Project · Rabaul, Papua New Guinea

HMAS AE1

Australia’s first submarine, lost with all 35 men aboard off Rabaul in September 1914, and found in December 2017 after more than a century.

Finding AE1 We will remember them

The last known photograph of AE1, taken before it vanished in September 1914

Lost

14 September 1914, off Cape Gazelle

Aboard

35 Australian, New Zealand and British men

Found

20 December 2017

Search vessel

MV Fugro Equator

Once was lost

A mystery for over a century

Australia’s wartime past, although relatively recent, has been instrumental in the development of the nation’s identity. When the First World War broke out, the Australian Navy was only three years old, but it possessed one of the most technologically advanced weapon systems in the world in the newly acquired submarines AE1 and AE2.

AE2 is well known for the action it saw during the Gallipoli campaign. It was the first submarine to break through the Dardanelles Strait. Its fate was well documented, and the site of the wreckage found, recorded and protected.

AE1 was assigned to support operations in German New Guinea. On 14 September 1914, AE1 was patrolling off Cape Gazelle. After making contact with HMAS Parramatta, AE1 continued the patrol. Instructions were to return to port in Rabaul by sundown.

The submarine AE1 coming into port at Sydney in 1915 — The Royal Australian Navy submarine AE1 comes into port at Sydney. A02551, Australian War Memorial

AE1 never came back.

A contemporary search was mounted to locate the vessel and continued for three days, but no sign was ever found. The fate of the vessel and the 35 men on board, Australian, New Zealand and British subjects, remained a mystery for over a century.

Finding AE1

The search

Legacy searches

It was not until decades later that the search was picked up again in earnest by Commander John Foster OAM RAN (Rtd). His archival research was extensive, but his efforts did not end there. Several attempts were made to physically locate the submarine, and an account of these was published in his book, AE1 – Entombed But Not Forgotten, in 2006.

December 2017

Silentworld Foundation and the Australian Government, through the Royal Australian Navy, co-funded an expedition to once again search for AE1, in collaboration with the Australian National Maritime Museum, FindAE1 Ltd (a company established for the sole purpose of locating the vessel, made up of the team that located AE2) and the Submarine Institute of Australia.

The team partnered with Fugro, an international commercial surveying company, and set out aboard MV Fugro Equator to find the men of AE1.

This was achieved on the evening of 20 December 2017.

Armed with information gathered over several years, most recently multi-beam echo sounder data gathered by the team at IXSurvey (iXblue) in 2015, the Fugro remote sensing team tackled the task with great skill and expertise, with the invaluable aid of the vessel’s crew under the command of Captain Andres Masloboev, assisted by Chief Officer Ruslan Vakulyuk and Second Officer Andriy Babushev.

The Fugro team of engineers, analysts and geophysicists — The Fugro team of AUV engineers, data analysts and geophysicists on the AE1 expedition: Tanesh Thanapalan, Ali Faizal, Sudiyono, Zennezky, Chandran Karapiah, Jaayaprakash Narianan, Marlon Bravo, Walid Luqman, Gerry Galvan, Diensa Refranto, Jemuel Ramos Rebong, Nugroho and Magnus Windle.

The AE1 expedition team — Expedition team (left to right): Tanesh Thanapalan (Fugro), Paul Hundley (SWF), Peter Briggs (FindAE1), Roger Turner (FindAE1), Chandran Karapiah (Fugro), James McPherson (RAN), Gus Mellon (FindAE1), Andres Masloboev (Fugro), Magnus Windle (Fugro), Nigel Erskine (ANMM) and Irini Malliaros (SWF).

April 2018

Follow-up work

An expedition to record the submarine in greater detail was undertaken in April 2018 by FindAE1 Pty Ltd and the Australian National Maritime Museum, along with Curtin University, aboard the Vulcan Inc. vessel Petrel. The company was owned by the late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.

An ROV was launched at the site and captured thousands of still images and video. This data is being compiled by the HIVE at Curtin University to construct a high-resolution 3D model of the wreck. The stills and footage were analysed by the team and a conclusion has been reached on the most probable cause of the disaster.

“The imagery reveals that a critical ventilation valve in the hull is partially open. The valve should have been closed before diving. When the submarine dived, the partially open valve would have allowed water to flood the engine room which may have resulted in a loss of control causing the submarine to descend below its crush depth of 100m. The resultant implosion would have killed the crew instantly. The reason why the valve is partially open is unknown.”

Australian National Maritime Museum

Read the ANMM’s full report

Commemoration

We will remember them

A short reception at the Australian National Maritime Museum on 12 March 2018 presented the findings of the expedition to the descendants of the 35 crewmen aboard AE1, the naval community, members of partner organisations and corporate sponsors.

The Minister for Defence, Senator Marise Payne; PNG Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Rimbink Pato OBE; and Chief of Navy, VADM Tim Barrett each made a short address, followed by the presentation of the expedition findings by Rear Admiral Peter Briggs RAN (Rtd) and an incredibly moving speech by Vera Ryan, descendant and representative of the AE1 crew descendants association. A meet and greet followed in an exhibition space with information on the story of AE1 and the discovery, including the photomosaic of the site produced from imagery captured by Fugro. On show was also the ceremonial axe that launched both AE1 and AE2.

A formal function was organised by John Mullen of SWF and held at the ANMM on 7 August 2018 to thank all the sponsors, individuals and organisations who supported the search and without whom it would not have been possible. Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove opened the evening, followed by Minister Mitch Fifield; Chief of Navy, VADM Michael Noonan AO; and a deeply poignant speech by Vera Ryan. John Mullen introduced a short film of the search and follow-up recording missions, and the evening concluded with an address from ANMM Chairman Peter Dexter.

A short feature that follows the team on the search mission in December 2017. Copyright: Australian National Maritime Museum

Photomosaic of the AE1 wreck site shown against the submarine’s construction plans — A photomosaic of AE1’s wreck site produced from photos captured at the time of discovery, shown against the construction plans of the submarine. Image copyright: Australian National Maritime Museum

With thanks

Partners & sponsors

Project partners

SWF founder and director John Mullen, as well as sponsoring the search personally, engaged the SWF team, with support from the Australian National Maritime Foundation, in a fundraising initiative in the lead-up to the December 2017 search, gaining the generous support of corporate organisations and private sponsors. John and SWF extend their deepest appreciation to all those who supported the search for a vessel of such national significance. Simply put, the project would not have been possible without your support. Thank you.