Wreck of HMAS AE1 Located - Sensationalist Headlines

[T]http://news.navy.gov.au/images/cache/746x497/crop/images%7Ccms-image-000013155.jpg[/T] [quote]Australia’s first submarine HMAS AE1 has been found, ending a 103 year maritime mystery. The fate of 800 ton AE1 and her 35 crew members has remained one of the persistent mysteries of Australia’s military history. It was the first loss for the Royal Australian Navy and the first Allied submarine loss in World War I; a significant tragedy felt by our nation and our allies. The Royal Australian Navy submarine was lost off Rabaul on 14 September 1914 with all personnel aboard. An expedition to locate the submarine took place in waters off the coast of the Duke of York Island group in Papua New Guinea this week. The search vessel ‘Fugro Equator’ located an object of interest in over 300 metres of water. Upon further inspection, confirmed the object to be AE1.[/quote] Lest we forget the underappreciated Allied Submarine Operations in the Great War. [url]http://news.navy.gov.au/en/Dec2017/Fleet/4389/‘FOUND’---Australian-Navy-Submarine-HMAS-AE1-located-after-103-years.htm#.WjscCbZOmaO[/url]

I had no idea we even operated submarines in WW1, according to wikepedia there were only two so I suppose its not much of a surprise I've never heard of it. Education on Australia's participation in both WW1 and 2 here is pretty lackluster though, Gallipoli is pretty much the only thing you will get taught about if you don't take a course specifically on Australian history.

[QUOTE=archival;52995995]I had no idea we even operated submarines in WW1, the wiki page is neat read.[/QUOTE] The Allies all had active Submarine fleets. British, Russians, Italians, Americans, French. Austro-Hungarians did as well, but they were on the Central Powers. They all get forgotten sadly.

[QUOTE=bdd458;52996008]The Allies all had active Submarine fleets. British, Russians, Italians, Americans, French. Austro-Hungarians did as well, but they were on the Central Powers. They all get forgotten sadly.[/QUOTE] It's a shame, really. Submarine warfare in WW1 is extremely interesting. But all you ever hear about is Germany's U-Boat campaign. It may have been the most successful, but it wasn't the only one.

[QUOTE=mugofdoom;52996253]It's a shame, really. Submarine warfare in WW1 is extremely interesting. But all you ever hear about is Germany's U-Boat campaign. It may have been the most successful, but it wasn't the only one.[/QUOTE] There’s not a lot of writing on Allied subs sadly. I just finished writing a research paper using primary sources on US subs in the war, and they’re sadly usually forgotten.

[QUOTE=bdd458;52996008]The Allies all had active Submarine fleets. British, Russians, Italians, Americans, French. Austro-Hungarians did as well, but they were on the Central Powers. They all get forgotten sadly.[/QUOTE] you forgot new zealand, though to be fair we didn't actually have any subs :v: but then our entire armed forces is a joke

[QUOTE=bdd458;52996269]There’s not a lot of writing on Allied subs sadly. I just finished writing a research paper using primary sources on US subs in the war, and they’re sadly usually forgotten.[/QUOTE] Care to share more about your paper/research?

[QUOTE=Bradyns;52997610]Care to share more about your paper/research?[/QUOTE] so longstory short, the US wasn't really prepared for war in 1917. Not on land, and not really at sea. The US Subfleet was generally built for various coastal defence purposes, and our submarine diesel engines were behind our European counterparts (we didn't start building them until 1910, and based them off of German designs). Even the uniforms were shoddy for the job (they were the standard navy uniforms, but on a submarine they didn't keep you warm enough). The submarines got cold, especially when sitting submerged on a listening patrol). When we ended up joining the war, we had to make some modifications to our boats, such as adding chariot shields to the bridges, anti-net/sweep protecting wires, stuff like that. Most of our submarines were either on anti-submarine patrols along the eastern seaboard, or in the Atlantic/North Sea. The boats in European waters were based out of Bantry Bay, Ireland; and the Azores. These patrols weren't glamerous or filled with glory. But they were tough, and oftentimes filled with action. Most of this action typically came from allied ships misidentifying the subs as German (lots of shells lobbed towards american subs). In other cases it came from mishaps with the crew. That said however, there were instances where our subs encountered the germans. One sub dived just quick enough to escape getting hit by a german torpedo, another possibly rammed a german sub and sank it. [quote]The U.S.S. AL-4 was cruising on her patrol "billet" charging batteries, when, on her starboard bow, at a distance of about 1000 yards, the officer of the watch spotted a periscope. He immediately made the "crash" dive signal and the submarine dived. Her hull had hardly settled below the water, when a torpedo from the hostile craft passed directly over her.[/quote] best part of the sub service was (and still is) the food. except for the flotilla that had to transit the atlantic on their own when their sub tender (which was towing them) decided to cast them off because of a storm and told them they were on their own. It took them 28 days to limp to the Azores, and by that point the crew was subsisting on crackers and kechup. that's the quick and dirty version [editline]22nd December 2017[/editline] if you're interested in British subs at all, I recommend the book "British Submarines at War: 1914-1918" by Edwyn Grey. It's definitely seeped in the "Great Man" theory of history and as such tends to lack on some details about the more boring sorts of patrols and daily life onboard (though there is a little bit). That said, it's still a decent book and one of the few on the subject. I haven't found any books on Russian subs, but I have a new york times article anthology from 1917 (The New York Times History of the Current War) that has an article from a Russian Naval Paper, with a story about a Russian submarine. Georg von Trapp (of the Sound of Music) has a great autobiography about his time as an Austro-Hungarian U-Boat Captain ("To The Last Salute"), and I'm still looking for books on the Italians, French, and Americans.' [editline]23rd December 2017[/editline] I should add as well, that when I say there isn't a lot of writing out there, there's not a lot of new scholarship and writing on the subject. There are books from the 1920s, 30s, and 40s - but those are difficult to find and generally don't come up easily in general searches.