A Gallipoli Mystery:
the Search for Submarine AE2

Top right: AE1 and AE2 in dry dock at Cockatoo Island after their world record voyage from England to Australia in 1914. Photograph courtesy of the Naval Photographic Section, Garden Island Naval Dockyard.

Left: This is probably the last photograph taken of AE2 on the 13th April 1915, just two weeks before it entered the Sea of Marmara. Photograph courtesy of Peter Smith Collection

The remains of what were believed to be the wreck of His Majesty's Submarine AE2, lost off the coast of the Dardanelles on 30 April 1915, sparked a hunt late last year by a team of maritime archeologists, including the Heritage Office's Tim Smith, which led them halfway round the world to one of Australia's most revered historic sites - Gallipoli.

The story of the AE2 is one of the bravery and misfortune which characterised much of the Gallipoli campaign for the Australians. The AE2 was an E-Class submarine, built in Britain in 1913 and one of two submarines commissioned by the Australian Navy at the time. In an ominous turn of events, the AE2's sister ship, the AE1, was lost at sea off German New Guinea while in the search for Admiral Graf Spee's ships during 1914. Quickly mobilised by the British High Command, the AE2 set out for the Turkish coast as part of the Allied Forces attempt to blockade the Dardanelles Strait and lay siege to Constantinople (present day Istanbul). But the plan of First Sea Lord Admiral Winston Churchill was beset by problems, as was the AE2, damaged several times during manoeuvres and forced to stop for repairs. Allied commander Admiral de Robeck was to comment at the time that the AE2 appeared dogged by bad luck.

Final orders for the AE2 to enter the Narrows of the Dardanelles Strait and "generally run amok", according to de Robeck, came through on 24 April. By 26 April, the AE2 had reached Marmara Island, after an eventful journey during which the submarine was mercilessly bombarded. The AE2, captained by Hugh Stoker, met up with the E14, a British submarine which had surfaced by chance close to the AE2. A pre-arranged meeting on the 30th April was to signal the AE2's doom.

Arriving at the meeting place that day, the E14 was not sighted. Instead, Stoker was confronted by a Turkish torpedo boat approaching from the west. Diving to avoid the torpedo boat the AE2 suddenly lost control and subsequently popped to the surface stern first. When the crew finally brought the craft under control, Stoker ordered them all onto the submarine's deck, where they were captured by the Turkish torpedo boat's crew. In the meantime, he and the first officer had opened all the ballast tanks, effectively scuttling the AE2.

"The process of searching for the AE2 has opened up potential new agreements in managing heritage sites of international significance..." Above: The three officers of AE2 photographed during their interment as POWs. Source: Stoker, H.G. 1925 Straws in the Wind, London.

For Stoker and his crew, the war was over and he and his men spent the next three and a half years in captivity, suffering disease and deprivation. But the AE2 had achieved a breakthrough in the Dardanelles campaign by breaching Turkish naval defences, leading the way for other Allied ships and submarines to follow.

While the AE2's loss had never been forgotten, it was not until 1995 that a systematic attempt was made to locate the submarine's remains by Turkish archeologists. The Director of the Rahmi M. Koç Museum in Istanbul, Mr Selçuk Kolay spent two years carrying out intensive historical research and surveying of the area where the submarine was lost. This led to the initial identification of a possible site for the submarine in 86 metres of water within the Dardanelles Strait. Subsequent dives by Mr Kolay and his colleagues appeared to reveal wreckage consistent with an E-Class submarine.

Greatly excited by his find, Mr Kolay contacted the Australian Government and a team of experts, including Tim Smith from the Heritage Office, was assembled to examine the site. Two dives took place in October 1997 but it soon became clear that the remains found at the site were those of a coastal steamer built around the turn of the century, and not those of the AE2.

The discovery of the steamer immediately prompted the question - what became of the AE2? Attention has now turned to the log books of Stoker and his British counterpart, Captain Boyle, of the E14. It appears likely that before it was scuttled the AE2 had travelled about a mile from the original rendezvous point with the E14. But there is confusion as to whether both captains were referring to Karaburun Point as their meeting place, or an area generally north of the peninsula. Also at odds is Stoker's own estimation of the depth of water in which the AE2 sunk. In his diary of the time he records that the AE2 was scuttled in about 100 metres of water, but actual water depths in the area where the AE2 was supposedly lost are only about 70 metres.

Selçuk Kolay has pledged that he will continue the search and if further remains are identified as being those of the AE2, the Australian Government will set about investigating the submarine's remains in cooperation with the Turkish authorities. Although disappointed that the find did not turn out to be the ill-fated submarine, Tim Smith says that the experience has been a positive one in many ways.

"The Australian team received tremendous support from the Turkish people involved in the search, particularly Selçuk Kolay." Tim said. "Without his efforts this dive could never have taken place."

"The process of searching for the AE2 has opened up potential new agreements in managing heritage sites of international significance, especially regarding salvage," Tim said.