong, our path forward is clear, our proposed methodology is operationally sound and our equipment selection has been technically rigorous. Furthermore, our probablity of success - once we deploy into the field - has been assessed by an acknowledged expert in this field, as being in the mid-90 percent range.

Our funding however, is lacking. A sum in the order of 300-400 thousand Australian Dollars would, we believe, see the AE1's location resolved. We have lobbied commerical organisations and government long and hard, without success to date, but we continue to do so. We learn as we go, for the path of successfully seeking such funding can be complex and requires levels of both awareness and support across many sectors within our community. Individuals can make a difference in such a process.

If any reader of this article feels so inclined, by all means, please raise the awareness of this matter within your own local communities. Write to your local Federal and State members, write to the National RSL and speak of it at your local RSL, write to the Defence and Veteran's Affairs Ministers and write a Letter to the Editor of your local paper. Our level of support for this mission is growing and the airing of the AE1 documentary on Sunday the 26th of November, will further bolster the broader community's awareness of our goals. We are confident - and we grow more confident daily - that we will achieve those goals within the near future. You too can help and you are invited to do so.

The wreck of the AE1, when found, is of course a war grave, unlike that of AE2, as all of her crew made it safely to shore when she was sunk. There would be no question of attempting to intervene inside the wreck of the AE1 or to recover the hull - the expected water depths in the search area would mitigate against that in any case. The posting of her location with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission however and hopefully the deciphering of the cause of her loss, will provide some long awaited closure for the surviving relatives of the crew.

We feel that this is the least that the Australian Nation can do for these young men - these nascent Submariners - British and Australian - who went on Eternal Patrol for our young nation, during the earliest days of our fledgling Armed Services and in defence of our way of life. Lest We Forget.

On a final note, a national search has recently been initiated to locate as many of the surviving relatives and descendants of the AE1's crew, as possible. If any member of the Submarine Association has any information which might assist in this regard, or who knows anyone who is a descendant of the AE1 crew members, I would please ask that they contact me, via yourself.