HMAS AE2
Encyclopedia
HMAS AE2 (originally known as AE2) was an E class
British E class submarine
The British E class submarines started out as improved versions of the British D class submarine. All of the first group and some of the second group were completed before the outbreak of World War I....
submarine of the Royal Australian Navy
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the ships and resources of the separate colonial navies were integrated into a national force: the Commonwealth Naval Forces...
(RAN). She was commissioned into the RAN at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
on 28 February 1914 and was scuttled little more than a year later in the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
after being hit by enemy shellfire during the Battle of Gallipoli
Battle of Gallipoli
The Gallipoli Campaign, also known as the Dardanelles Campaign or the Battle of Gallipoli, took place at the peninsula of Gallipoli in the Ottoman Empire between 25 April 1915 and 9 January 1916, during the First World War...
.
Construction and acquisition
AE2 had a displacement of 750 tons when on the surface. Electricity for the propulsion system was generated by two 8-cylinder diesels.AE2 was laid down on 10 February 1912 by Vickers Armstrong
Vickers Armstrong
Vickers-Armstrongs Limited was a British engineering conglomerate formed by the merger of the assets of Vickers Limited and Sir W G Armstrong Whitworth & Company in 1927...
at Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness
Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and seaport which forms about half the territory of the wider Borough of Barrow-in-Furness in the county of Cumbria, England. It lies north of Liverpool, northwest of Manchester and southwest from the county town of Carlisle...
, England, and launched on 18 June 1913. She was commissioned into the RAN at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...
, England, on 28 February 1914 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Henry H.G.D. Stoker
Henry Hugh Gordon Stoker
Commander Henry Hugh Gordon "Dacre" Stoker, DSO RN commonly credited in films as H.G. Stoker or Dacre Stoker , was an officer of the First and Second World War Royal Navy and stage and screen actor...
, RN.
Accompanied by AE1
HMAS AE1
HMAS AE1 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy . She was the first submarine to serve in the RAN, and was lost at sea with all hands near East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, on 14 September 1914, after less than seven months in service...
, her sister boat and the other of the RAN's first two submarines, AE2 reached Sydney from England on 24 May 1914, manned by Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(RN) officers with a mixed crew of sailors drawn from the RN and RAN. According to naval historian Tom Frame
Tom Frame (bishop)
Tom Frame is an Australian Anglican bishop, historian, academic, author and social commentator.Frame was born in Stanmore, New South Wales and raised in Wollongong by his adoptive parents.-Career:...
, the delivery voyage was at the time "the longest submarine transit in history".
Outbreak of World War I
On the outbreak of World War I in September 1914, AE2 proceeded with AE1 to capture German New GuineaGerman New Guinea
German New Guinea was the first part of the German colonial empire. It was a protectorate from 1884 until 1914 when it fell to Australia following the outbreak of the First World War. It consisted of the northeastern part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups...
as part of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of the First World War to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guinea in the south-west Pacific...
. During the capture of New Guinea, sister boat AE1 disappeared. After the German surrender, AE2 spent time patrolling around Fiji with the battlecruiser , then returned to Sydney in November for maintenance and repairs.
As AE2 was the only submarine in the region, her commander, Royal Navy Lieutenant Henry Hugh Gordon Stoker
Henry Hugh Gordon Stoker
Commander Henry Hugh Gordon "Dacre" Stoker, DSO RN commonly credited in films as H.G. Stoker or Dacre Stoker , was an officer of the First and Second World War Royal Navy and stage and screen actor...
, suggested that the boat be transferred to Europe. Both the RAN and the British Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
agreed, and on 31 December, AE2 (under the tow of SS Berrima
HMAS Berrima
HMAS Berrima was an Armed Merchant Cruiser which served in the Royal Australian Navy during World War I.The P&O passenger liner SS Berrima was requisitioned for use by the Navy, refitted and armed at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard and commissioned into the RAN as the auxiliary cruiser HMAS...
) left Albany with AIF
Australian Imperial Force
The Australian Imperial Force was the name given to all-volunteer Australian Army forces dispatched to fight overseas during World War I and World War II.* First Australian Imperial Force * Second Australian Imperial Force...
Convoy 2. The submarine was the only warship assigned to the sixteen-ship convoy, as after the Battle of Cocos
Battle of Cocos
The Battle of Cocos took place on 9 November 1914 during the First World War off the Cocos Islands, in the north east Indian Ocean. The German light cruiser attacked the British cable station on Direction Island and was engaged several hours later by the Australian light cruiser...
, the Admiralty felt no need to protect shipping in the Indian Ocean. AE2 arrived in Port Said
Port Said
Port Said is a city that lies in north east Egypt extending about 30 km along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, north of the Suez Canal, with an approximate population of 603,787...
, Egypt, on 28 January 1915, and was ordered to join the British 2nd Submarine Flotilla, and proceeded to take part in patrols in support of the Dardanelles Campaign.
Dardanelles Campaign
On 10 March, the submarine ran aground off Mudros when returning from a patrol, as the harbour navigtion lights had been switched off in AE2s absence, which Stoker was not prepared for. The submarine was towed to Malta for repairs. AE2 returned to operations in April.The aim of the Dardanelles Campaign was to knock German ally Turkey out of the war and open up supply lines to Russia via the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
. An attempt to force the Dardanelles
Dardanelles
The Dardanelles , formerly known as the Hellespont, is a narrow strait in northwestern Turkey connecting the Aegean Sea to the Sea of Marmara. It is one of the Turkish Straits, along with its counterpart the Bosphorus. It is located at approximately...
open with warships on 18 March failed, with the loss of three Allied battleships. Plans were made to capture the Turkish defences by a land invasion. In the meantime, two attempts were made by submarines to traverse the Dardanelles, but mines and strong currents resulted in the loss of both boats. Stoker planned his own attempt, which was approved by the Allied fleet's commander, Vice Admiral John de Robeck
John de Robeck
Admiral of the Fleet Sir John Michael de Robeck, 1st Baronet GCB, GCMG, GCVO was an admiral in the British Royal Navy who commanded the Allied naval force in the Dardanelles during World War I....
.
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Diving plane
A diving plane, also known as a hydroplane, is a control surface found on submarines which allow the vessel to pitch its bow and stern up or down to assist in the process of submerging or surfacing the boat, as well as controlling depth when submerged....
coupling failed, making the submarine impossible to control unterwater. At 02:30 on 25 April 1915, Stoker made a second attempt. The submarine was spotted by shore artillery and fired on from about 04:30; Stoker ordered the boat to dive to avoid the shells and to traverse the first minefield. AE2 spent the next hour picking her way through the mines' mooring cables: defensive wires that had been welded to the submarine in Malta prevented the mooring cables from catching. By 06:00, AE2 reached Chanak, and proceeded to torpedo the Turkish gunboat Peyk I Sevket while simultaneously taking evasive actions to avoid an enemy destroyer. The submarine ran aground beneath a Turkish fort, but the fort's guns' could not be positioned to fire, and AE2 was able to free herself within four minutes. Shortly after, the submarine's periscope was sighted by a Turkish battleship firing over the peninsula at the Allied landing sites; this prompted the ship to stop firing and withdraw. AE2 advanced toward the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
, and at 08:30, Stoker decided to rest the boat on the ocean bottom and wait until nightfall before continuing.
At around 21:00, AE2 surfaced to recharge her electric batteries, and sent word of his success back to the fleet. Although the landing at Cape Helles
Landing at Cape Helles
The landing at Cape Helles was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula by British and French forces on April 25, 1915 during the First World War. Helles, at the foot of the peninsula, was the main landing area. With the support of the guns of the Royal Navy, a British division...
was going well, the landing at Anzac Cove
Landing at Anzac Cove
The landing at Anzac Cove was part of the amphibious invasion of the Gallipoli Peninsula by Australian and New Zealand forces on 25 April 1915. The landing, north of Gaba Tepe on the Aegean coast of the Peninsula, was made by soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and was the first...
was not as successful, and the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
Australian and New Zealand Army Corps
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. General William Birdwood commanded the corps, which comprised troops from the First Australian Imperial...
, Lieutenant-General Sir William Birdwood
William Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood
Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood, GCB, GCSI, GCMG, GCVO, GBE, CIE, DSO was a First World War British general who is best known as the commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915.- Youth and early career :Birdwood was born...
was pushing for reembarkation of his troops. The news of the Australian submarine's success was one of the factors that led to Birdwood's reconsideration, and was spread to the soldiers ashore to improve morale. Stoker was ordered to "generally run amok", and with no enemies in sight, he ordered the boat to enter the Sea of Marmara
Sea of Marmara
The Sea of Marmara , also known as the Sea of Marmora or the Marmara Sea, and in the context of classical antiquity as the Propontis , is the inland sea that connects the Black Sea to the Aegean Sea, thus separating Turkey's Asian and European parts. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Black...
. The submarine made appearances across the Sea of Marmara over the following five days to give the impression of multiple boats, and several attacks against Turkish ships were made, although all failed because of increasing mechanical problems.
On 30 April, AE2 began to rise uncontrollably and surfaced near the torpedo boat Sultanhisar
Ottoman torpedo boat Sultanhisar
Sultanhisar was a torpedo boat of the Ottoman Navy. She was built in 1907 by Schneider & Cie in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, and transferred the same year to Turkey...
. While attempting to avoid the torpedo boat, AE2 dived below her safe diving depth
Submarine depth ratings
Depth ratings are primary design parameters and measures of a submarine's ability to operate underwater. The depths to which submarines can dive are limited by the strengths of their hulls...
; frantic attempts to correct this caused the submarine's stern to break the surface. Sultanhisar immediately fired on the submarine, puncturing the pressure hull. Stoker ordered the boat's company to evacuate, and scuttled AE2. All personnel survived the attack, although three died during the three and a half years in captivity. AE2s achievements showed others that the task was possible, and within months the Turkish communications line had been badly disrupted. AE2 was the only RAN vessel to be lost as a result of enemy action during World War I, and the two E-class submarines were the total of the RAN's operational losses in the war.
Search and discovery
Since 1995, Selçuk Kolay, director of the Rahmi M. Koç Museum in IstanbulIstanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, had searched for the remains of AE2. In 1996, he discovered what he believed to be the wreck lying in 86 metres (282.2 ft) of water. With the assistance of an Australian diving team, it was determined in October 1997 that the wreck was that of an old steamer.
After a further thorough side-scan sonar and magnetometric survey of the reported scuttling site of the AE2, Kolay located the submarine in June 1998, lying in 72 metres (236.2 ft) of water, and was first dived upon the following month. An Australian dive team again visited Turkey in October 1998, with further dives confirming the identification of AE2.
On 9 September 2007, Australian and Turkish naval authorities began an undersea investigation to determine if AE2 could be raised and restored. The survey team identified that significant damage to the wreck had occurred since the 1998 inspection dives.
In March 2010, following an overhaul of the RAN battle honour
Battle honour
A battle honour is an award of a right by a government or sovereign to a military unit to emblazon the name of a battle or operation on its flags , uniforms or other accessories where ornamentation is possible....
s system, AE2 was retroactively awarded the honours "Rabaul 1914" and "Dardanelles 1915".
AE2 Commander
In 2009, Edith Cowan UniversityEdith Cowan University
Edith Cowan University is located in Perth, Western Australia. It was named after the first woman to be elected to an Australian Parliament, Edith Cowan, and is the only Australian university named after a woman....
was commissioned by the National Archives of Australia
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. It is an Executive Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and reports to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator Joe Ludwig.The national...
to research and produce a computer game/simulation called AE2 Commander, funded under the $15,000 Ian Maclean Award. As well as being a realistic WWI submarine simulation, it is investigating how original archival sources can be used as part of computer simulation and serious gaming. An initial version of the AE2 Commander game and website went live on 17 April 2011. The game presents a combination of digitized documents from the collections of the National Archives of Australia
National Archives of Australia
The National Archives of Australia is a body established by the Government of Australia for the purpose of preserving Commonwealth Government records. It is an Executive Agency of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and reports to the Cabinet Secretary, Senator Joe Ludwig.The national...
and Australian War Memorial
Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of all its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in the wars of the Commonwealth of Australia...
along with the embodiment of various archival sources in the setting and narrative of the game.
External links
- AE2 1997 and 1998 Expeditions, History and Pictures History of AE2 and expedition notes on the discovery and verification of the wreck.
- British and Australian Submarines in the Dardanelles, 1915 Includes a full animation of the AE2's passage of the Dardanelles on 24–29 April 1915, based on Stoker's report of the voyage.
- AE2 Commander - 3D simulation and 2D educational site developed by Edith Cowan University and the National Archives of Australia