The following story has been provided by SAA QLD Inc. Vice President Rob Woolrych who makes
the point that It is John Foster (ex RAN and leader) along with MAJ Tom Hall and Geoff Tyers who
are the trio who are doing the latest work and Gus Mellon is a very strong supporter as well.
THE JOURNEY OF AE1
The journey of HMA Submarine AE1 through the early days of her commission and into the First World
War is a fascinating story and right up to this day she remains an enigma. Millions of $$$$$$ have
been laid aside for the searches of so many lost vessels, none so important as SYDNEY and now we
look for CENTAUR off this very town BUT WHERE IS THE SUPPORT TO FIND AE 1??????
The final resting place of HMAS AE 1 is somewhere off the NE coast of New Britain not far from
Rabaul but still she eludes all attempts to find her. AE 1 simply vanished into a watery grave on 14th
September 1914. She was the first loss of a major RAN unit.
THE BUILD
Well prior to the commencement of WW 1 the Australian government purchased 2 submarines of a
build being undertaken at Vickers at Barrow in Furness in the UK . These were “E” class submarines
and the Australian boats were given to names of AE 1 & AE 2. They were good submarines, the basis
of design for the modern diesel boat and had a complement of 35.
THE VOYAGE TO AUSTRALIA
Nearly 100 years ago these two submarines were born as twins, travelled as twins and ultimately
suffered a similar fate, but at least we know that AE2 is not a war grave and we know where she lies.
The delivery voyage of 82 days was the longest ever undertaken by a submarine at the time and so it
was planned that the submarines would be escorted and towed for half the journey. Their escort
vessels were HMS ECLIPSE to Colombo, YARMOUTH to Singapore and then HMAS SYDNEY.
On route two screws were lost, collisions were narrowly averted, escort vessels got the tows wrapped
around screws, and on arrival in Cairns the Ships Company were reported as immediately seeking
refuge in “The Marine Exchange Hotel”. I would think you could understand why.
Both submarines arrived in Sydney on 24th May berthing at Garden Island where they were reported
“having completed a most wonderful journey of endurance both for men and machinery”. Of the total
journey of 12,500 miles they were under their own power for just over 8,500 nautical miles which
speaks volumes for the dedication of the ships company.
THE DEPLOYMENT TO NEW GUINEA
War was declared in August 1914 and in its early days the German Battle Squadron based in China,
and under the flag of Admiral Von Spee roamed the Pacific at will. Germany controlled North East New
Guinea plus the islands to the north and east. Australia controlled Papua it having been annexed in
1889.
In 1914 an RN naval group was destroyed by Von Spee at Coramel off the coast of South America
and it was feared that he would then turn to Papua and attack Port Moresby in particular. So in
september 1914 the “First Squadron of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force”
consisting of a 4 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 2 submarines and support vessels a hospital ship and 1500
men went north to secure North East New Guinea and suppress the Germans. A landing was made
at Rabaul on 13th September 1914.
After the land action the search for armed German units hiding in the islands and at sea began.
THE LOSS OF AE1
At 0700 on 14 September PARRAMATTA and AE1 weighed and proceeded to search for German
hostiles having instructions that they were to bias their search to the south of Cape Gazelle. At 0900
the two units separated PARRAMATTA went south and AE1 proceeded to the NE to search the area of
the Duke of York islands.
That evening the plan was for both units were to return to the Kokopo area and AEI was to secure
alongside ENCOUNTER to effect repairs to her starboard Main Motor.
At 1530 PARRAMATTA sighted AE1 just to the south of Berard point on Duke of York island heading
SW. They spoke and PARRAMATTA then went to the east continuing her patrol before proceeding to
anchorage.
PARRAMATTA anchored at 1700 off Kokopo expecting to see AE1 with ENCOUNTER. AE 1 was never
seen again - she just disappeared, lost with all hands, not leaving any clue as to her whereabouts.
THE SEARCH FOR AE1
The immediate search started at 2100 and lasted for 2 days and the only real findings from that
search and the subsequent brief inquiry was that:-
(i) AE1 did an unscheduled dive to test the defect on the Stb’d Main Motor and sank; or
(ii) AE1 struck an uncharted reef and sank.
The latter gives no explanation why no trace was found of the persons who would have been on the
bridge at the time.
The search was thorough, the enquiry brief, but it must be bought back to your minds that I am talking
of nearly 100 years back with no radar, no sonar and poor quality charts and at war and that was the
priority. The whole procedure was brief but thorough.
The Rabaul invasion was successfully completed on the 24th September and the squadron moved
on. AE2 went to Fiji and thence to the Mediterranean whilst SYDNEY went on to sink the EMDEN and
Von Spee was defeated at the Falkland’s BUT AE1 remained - her personnel entombed in an
unknown place and already fading into history.
THE RECENT SEARCHES FOR AE1
AE1 remained in obscurity until 1976, when an Australian naval officer, CMDR John Foster (the then
Commanding Officer of HMAS BASILISK in Port Moresby) heard about the submarine from a former
PNG patrol officer. John decided to take up the baton and has pursued the goal of finding the AE1
which he has done for the past 30 years
A short time later John Foster requested that John Compton C.O. of HMAS FLINDERS, who just
happened to be in the area at the time, make a brief search along AE1’s most likely track to Kokopo.
One likely contact was made, but that was subsequently identified by a “Remote Operated Vessel”, to
be a rocky outcrop.
Even Jacques Cousteau became involved at one time in the early 80’s.
John’s passion has continued and he has made a number of trips back to the area since. He has
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 and has put this local
knowledge into his search plans.
In 2003 and 2007,John in conjunction with the Western Australian Maritime Museum, the ABC,
Channel 7 and the RAN on an occasional basis, led expeditions to the area, to search for AE1. Whilst
the expedition's goals were not been achieved these journeys were the first serious attempt to find the
AE1 since 1914.
THE LATEST SEARCH
These earlier searches all focussed on the areas to the east of Duke of York Islands and the Credner
Group along the track to Kokopo where AE1 was to berth alongside HMAS ENCOUNTER to undertake
repairs but in late 2008 the focus of the search shifted closer to the Rabaul area for 2 reasons.
Firstly the deck logs of HMAS ENCOUNTER came to light and it was discovered that on the evening of
14 September 1914 for some reason she shifted from Kokopo to Simpson Harbour which meant that
AE1 would have been told to proceed to Rabaul.
Secondly a diving enthusiast by the name of Geoff Tyers had provided information much earlier he
had dived on sunken Japanese transport (KEIFUKU MARU) in the vicinity of a in the entrance of
Simpson Harbour to recover a fouled anchor. He stated that when found it was caught on the bow of
a submarine which he identified as possibly AE1. He was not regarded a credible witness by Navy
and the information was disregarded.
Some time later John heard this story from one Eric Johnson and this coupled with the new
information regarding ENCOUNTER’s movements suddenly made Geoff Tyers sighting very
believable. The search area for the 2009 expedition suddenly focused at the entrance to Simpson
Harbour at the base of “Vulcan Volcano” the one which devastated Rabaul in 1994.
After considerable effort doing a magnetic anomaly search to seaward at the base of the volcano, a
contact was found that was believed to be the sunken transport (KEIFUKU MARU) but nothing in the
immediate vicinity could be could be identified as the AE1.
To cut a long story short, the problem then faced by the team was that the Japanese transport was
now covered by 30 metres of volcanic silt, whereas in the 1990’s it had been a wreck easily dived
upon both in and around.
It was rapidly realized that if AE1 is nearby and they are confident that she could be, being a much
smaller target she too would be 30 metres beneath volcanic ash and therefore the proverbial needle
in a haystack.
John was forced to abandon this search due to a lack of personal funds and equipment
shortcomings.
CONCLUSION
To say the least, John Foster has been “gutted” by this latest result, but both he and his team are
determined to continue in one way or another. One member of the team Gus Mellon an ex RAN
Submarine Engineer Officer is in the oil industry and Gus believes that equipment will soon be
available which may be able to find AE1 beneath the debris of the volcano.
Vast amounts of support was made available for the location of SYDNEY and financial assistance set
aside for the localisation of CENTAUR but any effort to find the resting place of the first RAN unit lost at
sea, is spurned by both Navy and Government alike.
The only first hand response John has had is to be lectured by a D.V.A. Minister that AE1 Is a War
Grave and must not be disturbed – quite frankly John was insulted by their approach.
The Ships Company of AE1 were RN, RNZN and RAN and if we are not careful her loss and their
names will just fade from our naval history.
In the UK, RAN personnel who were killed in action with UK forces whilst on loan are noted on the UK
Role of Honour at Plymouth. Surely these men of AE1 who died in the service of Australia could have
their names put in pride of place alongside those on our Role of Honour at the Australian War
Memorial.
Where is AE1? And will we ever find her? And will those people from Commonwealth Navies who
served in the RAN Submarine Arm in the Defence of Australia be given the simple recognition they
deserve? We live in eternal hope.
THE HONOUR ROLE
Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Fleming BESANT England Royal Navy
Lieutenant Charles Lewis MOORE England Royal Navy
Lieutenant The Honorable Leopold Florence SCARLETT England Royal Navy
Petty Officer Robert SMAIL Australia Royal Australian Navy
Petty Officer Henry HODGE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Petty Officer William TRIBE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Petty Officer Thomas Martin GILBERT England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Chief Engine Room Artificer Thomas Frederick LOWE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Chief Engine Room Artificer James Alexander FETTES Australia Royal Australian Navy
Chief Engine Room Artificer John Albert MARSLAND England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Chief Engine Room Artificer Joseph William WILSON England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Engine Room Artificer John MESSENGER Australia Royal Australian Navy
Leading Seaman Gordon COURBOLD Australia Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman John REARDON New Zealand Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman Frederick William WOODLAND England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Able Seaman Jack JARMAN Australia Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman James Benjamin THOMAS Australia Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman Frederick George DENNIS England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Able Seaman George HODGKIN England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Able Seaman Arthur FISHER Australia Royal Australian Navy
Signalman George DANCE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Telegraphist Cyril Lefroy BAKER Australia Royal Australian Navy
Chief Stoker Harry STRETCH England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Leading Stoker Sydney Charles BARTON England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Leading Stoker John William MEEK England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Leading Stoker William Elliott GUY England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Stoker John Joseph MALONEY Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker Charles Frederick WRIGHT Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker William WADDILOVE Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker Percy WILSON Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker John James [Jack] BRAY England Royal Navy
Stoker Ernest Fleming BLAKE Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker Richard Bains HOLT Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker James GUILD England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Stoker Henry Joseph GOUGH England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
TOTALS = 14 Australian - 20 English - 1 New Zealander = 35 submariners lost.
the point that It is John Foster (ex RAN and leader) along with MAJ Tom Hall and Geoff Tyers who
are the trio who are doing the latest work and Gus Mellon is a very strong supporter as well.
THE JOURNEY OF AE1
The journey of HMA Submarine AE1 through the early days of her commission and into the First World
War is a fascinating story and right up to this day she remains an enigma. Millions of $$$$$$ have
been laid aside for the searches of so many lost vessels, none so important as SYDNEY and now we
look for CENTAUR off this very town BUT WHERE IS THE SUPPORT TO FIND AE 1??????
The final resting place of HMAS AE 1 is somewhere off the NE coast of New Britain not far from
Rabaul but still she eludes all attempts to find her. AE 1 simply vanished into a watery grave on 14th
September 1914. She was the first loss of a major RAN unit.
THE BUILD
Well prior to the commencement of WW 1 the Australian government purchased 2 submarines of a
build being undertaken at Vickers at Barrow in Furness in the UK . These were “E” class submarines
and the Australian boats were given to names of AE 1 & AE 2. They were good submarines, the basis
of design for the modern diesel boat and had a complement of 35.
THE VOYAGE TO AUSTRALIA
Nearly 100 years ago these two submarines were born as twins, travelled as twins and ultimately
suffered a similar fate, but at least we know that AE2 is not a war grave and we know where she lies.
The delivery voyage of 82 days was the longest ever undertaken by a submarine at the time and so it
was planned that the submarines would be escorted and towed for half the journey. Their escort
vessels were HMS ECLIPSE to Colombo, YARMOUTH to Singapore and then HMAS SYDNEY.
On route two screws were lost, collisions were narrowly averted, escort vessels got the tows wrapped
around screws, and on arrival in Cairns the Ships Company were reported as immediately seeking
refuge in “The Marine Exchange Hotel”. I would think you could understand why.
Both submarines arrived in Sydney on 24th May berthing at Garden Island where they were reported
“having completed a most wonderful journey of endurance both for men and machinery”. Of the total
journey of 12,500 miles they were under their own power for just over 8,500 nautical miles which
speaks volumes for the dedication of the ships company.
THE DEPLOYMENT TO NEW GUINEA
War was declared in August 1914 and in its early days the German Battle Squadron based in China,
and under the flag of Admiral Von Spee roamed the Pacific at will. Germany controlled North East New
Guinea plus the islands to the north and east. Australia controlled Papua it having been annexed in
1889.
In 1914 an RN naval group was destroyed by Von Spee at Coramel off the coast of South America
and it was feared that he would then turn to Papua and attack Port Moresby in particular. So in
september 1914 the “First Squadron of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force”
consisting of a 4 cruisers, 3 destroyers, 2 submarines and support vessels a hospital ship and 1500
men went north to secure North East New Guinea and suppress the Germans. A landing was made
at Rabaul on 13th September 1914.
After the land action the search for armed German units hiding in the islands and at sea began.
THE LOSS OF AE1
At 0700 on 14 September PARRAMATTA and AE1 weighed and proceeded to search for German
hostiles having instructions that they were to bias their search to the south of Cape Gazelle. At 0900
the two units separated PARRAMATTA went south and AE1 proceeded to the NE to search the area of
the Duke of York islands.
That evening the plan was for both units were to return to the Kokopo area and AEI was to secure
alongside ENCOUNTER to effect repairs to her starboard Main Motor.
At 1530 PARRAMATTA sighted AE1 just to the south of Berard point on Duke of York island heading
SW. They spoke and PARRAMATTA then went to the east continuing her patrol before proceeding to
anchorage.
PARRAMATTA anchored at 1700 off Kokopo expecting to see AE1 with ENCOUNTER. AE 1 was never
seen again - she just disappeared, lost with all hands, not leaving any clue as to her whereabouts.
THE SEARCH FOR AE1
The immediate search started at 2100 and lasted for 2 days and the only real findings from that
search and the subsequent brief inquiry was that:-
(i) AE1 did an unscheduled dive to test the defect on the Stb’d Main Motor and sank; or
(ii) AE1 struck an uncharted reef and sank.
The latter gives no explanation why no trace was found of the persons who would have been on the
bridge at the time.
The search was thorough, the enquiry brief, but it must be bought back to your minds that I am talking
of nearly 100 years back with no radar, no sonar and poor quality charts and at war and that was the
priority. The whole procedure was brief but thorough.
The Rabaul invasion was successfully completed on the 24th September and the squadron moved
on. AE2 went to Fiji and thence to the Mediterranean whilst SYDNEY went on to sink the EMDEN and
Von Spee was defeated at the Falkland’s BUT AE1 remained - her personnel entombed in an
unknown place and already fading into history.
THE RECENT SEARCHES FOR AE1
AE1 remained in obscurity until 1976, when an Australian naval officer, CMDR John Foster (the then
Commanding Officer of HMAS BASILISK in Port Moresby) heard about the submarine from a former
PNG patrol officer. John decided to take up the baton and has pursued the goal of finding the AE1
which he has done for the past 30 years
A short time later John Foster requested that John Compton C.O. of HMAS FLINDERS, who just
happened to be in the area at the time, make a brief search along AE1’s most likely track to Kokopo.
One likely contact was made, but that was subsequently identified by a “Remote Operated Vessel”, to
be a rocky outcrop.
Even Jacques Cousteau became involved at one time in the early 80’s.
John’s passion has continued and he has made a number of trips back to the area since. He has
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 and has put this local
knowledge into his search plans.
In 2003 and 2007,John in conjunction with the Western Australian Maritime Museum, the ABC,
Channel 7 and the RAN on an occasional basis, led expeditions to the area, to search for AE1. Whilst
the expedition's goals were not been achieved these journeys were the first serious attempt to find the
AE1 since 1914.
THE LATEST SEARCH
These earlier searches all focussed on the areas to the east of Duke of York Islands and the Credner
Group along the track to Kokopo where AE1 was to berth alongside HMAS ENCOUNTER to undertake
repairs but in late 2008 the focus of the search shifted closer to the Rabaul area for 2 reasons.
Firstly the deck logs of HMAS ENCOUNTER came to light and it was discovered that on the evening of
14 September 1914 for some reason she shifted from Kokopo to Simpson Harbour which meant that
AE1 would have been told to proceed to Rabaul.
Secondly a diving enthusiast by the name of Geoff Tyers had provided information much earlier he
had dived on sunken Japanese transport (KEIFUKU MARU) in the vicinity of a in the entrance of
Simpson Harbour to recover a fouled anchor. He stated that when found it was caught on the bow of
a submarine which he identified as possibly AE1. He was not regarded a credible witness by Navy
and the information was disregarded.
Some time later John heard this story from one Eric Johnson and this coupled with the new
information regarding ENCOUNTER’s movements suddenly made Geoff Tyers sighting very
believable. The search area for the 2009 expedition suddenly focused at the entrance to Simpson
Harbour at the base of “Vulcan Volcano” the one which devastated Rabaul in 1994.
After considerable effort doing a magnetic anomaly search to seaward at the base of the volcano, a
contact was found that was believed to be the sunken transport (KEIFUKU MARU) but nothing in the
immediate vicinity could be could be identified as the AE1.
To cut a long story short, the problem then faced by the team was that the Japanese transport was
now covered by 30 metres of volcanic silt, whereas in the 1990’s it had been a wreck easily dived
upon both in and around.
It was rapidly realized that if AE1 is nearby and they are confident that she could be, being a much
smaller target she too would be 30 metres beneath volcanic ash and therefore the proverbial needle
in a haystack.
John was forced to abandon this search due to a lack of personal funds and equipment
shortcomings.
CONCLUSION
To say the least, John Foster has been “gutted” by this latest result, but both he and his team are
determined to continue in one way or another. One member of the team Gus Mellon an ex RAN
Submarine Engineer Officer is in the oil industry and Gus believes that equipment will soon be
available which may be able to find AE1 beneath the debris of the volcano.
Vast amounts of support was made available for the location of SYDNEY and financial assistance set
aside for the localisation of CENTAUR but any effort to find the resting place of the first RAN unit lost at
sea, is spurned by both Navy and Government alike.
The only first hand response John has had is to be lectured by a D.V.A. Minister that AE1 Is a War
Grave and must not be disturbed – quite frankly John was insulted by their approach.
The Ships Company of AE1 were RN, RNZN and RAN and if we are not careful her loss and their
names will just fade from our naval history.
In the UK, RAN personnel who were killed in action with UK forces whilst on loan are noted on the UK
Role of Honour at Plymouth. Surely these men of AE1 who died in the service of Australia could have
their names put in pride of place alongside those on our Role of Honour at the Australian War
Memorial.
Where is AE1? And will we ever find her? And will those people from Commonwealth Navies who
served in the RAN Submarine Arm in the Defence of Australia be given the simple recognition they
deserve? We live in eternal hope.
THE HONOUR ROLE
Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Fleming BESANT England Royal Navy
Lieutenant Charles Lewis MOORE England Royal Navy
Lieutenant The Honorable Leopold Florence SCARLETT England Royal Navy
Petty Officer Robert SMAIL Australia Royal Australian Navy
Petty Officer Henry HODGE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Petty Officer William TRIBE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Petty Officer Thomas Martin GILBERT England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Chief Engine Room Artificer Thomas Frederick LOWE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Chief Engine Room Artificer James Alexander FETTES Australia Royal Australian Navy
Chief Engine Room Artificer John Albert MARSLAND England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Chief Engine Room Artificer Joseph William WILSON England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Engine Room Artificer John MESSENGER Australia Royal Australian Navy
Leading Seaman Gordon COURBOLD Australia Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman John REARDON New Zealand Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman Frederick William WOODLAND England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Able Seaman Jack JARMAN Australia Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman James Benjamin THOMAS Australia Royal Australian Navy
Able Seaman Frederick George DENNIS England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Able Seaman George HODGKIN England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Able Seaman Arthur FISHER Australia Royal Australian Navy
Signalman George DANCE England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Telegraphist Cyril Lefroy BAKER Australia Royal Australian Navy
Chief Stoker Harry STRETCH England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Leading Stoker Sydney Charles BARTON England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Leading Stoker John William MEEK England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Leading Stoker William Elliott GUY England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Stoker John Joseph MALONEY Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker Charles Frederick WRIGHT Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker William WADDILOVE Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker Percy WILSON Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker John James [Jack] BRAY England Royal Navy
Stoker Ernest Fleming BLAKE Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker Richard Bains HOLT Australia Royal Australian Navy
Stoker James GUILD England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
Stoker Henry Joseph GOUGH England Royal Australian Navy ex RN
TOTALS = 14 Australian - 20 English - 1 New Zealander = 35 submariners lost.
| THE STORY OF AE1 |
They have no grave but the cruel sea
No flowers lay at their head
A rusting hulk is their tombstone
Afast on the ocean bed
They shall grow not old as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Lest we forget
No flowers lay at their head
A rusting hulk is their tombstone
Afast on the ocean bed
They shall grow not old as we who are left grow old
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Lest we forget
| SAA QLD Inc. supports the ongoing work of PROJECT AE1 to locate the final resting place of AE1. Click here to visit their very informative website. |