The HMAS AE2, in dock in Sydney, circa 1914
Career (Australia)
Builder:	Vickers Armstrong
Laid down:	10 February 1912
Launched:	18 June 1913
Commissioned:	28 February 1914
Fate:	Scuttled 29 April 1915
General characteristics
Displacement:	660 tons (surfaced), 800 tons (submerged)
Length:	181 ft (55 m)
Beam:	22 ft 6 in (6. 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 Events 1355 - The St Scholastica's Day riot breaks out in Oxford, England, leaving 63 scholars and perhaps 30 locals dead Year 1912 ( MCMXII) was a Leap year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year starting Events 618 - Coronation of the Chinese governor Li Yuan as Emperor Gaozu of Tang, the new Emperor of China, initiating three centuries Year 1913 ( MCMXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Events 1429 - Joan of Arc arrives to relieve the Siege of Orleans. Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year 9 m)
Draught:	12 ft 6 in (3. 8 m)
Propulsion:	2 sets of 8 cylinder diesel engines, battery driven electric motors. 1,750 hp (surfaced), 550 hp (submerged)
Speed:	15 knots (surfaced), 10 knots (submerged)
Range:	3,225 nmi (5,973 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h) (submerged) 25 nmi (46 km) at 5 knots (9 km/h) (dived)
Complement:	35
Armament:	4 x 18-inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes

HMAS AE2 (originally known as AE2) was an E-class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Boats Group 1 E1 - Launched November 9 1912. E2 - Launched November A submarine is a Watercraft that can operate independently below water as distinct from a Submersible that has only limited underwater capability The Royal Australian Navy ( RAN) is the naval branch of the Australian Defence Force. She was commissioned into the RAN at Portsmouth on 28 February 1914 and was scuttled less than a year later in the Sea of Marmara after being hit by an enemy torpedo during the Battle of Gallipoli of World War I. History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Sea of Marmara ( Turkish: Marmara Denizi, Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά or Προποντίς, Bulgarian World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All

History

Commissioned

AE2 was built by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, England and was commissioned at Portsmouth, England, on 28 February 1914 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Henry H.G.D. Stoker, RN. 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 Barrow-in-Furness is an industrial town and Seaport in Cumbria, England. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland History See also History of Portsmouth There have been settlements in the area since before Roman times mostly being offshoots of Portchester, which Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year Henry Hugh Gordon Dacre Stoker, commonly credited in films as H ^[1]

Accompanied by her sister ship HMAS AE1, the other of the Royal Australian Navy's first two submarines, AE1 reached Sydney from England on 24 May 1914, manned by Royal Navy officers with a mixed crew of sailors drawn from the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy. History Commissioning AE1 was laid down by Vickers Armstrong at Barrow-in-Furness, England on 14 November 1911 launched on 22 May 1913 Sydney (ˈsɪdniː is the most populous city in Australia, with a Metropolitan area population of approximately 4 Events 1218 - The Fifth Crusade leaves Acre for Egypt. 1276 - Magnus Ladulås is crowned Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the oldest of the British armed services (and is therefore known as the Senior Service) ^[1]

Deployment

On the outbreak of World War I in September 1914, AE2 proceeded with AE1 to capture German New Guinea as part of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force. World War I (abbreviated WWI; also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All German New Guinea ( Ger Deutsch-Neuguinea) was a former German Protectorate from 1884 to 1914 consisting of the northeastern part of The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force was a small Volunteer force of approximately 2000 men raised in Australia shortly after the With the simple surrender of the Germans complete, although with the loss of AE1, in October, AE2 sailed first to Suva, Fiji, then to Sydney and then onto Albany, Western Australia. Suva is the Capital and largest city of Fiji. It is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Central Fiji (Matanitu ko Viti फ़िजी officially the Republic of the Fiji Islands (Matanitu Tu-Vaka-i-koya ko Viti फ़िजी द्वीप समूह गणराज्य Albany ( is located in the Great Southern region of Western Australia, situated around a port on the southern coast Western Australia is a state occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent.

On 31 December 1914 she was towed from Albany by the SS Berrima as part of a Troop Convoy 2 across the Indian Ocean, arriving at Port Said, Egypt, on 28 January 1915. Events 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia. Year 1914 ( MCMXIV) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's Oceanic divisions covering about 20% of the water on the Earth 's surface Port Said ( Arabic بورسعيد transliterated Būr Saʻīd) is a northeastern Egyptian city near the Suez This article is about the country of Egypt For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Egypt topics. Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year AE2 was ordered to join the British 2nd Submarine Flotilla on the island of Tenedos and proceeded to take part in patrols. For the ant spider genus see Tenedos (genus. For the 19th century fort in Zululand, see Fort Tenedos Tenedos, officially ^[2]

Dardanelles Campaign

As part of the naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, AE2 made its first attempt to navigate the Dardanelles straits on 24 April, she penetrated 6 nautical miles (11 km) before being forced back with mechanical problems. The naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign of the First World War were mainly carried out by the Royal Navy with substantial support from the French See also [[Hellespont]] The Dardanelles ( Turkish: Çanakkale Boğazı Greek: Δαρδανέλλια Dardanellia) formerly Events 1479 BC - Thutmose III ascends to the throne of Egypt, although power effectively shifts to Hatshepsut (according to ^[2] At 0230 hours on 25 April 1915 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Henry Dacre Stoker, RAN AE2 again attempted to force her way through the straits. Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. Year 1915 ( MCMXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year At approximately 0430 hours Stoker dived the boat in response to fire from the Turkish guns. Turkey (Türkiye known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( is a Eurasian Country that stretches By 0600 hours AE2 reached Chanak the narrowest part of the strait and then proceeded to torpedo the Turkish gunboat Peyk I Sevket while simultaneously taking evasive actions to avoid an enemy destroyer. Çanakkale (ʧɑˈnɑkːɑle is a town and seaport in Turkey, in Çanakkale Province, on the southern (Asian coast of the Dardanelles (or During the evasion Stoker ran the boat aground directly under a Turkish fort, fortunately the fort was unable to lower its guns onto the AE2. After 4 minutes of being exposed on the bank AE2 slid back into deeper waters. ^[2]

HMAS AE2

Shortly after grounding a second time the periscope of AE2 was sighted by a Turkish battleship firing over the peninsular at British positions. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located On sighting the periscope the battleship ceased fire and retreated to a safe position. AE2 continued to make a steady advance toward the Sea of Marmara. The Sea of Marmara ( Turkish: Marmara Denizi, Greek: Θάλασσα του Μαρμαρά or Προποντίς, Bulgarian At 0830 Stoker decided to rest the boat on the ocean bottom, waiting for the safety of dark. On surfacing he sighted no enemies and proceeded into the Sea of Marmara becoming the first Allied submarine to pass through the Dardanelles Strait. ^[2]

Stoker signalled his success to his commanders. The commanders of the landings were discussing the possibility of re-embarking the force, the news of AE2's success changed the mood of the conversation and talk of a withdrawal was ended. News of the success of AE2 was spread among Anzac troops to encourage them. AE2 was ordered to Generally run amok, Stoker intended to give the impression that there where multiple submarines in the area. Due to mechanical problems AE2, though making repeated attacks, managed no further hits on Turkish vessels. On 30 April AE2 began to rise uncontrollably and surfaced around 1-nautical-mile (2 km) from the torpedo boat Sultanhisar. Events 313 - Roman emperor Licinius unifies the entire Eastern Roman Empire under his rule Sultanhisar is a town and a small district of Aydın Province in the Aegean region of Turkey, 30km east of the city of Aydın on the road Stoker ordered the boat to dive, she went down too deep passing safety levels, then after frantic attempts to resurface the boat she broke surface stern first. Within moments of surfacing she was hit by shellfire, Stoker ordered his crew to abandon ship. All members of the crew survived the attack, though 3 died during the 3 and a half years in captivity. AE2's achievements showed others that the task was possible, within months the Turkish communications line had been badly disrupted. ^[2]

Search and discovery

Since 1995, Selçuk Kolay, director of the Rahmi Koç Museum in Istanbul, had searched for the remains of AE2. Istanbul (historically Byzantium and later Constantinople; see the other Names of Istanbul) is the largest city of Turkey ^[3] In 1996 he discovered what he believed to be the wreck lying in 86 metres of water. With the assistance of an Australian diving team, which visited Turkey to dive on the wreck in October 1997, it was determined that the wreck was that of an old steamer. ^[1]

After a further thorough side-scan sonar and magnetometric survey of the reported scuttling site of the AE2, Kolay located AE2 in June 1998, lying in 72 metres 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. ^[1] The team leader for both the 1997 and 1998 expeditions was Dr Mark Spencer. Pictures from those expeditions, plus underwater pictures, can be seen at his web site. ^[4]

On September 9, 2007, Australian and Turkish naval authorities began an undersea investigation to determine whether the AE2 can be raised and restored. Events 1000 - Battle of Svolder, Viking Age. 1379 - Treaty of Neuberg, splitting the Austrian Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. ^[5] The survey team has identified that there's been significant damage to the casing of the submarine. The expedition's director of operations, Terry Roach, has told how "Fishing nets have obviously dragged at the casing and dislodged some of it, and it is markedly different from what it was before. "^[6]

References

External links

• AE2 1997 and 1998 Expeditions, History and Pictures History of AE2 and expedition notes on the discovery and verification of the wreck.
• The Diary of Albert Edward Knaggs RAN of AE2

• Copping, Jasper. "Henry Stoker: sailor, sportsman, actor, hero", The Telegraph, 26 February 2008. Events 747 BC - Epoch (origin of Ptolemy 's Nabonassar Era 364 - Valentinian I is proclaimed 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Retrieved on 2008-03-26. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor.  
• 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. The presentation is based on Lieutenant-Commander Henry Stoker's report of the voyage submitted after the end of the war and published in Arthur Jose, The Royal Australian Navy 1914-1918, The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, Sydney, 1941, pp. 242-248.