RMF-Centenary of Australian Submarines

Kai but failed to see the 581-ton steamer Coombar. It was already too late, and the coastal steamer crashed into the small navy craft, slicing it in two. Groves, a non- swimmer drowned quickly. AE1’s AB John Reardon, “half frozen, and almost exhausted, was still battling for dear life”, was hauled onto Kai Kai. The AE1 crew inserted an obituary in The Sydney Morning Herald: “In loving memory of our dear friend William James Groves, late, Leading Stoker of HMA submarine AE1.” The doomsayers muttered there had been too many bad incidents, although they stopped short of saying the submarine was doomed. AB Jack Jarman and Catherine AB Cyril ‘Buds’ Lefroy Baker Reardon realized how fortunate he was to avoid death. From Kaikoura, New Zealand, Reardon was known of personnel policy and accelerated recruitment and training, as ‘Rosy’ because of his very rosy cheeks. He had left school at 15, but a reluctance to recruit Australians had left the nation’s navy intent on helping the family economy, but employment was scarce. undermanned by 1914. The RAN—a mixture of permanent A newspaper advertisement calling for naval volunteers offered and reserve personnel, ex-navy brigade, RN loan and pension adventure, training, and on completion of five years’ service, £250. personnel, and Australian-born volunteers—was not a cohesive This was a princely sum, which would not only assist the family but force. A climate of discord over loyalty and roles endured; a balance also, would set John up in his own home, business or farm. John was needed to enable RN traditions to be blended with local needs Reardon survived the severely testing years of boy seaman training, and standards. Time was needed for Australians to assume positions served in the surface fleet and then transferred to the RAN and of authority and gain a greater appreciation of regional strategic submarines. requirements; a period of peace and consolidation was required but Nationalism, fear of neighbours and political resolve finally instead, the nation and the RAN faced a violent initiation in the saw Australia establish its own navy. Jostling for power and ‘war to end all wars’. control between successive Australian Governments and the With war declared, the Australian fleet was placed under the British Admiralty, RAN and RN, as well as acrimony within the control of the British Admiralty and ordered to destroy the German Australian Commonwealth Naval Board, had destabilised naval Pacific Fleet, believed to be moored in the vicinity of Simpson administration at a time when a strong united front was needed. (Rabaul) Harbour. The Australian Naval Military Expeditionary An era of unprecedented naval expansion needed urgent reappraisal Force (ANMEF) was also put ashore in German New Guinea near AE1 in Sydney Harbour 49

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1914-19191 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Rabaul to capture German wireless Without proof, he blamed the captain of AE1, stating installations. As with any navy and that Besant must have conducted a routine dive military force untested by war, without a fully functional starboard engine the spirit and enthusiasm of the members of the RAN was dynamic. Due to the shortage of trained Australian submariners, spare RN crew who had travelled to Australia were asked to volunteer to make up full war crews. The Intelligence was poor and navigational charts were basic; both fickle hand of fate touched those drafted to AE1 and not AE2. would have a direct bearing on the Australian fleet, particularly its Besant was deeply concerned at the shortage of technical sailors submarines. Senior RN officers in charge of Australian fleet regarded within the crews and that the extra workload faced by those on submarines and submariners with thinly disguised contempt, both submarines. Lieutenant Leopold Florence Scarlett, RN, exacerbating their ignorance with the belief that this was an ‘un- was accepted as the additional AE1 officer. Scarlett was in fact gentlemanly’, ‘un-British’ method of conducting war. ‘The Honourable’, younger son of Baron Abinger and had been On 16 September 1914 the signal, which was hammered out by invalided out of the RN with tuberculosis. In search of adventure, Morse code keys, and crackled along telegraph lines was shocking. he travelled to Australia to live on a sheep station. When he heard Australia had lost its first military unit—just 40 days after the nation additional submarine officers were needed, he convinced RAN was committed to battle in World War I. From his flagship, the authorities that he was free of disease. battleship HMAS Australia, the Commander of the Australian Fleet, On arrival in Sydney, Australia’s submarines had entered a Rear Admiral George Edwin Patey, RN, KCMG, reported to the prolonged refit to be followed by sea trials and that belated AE1 Admiralty and the Australian Government: trim test. With the submarines still undergoing refit, crews believed “It is with the deepest regret that I have to make the following report the war might well be over before they even had an opportunity to with regard to the loss of Submarine AE1 and all hands on presumably join the great adventure. “Our self-pity was extreme,” wrote one. the evening of 14th September 1914. At 7 a.m. on the morning of 14th They could never have imagined how extreme their part in this war September, Submarine AE1 proceeded out of Rabaul harbour with orders would be. to patrol East of Cape Gazelle, in company with Parramatta; that destroyer British Admirals devised war strategy, for Australian ships, but: proceeding from Herbertshohe where she had been at anchor the previous “there was a frightful dearth of first class men.” Senior RN officers night. The general orders were to patrol in the vicinity named above had become complacent and many had failed to modernise their keeping a lookout for any enemy, and return into harbour before dark.” beliefs and stratagems. This equipped them poorly for control of Australia’s first submarine had simply disappeared; gone without modern warships and participation in 20th century warfare. An a trace. The crew of AE2 was stunned, as evidenced by an entry in acceptance of British superiority had left naval forces ill prepared. the diary of Stoker Charles Suckling: “To us, their companions and 50

jesting rivals over many a mile of sea, who were also losing, in Gordon Courbould many cases, friends of long years standing, our loss was great.” The Mystery of AE1 Others could provide no comfort; the life of submariners was unlike that of those serving on surface vessels. Submariners The Mystery of AE1: Australia’s Last Submarine and Crew is the first developed a unique dependency upon and trust of each other book to explore the journey and demise of AE1 whilst also examining regardless of rank. This was the first loss of an Australian military the lives of the crew. As the result of years of primary source research unit during World War I. It was a bad beginning to a terrible war and interviews with AE1 descendants, Dr Kathryn Spurling traces the for Australians. beginnings of Australia’s navy and argues how this and the subsequent disorganisation and disagreement affected operational capability and It was common to laud those in the highest level of command contributed to the loss of AE1. The Mystery of AE1 tests numerous and the priorities and competency of Patey was never questioned. theories of how, why and where the submarine disappeared while A pretend sea war in the Pacific, with no grand confrontation with offering readers the opportunity to draw their own conclusions. German warships caused frustration. Patey and his senior RN officers Dr Kathryn Spurling served with the Australian Navy. She is the widow desperately wished to be part of the real war, closer to England and of Cmdr Nigel Spurling (RAN) and the mother of a former Collins fighting grand sea battles in the Atlantic. Class MEO. Kathryn has a PhD in naval history and taught history and strategic studies at UNSW, Australian Defence Force Academy. She has In his report to the Admiralty, Patey quickly cleared himself lectured and published extensively in Australia and internationally and of any responsibility. Without proof, he blamed the captain of is currently an Adjunct Research Associate with Flinders University, AE1, stating that Besant must have conducted a routine dive Adelaide. Her other books include Cruel Conflict: the triumph and without a fully functional starboard engine. Patey either mistakenly tragedy of HMAS Perth I and A Grave too Far Away: A Tribute to or intentionally misinterpreted the report of the commanding Australians in Bomber Command Europe. officer of HMAS Parramatta, Lieutenant William Warren, RAN, Missing Pages Books published The Mystery of AE1: Australia’s Lost who had been ordered to accompany AE1, but chose not to, Submarine and Crew in April 2014. Gallipoli Art Award winner increasing the vulnerability of the submarine. Warren received Margaret Hadfield painted the cover and the book is profusely no rebuke and was subsequently promoted. Furthermore, Patey illustrated with colour and black and white illustrations, many of which stated that he made every effort to find AE1. The admiral actually have never been published before. Price $30, plus $4 p&h, anywhere demonstrated a callous disregard for the submarine and crew and in Australia. Will post overseas. Visit the website for other publications departed aboard Australia with most of his fleet the day after AE1 from Dr Kathryn Spurling. www.kathrynspurling.com disappeared leaving a couple of ships to conduct a minor and poorly orchestrated search. No search report was ever processed. 51 Soon afterwards, Patey took HMAS Australia to join the 2nd Battle cruiser Squadron at Rosyth, Scotland, as the squadron flagship. He was promoted to vice admiral and appointed Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George. Under close examination, the reports of both Rear Admiral Patey and Warren are erroneous and even fabricated. AE1’s CO was a cautious and reliable captain. With no deck gun for defence, had Besant ordered a dive, it would have been to avoid or attack a German steamer or launch. The submarine was at its most vulnerable and unstable as the casing became submerged. If the pressure hull were rammed and cut, the submarine could sink very quickly and roll before righting itself—numerous leaks making resurfacing impossible during the dive. A ‘crash dive’ also came with its own dangers, given the starboard engine defect. Lack of propulsion would lead to lack of control and this could be exacerbated by jammed or unresponsive steering. Damaged ballast tanks on one side of the pressure hull in a beam-on grounding, would result in significant loss of buoyancy and stability, with AE1 coming to rest on its damaged beam—a hopeless situation for those entombed within. The legacy of their deaths would blight families for generations. The RAN sent crew personal effects held on support ships to families. The mother of AB Jack Jarman wrote: “Thank you. These little trifles of his personal belongings mean a lot to me. The last I shall ever have to remind me.” And, from the mother of Petty Officer Robert Smail of Melbourne: “They are my dear boy’s ... Little did we think when we parted with him on 28 June we would never see him home again. The thought is terrible.” The legacy has endured for 100 years, as have the questions. Was AE1 the first military unit lost in action with the enemy? How this would alter the celebrated version of Australian military history and the Gallipoli landings? Given the meritorious reverence awarded to Australians lost in all wars, particularly those killed in World War I, why has Australia seemingly all but ignored the loss of Australia’s first submarine and crew? What killed the crew of AE1? Where do they lie? Surely the Australian Government—in concert with private enterprise—must resolve these questions and finally bring closure to the families who continue to wait?

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1914-19191 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 MITRCEHUEBLLENDSM BY PETER SMITH S ome military historians believe Australian Able Seaman Reuben Mitchell should have been awarded the Victoria Challenger. He sailed to England Cross for his courage and compassion while under on the ship’s return in 1913. It enemy fire from Turkish guns in the Dardanelles during was while at Portsmouth that World War One. The most senior survivor was Petty he volunteered for submarines Officer Coxswain Robert Perkins DSM who wrote in a and completed his training at report, “Reuben Mitchell acted most gallantly. He was HMS Dolphin based on Fort Blockhouse and at HMS Vernon, on the conning tower with three officers, passing orders which included training in HM below to the helmsman. All the officers were swept off the bridge by Submarines A6, A13 and E4. He shell fire and he was left all alone. Although the enemy had the exact joined HMAS AE2 to return to range and he was clearly visible he stuck to his post and took charge Australia as an able seaman. of the doomed boat until it sank. When in the water, he then rescued When AE2 was deployed to the wireless operator who was unconscious from head wounds. There the Mediterranean, Mitchell found was no senior officer (left) to recommend him for his outstanding himself transferred to spare crew gallantry, and his only reward was the self-evident fact that he had on a submarine repair ship when AE2 underwent her sortie up the done his duty.” Dardanelles in April 1915. Reuben Joseph Edwin Mitchell was born in Ballarat, Victoria On 27 January 1918, Able Seaman Mitchell was included in on 28 July 1894. Having joined the Royal Navy based on the the crew of HMS E14 under the command of LCDR G.S. White Australia Station he served on several ships before joining HMS RN, when they set out to torpedo the German battle cruiser Goeben. The cruiser had been damaged by a mine and had run aground off Nagara Point in the Dardanelles. The source for most of this story was written in a report by Mitchell himself, which was recently found in a file located in the Sampson Collection on Spectacle Island. It is reproduced here verbatim. “HM Submarine E14 Lieutenant- Commander White RN left a naval base on the evening of 27 January with an escort as far as the entrance of the Dardanelles. At 3 am; 28 January, we forced our way through the first line of nets without the resistance. All went well until about 6am, when we ran aground and caught in the nets, which we could not clear, so the captain went to the surface and went out and cleared the obstacle, we believed it to be nets, but he did not say. Before going out the Captain Crew of AE2 Reuben Mitchell DSM is Back row 2nd from end right side. left orders for the Lieutenant to dive at once 52

HMS E14 Watery Grave “Reuben Mitchell acted most gallantly. He was on the conning tower with three officers, passing orders below to the helmsman. All the officers were swept off the bridge by shell fire and he was left all alone” should he whistle or sing out, and “to look after himself as there shells were then heard to pass overhead, but luckily they did not drop were 31 men inside: never to mind him”. While the Captain was on a depth charge. After a time she got out of control and as we had the surface he found the gates of the Narrows and that we were at only three bottles of air left, the Captain thought it best to go to the Chanak. He did not hear a shout or anything and came inside the surface. At once we could hear heavy fire from all around, and pieces boat and went astern into deep water, and got away without being hit the hull of our boat. As a result of a hit in the centre of the boat seen. These were the last nets we felt. it could not dive again. We ran the gauntlet for half an hour under murderous fire from all round, only a few hitting the hull of the boat. “Now the search for Goeben started, and I believe we went Our wireless operator was badly wounded in the mouth and left one or two miles past Nagara Point and found that Goeben had hand, and fell unconscious, and the Captain seeing it was hopeless, gone. We found out during our capture that she was taken away six ran the boat towards shore. His last words were “We are in the hands hours before, this we got from a Turkish naval man, who helped get of God, my men; do your best to get ashore”. A few seconds later I her off. When the Captain found that she had gone he went back saw his body, mangled by shell-fire roll into the water, and was taken for home, but at Chanak there was a large German liner, which under. The same shell killed the Navigator, and left me by myself, we believed had the ammunition from the Goeben. We fired one and others (shells) killed nearly all the hands. torpedo at her, and a heavy explosion took place. Our boat came to the surface and a heavy fire came from all forts. Many pieces of “Had the Turks stopped firing as soon as they saw us sinking, shrapnel hit the boat; then a large shell hit the conning tower and with a few wounded on the deck many more might have been saved. did a bit of damage. The captain was pleased at the moment with the It must have been half an hour before they put out for us. And the behaviour of the crew, not a man moving from his station. Several cries of wounded men in the water; several voices were heard saying 53

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1914-19191 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 HMS E14 Captain, Ltcdr White RN the evening we were sent to Chanak and “Goodbye, goodbye all”, their hands went up and they disappeared handed over to the Germans, and here we for the last time. It was hell; when I look back to that fatal half hour remained for two days. Here we were sent it haunts me. As no boat seemed to be coming out to pick us up, we to a small room for the night, feeling very made for Kum Kale, and were picked up only a few yards from the tired and hungry, as the crew had nothing shore. Soon after the Turks got hold of us all our clothing was taken while submerged in the Dardanelles and from us, and we had to walk through Kum Kale naked. It broke our it was midnight when a Turk came with hearts when we saw only nine had been saved out of 32 officers and some black barley and maize bread, and a men. The three wounded were in a very bad state and unconscious dish of beans boiled in olive oil, which we could not manage to eat. when I saw them last. This was our daily meal; two meals a day and one maize loaf, and a bucket of water. During our time at Chanak many visits were paid by “On arrival at a small hut, a short pair of trousers, all newspaper reporters and Germans of high rank.” patchwork was given to us to put on which we found to be full “Sleep was out of the question that night. Many questions of lice. No underclothing was given us. A small fire was made in were asked us concerning England. They were under the a room, and we were very glad to get it as we were very cold; and impression that England was in a very bad state, as the submarine shortly a filthy-looking Turk brought us some hot tea without menace was hitting us hard. On the following day we were sent milk or sugar; that is all they gave us to bring us round again. In to Constantinople, and when we arrived, were taken on board a German liner, used as a German Headquarters. Here we went before a court of German and Turkish officers, one at a time, and many jokes were passed. “At 5.30 we were taken over to the Turks and were taken through Istanbul thinking we were going to a British Camp, but found ourselves behind prison bars, for what reason I do not know. 54

We were housed in filthy compartments, among some of the biggest LCDR Geoffrey White VC criminal prisoners in Turkey, sitting in a room with huge chains and ward about two weeks, and left it like a bag of bones, and my body handcuffs on.” almost black with lice bites. On three occasions the Dutch Embassy gave two ½ lb tins of milk and a third one had to go between three “The place was full of lice and bugs. We remained here two Englishmen. My meals were mostly baked wheat, or spinach and that days and then went to another room with 150 of the same kind of was what I pulled round on.” criminals, some dying with cholera and dysentery. When we arrived we asked for bread, which was not brought to us until 36 hours after. “At times the Embassy used to bring us a little food, about A man named Firuze Hanzadian an Armenian subject, brought four three parcels for all the English, and you got a little tea, sugar, butter, loaves of bread with one Turkish pound, and then gave them to us. jam, just enough for one piece of bread. What food you received He got a flogging for it and was not allowed to talk to us. He could from the hospital was no good. At last we asked to be discharged and speak English. He said, “I am not a rich man, but I am a man”. weak as we were sent to a working camp.” “Time went on and we were getting very bad; no clothing to Mitchell returned to London after being liberated at the end of cover us up at night, and nothing to lie on but the cold bare floor. the war where he was able to recuperate from his time in prison and We complained of the filthy rooms in which we had to eat and he was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal on 12 December sleep, suffering the same punishment as the criminal offenders who 1919. He returned to Australia where he married and raised three were guilty. After this another room was allotted to us, which was children. He passed away on 16 August 1954 aged 60. quite as bad, the smell and stench being abominable. Owing to this fever and dysentery broke out, which eventually became so bad that two men lay weak on the floor. A doctor was asked for; he came 24 hours after, and the two men were sent to hospital. During our time in prison no bedding or any covering was given to us. Drinking water had to be obtained from the urinals. We eventually saw two British officers and told them the conditions we were living under as prisoners of war. Pressure having been brought to bear, we were sent to a British camp at Samatyra, and that consisted of a school room with 150 English (servicemen), some with arms and legs off, waiting to be exchanged. We had no fires unless we could buy our own fuel; no books, or anything to read, and hardly any food, only two meals a day and one loaf of bread. I remained in the camp two days and was sent to hospital with typhus fever and dysentery, weak as I was, I had five miles to walk, arriving almost dead and hungry. A Turk was turned out of one bed and I was told to get in it. I refused, and was handled roughly, and given another bed, which was just as bad. The bed and clothing was full of lice, and not many hours after I was covered with vermin. “The following morning I was sent to the typhus ward, and there I found one of my comrades. I was put in the next bed but one, after turning a Turk out, and getting into his clothing. I was in this HMS E14 as she came out from the Dardanelles straits. On conning tower left to right Lt In a footnote to this story, LCDR Geoffrey Lawerence, Lt Edward Courtney Boyle VC RN, Lt Stanley Saxton White was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross, gazetted on 24 May 1919, for his part in the action in the Dardanelles, which had started the day before the boat set out. He flew as a passenger during aerial bombing of Goeben to see her position himself and to plan his method of attack. The award of the Victoria Cross to White created a record, as HMS E14 is the only vessel in the history of the Royal Navy in which two different commanding officers had won the Cross. The other officer was LCDR Edward Courtney Boyle RN who was presented his Cross, by His Majesty the King on 1 March 1916. 55

SC EUNBTME AN IRAINL EOSF DCAAPCTRAIEN HSMTAOSKAEE2R IN AUSTRALIA AND THE ROYALS 1914-2014 BORN HENRY HUGH GORDON DACRE STOKER, CAPTAIN STOKER LIVED A LIFE AS RICH AND INTERESTING AS ANY 1914-1919 56 HIS FAMOUS AUTHOR UNCLE MIGHT HAVE CREATED Captain Dacre Stoker CBY ELIZABETH BRENCHLEY aptain Dacre Stoker was a fascinating, multi-talented, larger-than-life character born into an elite Dublin family which had Huguenot, Protestant origins. His father was a prominent physician, as were many of his relatives, who also included writers, lawyers and bureaucrats. One uncle was the already famous Bram Stoker, author of Dracula. Another uncle was a consulting physician to Queen Victoria. Dacre Stoker’s writings reveal him to be a complex, funny and witty individual who, as well as enjoying life to the full, had a brilliant mind and was proven to be professionally shrewd and calculating in time of crisis. While he was in command of HMAS AE2, his men – without exception – held him in the highest regard. He was always a royalist, and at the age of 16 midshipman Stoker joined HMS Implacable – then the newly commissioned and largest battleship afloat – under Prince Louis of Battenberg, who was personal aide-de-camp to the new king. Prince Louis believed that good gamesters made good workers. The sports- and games-mad Stoker spent three years of heaven (his words) on Implacable, on extended duty in the Mediterranean. “We roamed the Mediterranean, visited 100 foreign ports, played our cricket and football, and hockey and rackets and tennis; we rode and we danced, and we lost our youthful hearts with ease and regularity, retrieving them only for the purpose of losing them again,” Stoker wrote. He and Prince Louis (later Mountbatten) became lifelong friends, and it was through the Prince that Stoker moved into royal sporting and social circles. In 1915 he was an officer prisoner of war in Turkey at Afion-Kara-Hissar. Conditions were appalling. Filthy living conditions and shortages of food and clothing made life hell

AE2 in the sea of Marmara for the hundreds of Russian, French, English and Australian officers the British Ambassador to the Vatican, which was a neutral country. incarcerated there. The Pope ensured that Fitzgerald found himself a free man. Stoker was less fortunate. He was Irish, but a Protestant. He was merely One morning the officers were all summoned by the camp switched from one prison cell in Constantinople, back to his former commandant. cell in Afion-Kara-Hissar. “Well, gentlemen, I want to find out which among you are of the Stoker continued his royal friendships after the war. His plays highest and most distinguished families in England,” he said. on the West End stage enjoyed royal patronage, and Stoker attended royal functions and sporting events at the palaces. Stoker and all the other officers found this very strange, and were deeply suspicious. They made a sort of game of it. There were several In old age he wrote a nine-point list of events that had provided of blue blood, Stoker wrote, one Australian military officer, two him with what he termed “the big thrill”. Australian volunteer officers, four English RN officers, and two RN Reserve officers. • T o walk with kings – and princes and princesses. • In 1900, the practical birth of submarines, the thought of Eventually the list was narrowed down to the Hon Geoffrey Fitzgerald of E15, and Dacre Stoker of AE2 through his royal commanding one seemed to me thrilling. physician and prominent family, and close friendship with the Prince • T o win cups in lawn tennis and golf and croquet. To make and the King. centuries in cricket. To see packed stands at big rugby matches. The devious commandant then revealed the reason for his odd request. • T o write a book and receive laudatory reviews in London, The sinister young Turk Enver Pasha wanted two hostages in revenge for what he perceived to be ill treatment of Turkish prisoners provincial and Dominion papers. of war in Egyptian prisoner of war camps. • T o act on the West End stage with stars of the day, to write Stoker and Fitzgerald were sent to Constantinople, hoping to explain the error, because Turkish POWs were in fact being successful plays, in films, television, and on radio. To tour in treated humanely. America and Canada. Instead, the two found themselves thrown into solitary • To be given a role in history books. confinement. A last-minute reprieve was arranged by the intervention • To hear a song one had composed sung by the leading baritone of the American Ambassador in Constantinople, Henry Morgenthau, of the day. and the Papal Nuncio, Monsignor Dolci. • T o have been a prisoner of war of the Turks, and to escape, only Geoffrey Fitzgerald, a Catholic, was engaged to the daughter of to be recaptured. • To stand on the stage at a successful first night, and receive applause as the author. 57

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1914-19191 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 A view of the Fin from forward 99 YEARI-MOALGDESTFIRMOMEACAPSULE THE AE2 COMMEMORATIVE FOUNDATION’S DIVED SURVEY INSIDE HMAS AE2—JUNE 2014 T he images from the remotely operated vehicle (ROV) BY TERENCE ROACH were extraordinary in their clarity and detail as the successfully passed the Straits’ deadly minefields and negotiated the ROV descended into the conning tower of HMAS AE2 strong outflowing current and narrow passage to create a diversion by and provided a view not seen since the submarine’s attacking Turkish ships as ANZAC soldiers stormed the beaches on Captain—Lieutenant Commander Henry Stoker— the other side of the Gallipoli Peninsula. AE2’s torpedo attack on a climbed the tower to abandon ship on that sunny Friday Turkish destroyer caused a Turkish battleship (Turgut Reis) to break morning on April 30, 1915. off a bombardment of the ANZAC beaches in order to avoid the There was the flag locker, complete with flags still threat posed by AE2. neatly stowed in each of the boxes, as well as a pair of deck shoes— presumably those of ‘Bunts’ (Bunting Tosser) Thomson (Leading On 30 April 1915, five days after the passage through the Straits, Signalman Albert Thomson)—folded in half and tucked into a box AE2 encountered buoyancy problems, which led to it surfacing— at the bottom. stern first—in close proximity to the Turkish torpedo boat Sultanhisar, which immediately engaged AE2 with gunfire. Three Funded by a Federal Government grant of $2.6 million of Sultanhisar’s 37-mm shells struck the submarine’s engine room, (administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs, as part of below the surfaced water line. Stoker ordered his men to abandon the Centenary of ANZAC Commemoration Program), the AE2 ship and opened the main vents to scuttle the submarine. All 32 of Commemorative Foundation (AE2CF) mounted an expedition as the crew made an orderly exit and were rescued by Sultanhisar whose part of Project Silent ANZAC to the Sea of Marmara in Turkey to crew treated them chivalrously; unfortunately, four of AE2’s men conduct a Maritime Archaeological Assessment (MAA) inside the subsequently died of disease while prisoners of war. wreck of the Australian submarine—HMAS AE2. AE2’s patrol was the first of 15 by Allied submarines, during Following the loss of a French submarine and a British which, some 230 Turkish ships were sunk or destroyed, thereby submarine (in January and March 1915, respectively) in the compelling the Turkish Army to use the rudimentary roads to the dangerous waters of the heavily defended Turkish Straits, AE2 Gallipoli Peninsula for logistic support. As a result, the Turkish Army was never able to build enough strength to drive the Allies into the sea. 58

Replica and Divers’ Support Platform Divers’ Support Platform Launch for MRTE The Foundation first surveyed AE2’s wreck in 2007 to begin DSTO and TKMSA devised a scheme developing a plan to manage this largest intact relic of the Gallipoli to build a divers’ support platform campaign. While the hull is probably strong enough to be salvaged, (DSP) that would simultaneously the problems of preserving an 800-tonne metal object are virtually provide a safe and stable platform insurmountable—it would involve a 25-year process with the for divers to work from submarine immersed in a specially constructed tank and would cost well over $100 million. The need to neutralise the one remaining The US company, SeaBotix—a world-leading MiniROV torpedo—the warhead of which is possibly unstable—would add to manufacturer—was another major sponsor, which developed, the risks and costs. supplied, and modified ROVs and provided pilots free of charge. The submarine is a time capsule from the day she was sunk in battle At no cost, the DSTO and Thyssen Krupp Marine Systems with Sultanhisar and both the Turkish and Australian governments Australia (TKMSA) devised a scheme to build a divers’ support accepted the unanimous recommendation of a conference in Istanbul in platform (DSP) that would simultaneously provide a safe and stable 2008 to preserve and protect the wreck in situ. platform for divers to work from and protect the ballast tanks and fin of the submarine from accidental damage. With the approval the Turkish Government, the Foundation mounted an expedition in June 2014 to carry out the following In order to confirm procedures for the entry and exit of the activities: sensor probes and ROV—and for the cost of materials only—Calbah Industries Pty Ltd Pty Ltd at Dandenong constructed a replica of the • O pen the hatch to conduct an internal survey of the submarine. central section of the hull and ballast tanks, and the fin containing • P ilot an ROV through the submarine—the inside of which had the conning tower, using data from the original drawings found in Commonwealth archives. not been seen for 99 years—and obtain interior images. • A ttach a cathodic protection system A Turkish company, Deep Offshore, won the tender to carry out the afloat work in the Sea of Marmara. Company at three points on the hull. officers, including the diving supervisor, attended • L ay a navigation buoy to mark the wreck’s location. a mission rehearsal and training exercise (MRTE) The Defence Science and Technology Organization (DSTO) at supported by Royal Australian Navy (RAN) Dive the Maritime Platform Division at Fishermans Bend in Melbourne Team 6, at Corio Bay in Port Phillip Victoria was a major sponsor and provided invaluable support with detailed not far from Osborne House, the original planning for the work on the submarine. The DSTO team developed headquarters of the RAN’s Submarine Squadron solutions to the difficult tasks of inserting sensors, cameras and an established in 1920. The MRTE validated the ROV safely into the submarine and then recovering them safely. procedure and technology developed for the Flag Locker and Deck Shoes project, confirming that the mating of the DSP with the replica was a key element, and that the ROV could fit through the hatch. Subsequently, it was decided that it would be a prudent risk-reduction exercise to conduct a similar MRTE with the Turkish divers in the port where the diving support vessel (DSV) was to be mobilised before commencing the work on the submarine. 59

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1914-19191 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Another replica and an updated DSP (Mk 2) was ordered from Turkish suppliers. The team assembled in Tuzla, near Istanbul, at the end of May 2014 to load and set up the equipment necessary to support the dived work schedule, the operation of the sensor probes, and the ROV on the DSV. It took some four days before the MRTE with the Deep Offshore dive team could begin. Then, after three days of MRTE, the ship sailed for the wreck site. Additional team members joined the group in the base port of Sarkoy on the western side of the Sea of Marmara. The AE2 team and the Deep Offshore personnel took up residence in a convenient waterside motel in this seaside resort town for two weeks. From there, they were ferried out and back each day – a 25–30-minute journey each way – by two fast crew boats. First view rear of fin The DSV secured its position with a four-point mooring using anchors and Images taken inside the conning tower by the chain cable marked by buoys, close to – but ROV were stunning in their clarity, revealing not directly above – the wreck of AE2. This in fine detail of the state of the equipment slight offset provided a prudent measure to mitigate the risk – assessed by a risk analysis as “low probability” – that an unexpended torpedo warhead, believed to be in the after torpedo tube, might potentially detonate if it received a severe jolt. maintenance routines by the outsider wrecker (the engine room It was an exhilarating moment when the first ROV sortie artificer responsible for the maintenance of equipment outside the revealed the outline of the submarine just where it should have pressure hull) that the hatch bearings operated correctly after 99 years been. At a depth of 73 m, natural light fluctuated with turbidity, on the seabed! and the ROV was essential for most of the time in order to obtain Images taken inside the conning tower by the ROV were clear images. stunning in their clarity, revealing in fine detail of the state of the The daily routine was established quickly, with the first FCB equipment and departing at 0700. The recompression regimes for divers working resolving many at 73m normally allowed for only three dives with 25-minute work issues that had periods each day. The combination of divers’ helmet cameras and the puzzled the team ROV worked well to record a comprehensive, external survey of the in planning for the submarine. survey. For instance, Using a mechanical jack, the hatch was opened to a nearly a temporary radio upright angle of 85 degrees and then secured in this position using antenna, used a chain block. This opening proved adequate to insert the ROV, to transmit the avoiding the need to cut the hatch away. It is a testament to the historic message submarine’s designers, the ship builders, and adherence to the of AE2’s successful First view, after casing Log Elliot Brothers 60

penetration of the Straits, was identified in the bottom of the tower, and charts. While a general sense of the space could be had in and the bridge steering wheel (disassembled in halves to permit the control room, only close-up details of various equipment was passing through the upper hatch) could be seen. possible up forward. When attempting to pass though the lower conning tower hatch, the larger, most modern ROV became jammed on a fitting The SeaBotix and DSTO ROV pilots displayed great skill in below the hatch rim—a fitting not shown on the drawings held guiding their craft through the intricate environment without by the Foundation. The ever-resourceful DSTO team quickly entangling the tether, particularly as they had no heading sensor and assembled a boathook with a light and a camera attached to help could only employ the ROV thrusters at very low power to avoid a diver free the ROV from outside the upper hatch. Using this disturbing the silt. camera mounted on the boat hook, and with guidance from the diver control centre, a burly diver was able to free the jammed The larger ROV was deployed externally to assist in positioning ROV, which was recovered safely. the large anode pods of the Cathodic Protection System (CPS) adjacent to the selected connection points forward, The smaller, somewhat older DSTO ROV (an earlier SeaBotix model) was ingeniously modified to permit a vertical entry and then realignment to its normal horizontal axis for investigation inside the submarine. Because the heading reference sensor of the ROV is magnetic, it did not function inside the submarine and the ROV had to be navigated by reference to various items of equipment such as periscopes, steering wheel, Kingston valve operating wheels (main ballast tank flooding control valves) distributed along the length of the submarine on the pressure hull; a surviving leg of the upturned wardroom table was Conning Tower hatch a usefully prominent feature. In contrast to the clear visibility in the control room, as the ROV progressed forward, visibility deteriorated sharply as it encountered a myriad of black and white fragments of what are thought to be tiny scraps of fabric or paper from things like clothing, bedding Conning Tower Wheel Ladder and gyro repeat 61

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1914-19191 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Midships cathodic protection system (CPS) connection CPS connecting clamp The success is due largelytothecombined ingenuity, professional knowledge and determination of the DSTO, SeaBotix and Deep Offshore teams DSV Loading Temporary Buoy amidships and aft. Divers cleaned the carefully selected points on on this, the largest in situ conservation project ever attempted on a the forward windlass, the periscope standard and the port after historic steel shipwreck. hydroplane to permit good electrical connection between the anode pod and the submarine. Even in the short time between the After the ROV was recovered successfully, a secure hatch was connections being made and the departure from the wreck site, it installed with a similar aperture to the original hatch opening, the was evident that the CPS was working as expected; a satisfying result DSP was removed and the site checked to ensure that all gear had been recovered. Once the navigation buoy had been laid, the afloat work of the MAA was complete. The task of analysing and interpreting the large volume of data collected will be a lengthy process. In summary, the MAA was a complete success. All of the objectives agreed by the Turkish and Australian Governments were achieved: the hatch was opened; numerous images were taken inside the submarine; water quality data were obtained; the cathodic protection system was installed; a secure hatch was fitted; and a navigation buoy was laid. The success is due largely to the combined ingenuity, professional knowledge and determination of the DSTO, SeaBotix and Deep Offshore teams who collaborated closely to achieve these objectives. Diver briefing 62



SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1914-2014 1919-1939INTRO INTO ERA 64

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SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1919-19391 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 TASSHYURDEBRNM‘IJV’EAECYRILNAINSESS O n Tuesday, 15 July 1919, the latest additions to Australia’s Munro-Ferguson proceeded down towards the Heads in a launch Navy, six ‘J’ class submarines and the depot ship HMAS and witnessed the arrival of the vessels. PLATYPUS arrived in Sydney Harbour. Like the arrival of the ‘AE’ class submarines in 1914 the boats attracted On arrival at Farm Cove, Platypus proceeded to No 2 naval much attention from the press. In The Sydney Morning buoy and moored there. Within a short time two submarines Herald’s report the following day the newspaper devoted snuggled comfortably on each sides of her, while the fifth, J5 moored three long columns to the arrival of the boats and the alongside, which was beside HMAS Encounter. officers in charge. Wednesday, 16 July 1919. DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATYPUS Page 13 and 14. Mother ship and her five Platypus is a depot ship for submarines and is probably best charges arrive in Port – Gift described by the term “mother ship.” Her main function is to submarines from Britain. ‘mother’ the submarines committed to her charge by providing The parent ship HMAS them with fuel and provisions, Platypus and her busy little supplying fresh parts, mending submarine charges had small breakages in their a cordial welcome in the machinery and generally harbour yesterday. attending to the many wants of Weather conditions were her numerous and sometimes perfect, bright sunshine troublesome family. flooding both sea and land and a sharp, fresh breeze whipping “She was being built for the the spray over the bows of the Australian Navy at the yards launches which raced down of John Brown and Co. Ltd, the harbour to greet the new Clydebank when the war broke arrivals. out. Her original purpose was Numbers of people gathered around the foreshores and many to watch over the needs of the others took advantage of the opportunity of making the trip around Australian submarines AE1 Farm Cove, which several enterprising launch proprietors provided. and AE2 and she is therefore not specially designed for the J Platypus passed through the Heads at 10.15am, followed at Class submarines, which now intervals of about a minute by five submarines. accompany her. It cannot be said that the sight was a very imposing one. The When the two Australian parent ship is not unlike an ordinary merchantman bearing a coat of submarines were lost, work on navy grey and engaged for the time being on Admiralty work. She is, Platypus was suspended, but it was however, a specially designed naval vessel, intended from the first to decided to complete the construction of the ship. On completion be a depot ship for Australian submarines. she was dispatched almost straight away to the west of Ireland, and, together with another parent ship, she attended to the wants of the Submarines J1, 2, 3, 4 and 7, which accompanied her, could British submarines operating in those waters. not have presented a very formidable appearance to those watching the arrival from the shore. They are however, modern and effective LAST OF A GERMAN SUBMARINE weapons of war that have a deadly sting when once they are ruffled or put out. They are British submarines, however, and have not used One of the units of the submarine flotilla with which Platypus that sting against innocent women and children or unarmed seaman. was in operation in these waters has the distinction of having sunk a German U-boat. The successful British craft was D7, and the His Excellency the Governor General Sir Roland and Lady German submarine, which she sent to the bottom, was U-45. As this success was achieved while D7 was under the aegis of Platypus, the 66 framed photograph of D7 has been given a place of honour upon the

walls of the officers’ mess on the vessel. fallen into the sea at about 3-30am. The water was quite smooth PLATYPUS has not sufficient accommodation for the officers at the time – indeed, so fine was the weather that the men were sleeping on the deck. Commander Boyle said he had not had much or crews of the submarines under her care as some other depot or opportunity of seeing much of Lieutenant Larkins, but his captain parent ships have. She carries no guns and is not, in the usual sense had the greatest regard for him. At Colombo HMAS Brisbane had of the term, a warship. been sent on with J5 in tow and the rest of the craft came on with the mother ship Platypus under their own power. Just over 13,000 THE SUBMARINES – A MASS OF MACHINERY miles had been covered on the journey, during which the vessels were 60 days at sea and 43 days in harbour. There were times, of There are many items of interest to those who have the privilege course, when wind and sea freshened up and made the submarines of descending into the apparently tangled mass of tubing and temporarily uncomfortable, but taken generally, the trip was fine machinery contained within the comparatively thin shell of the and pleasant. The average speed maintained at sea by the flotilla submarine. This opportunity will be afforded the public later on. was about 12 knots.” One can hardly realise that men exist for days and weeks in these cramped quarters and one wonders how it is that the frail craft avoids EXPLOITS OF HMS E7 – TURKISH TROOP TRAIN BOMBARDED continual risk of destruction from a friendly keel. The periscope and hydrophones, however, help to explain this. The latter have been “Lieutenant Commander Hallifax of J7 has had interesting greatly improved during the war and it is now much easier to detect war experiences. He passed through the Dardanelles in July 1915 and locate sounds under water. All one sees of this, however, are the in submarine E7 and spent 25 days in the Sea of Marmora, during receivers, for all the world looking like the receivers with which the which time they sank five steamers and seventeen sailing ships, blew wireless operator picks up his messages. These record the under water up a troop train and torpedoed the arsenal at Constantinople. sounds and give early warning of the approach of a steamer or of another submarine. Referring to the attack on the troop train, LCDR Hallifax said the railway runs along the Gulf of Ismid close to the water and Such are the submarines J1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, which now traverses several cuttings, embankments and small bridges. E7 shelled form part of the Royal Australian Navy. Each of the five, which the railway and scored several hits on the embankment. He dived arrived yesterday, has been on active service, having been engaged and kept down for some time. He came up again right alongside a in reconnaissance work in the North Sea with the “diving” and small boat containing an old Turk and his wife, who pulled away for “periscope” patrol. Their work has not been marked by any the shore in great haste. When the railway was sighted again it was sensational combats, but they have helped silently but effectively to seen that a big troop train full of Turkish troops was held up at one ensure that supremacy of the sea, which was such a great factor in the of the points where the line had been damaged by shellfire. final defeat of the German Empire. E7 opened fire on the train with her six-pounder and the Turkish THE TRIP OUT – LOSS OF AN OFFICER OVERBOARD engine driver immediately uncoupled his engine and steamed away at top speed into Asia Minor. The Turkish troops left the carriages and “Commander Boyle stated yesterday that Lieutenant Larkins, opened fire on the submarine at extreme range, E7 scored several hits a most promising young officer from Jervis Bay, was lost overboard on the train, and three exceptionally loud explosions indicated that when two days from Singapore. No one actually saw Lieutenant they had hit the ammunition wagons. Larkins go overboard, but it was conjectured that he must have NAVAL HERO COMMANDER BOYLE VC – THRILLING EXPLOITS AT THE DARDANELLES Arriving in Sydney yesterday morning as the gallant British naval officer in charge of the gift submarines for the Australian Navy, CMDR Edward C. Boyle VC RN explained that he “had been lent by the Admiralty” as an instructor in submarine work. 67

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1919-19391 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Following the remark “this is my first visit to this part of the of hostile patrols, he continued to operate in the narrow waters of world,” the unassuming Englishman, who has not yet reached his the straits, sinking two Turkish gunboats and one large military 36th year, said that he expected to remain in these pleasant waters transport. The award of the Victorian Cross quickly followed. two or three years. Slight in build and medium height, CMDR Boyle seemed willing to talk about anything but the bravery which had SEVENTY VESSELS SUNK won him the Victoria Cross. Reticent as to his personal share in the British submarines’ WATCHING AND WAITING achievements, CMDR Boyle admitted having assisted in the sinking of about 70 vessels, most of them dhows carrying grain. “One day,” Pressed to relate some of his personal experiences on the side of he said “we bagged an enemy transport with 6,020 troops on board. warfare, CMDR Boyle said: - “I was in command of J5 for two years. (The former White Star Line ship Germanic purchased by a Turkish We served as lookout on channels swept by the Germans between company in March 1911 and renamed Gul Djemal. Ed.) Three Heligoland and Horne’s Reef. Unfortunately for us, the German fleet times we went through the Dardanelles and our active service in the did not come through that channel for battle. All our watching and Sea of Marmora extended over 70 days.” waiting turned out to be a loss of time and waste of energy.” “At one time” CMDR Boyle added, “the British submarines AT THE DARDANELLES were at a disadvantage in regard to the engines. All difficulties having been overcome, they were very much better than the “Our share of the war,” CMDR Boyle went on to say “became German submarines in the final stages of the war. At the start more interesting as well as more exciting when we were sent to the the German submarines had better periscopes than ours. This Dardanelles. I am speaking of myself and my companions in the was on account of special glass, which was made in Bavaria. submarine service. At the Dardanelles everything had to be carefully Before the close of the war our periscopes were better than worked out and calculated to the minute so to speak. After a week theirs. We found that the length of the periscope was of great at Mudros we started for Rabbit Island. The plan was to keep on the importance and we used our knowledge in a way that must have surface as much as possible and to travel by night. Having passed surprised and staggered the enemy.” Suandere we had to dive. It was then discovered that three mine fields had to be negotiated. These we passed under. Then, after Footnote getting our bearing, we sank to 90 feet and passed through where there was practically no tide. Proceeding on our way, we arrived at To use LCDR Stoker’s (CO of HMAS AE2) favourite quote “Straws the upper reaches of the Dardanelles.” in the wind and where they fall”, in this case there were many straws in the wind during the early days of the Gallipoli campaign. BREAKING THE WIRE Stoker, for the rest of his life worried that there would not have been such a great loss of life had he not sent the signal that AE2 “A thrill was in store for us. At the depth of 80 feet we broke had reached the Sea of Marmora, the war would have been much through a net, which had been placed across the waterway by the different, with the early evacuation of Gallipoli Peninsula. The Turks. The net was constructed of iron and strong wire and we same is true that if Stoker had not agreed to meet with Boyle in had to push sideways to save our propellers. As we got through the E14 on 30 April, the submarine may never have experienced the disturbance was terrific and the sensation was of the kind one never diving difficulties and been attacked by a Turkish gunboat. The forgets. After the net episode we kept below the surface while in daily AE2 was the first enemy ship, albeit a submarine, to penetrate the expectations of dangerous adventures.” Dardanelles. It led the way for the other Allied submarines, and if the torpedoes that the boat carried had not been faulty Stoker too It was while in command of the submarine HMS E14 that the may have been awarded the Victoria Cross. “Such are the straws in brave officer who is now in Sydney distinguished himself. On April the wind”. 27 1915, he dived his vessel under enemy minefields and entered the Sea of Marmora. Under great difficulties and despite the presence 68

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF 1919-1960 INAUSTRALIA 1914-2014 HMAS Huon OSBORNE HOUSE Only two years after the end of World War 1, Australia’s first submarine base was established at Corio, a suburb of North Geelong, Victoria. Peter Smith HMAS Platypus1 looks back on the history of Osborne House, Corio - the Naval College where Australia’s first submariners had received their initial naval training. method of moving torpedoes and battery cells from submarines. Boyle also wanted A t the end of World War 1 Admiral their submarine careers to become the a battery shed and charging plant for the of the Fleet Viscount Jellicoe GCB first Australians to undergo and complete proper maintenance of batteries, which were OM GCVO RN had been sent the Submarine Commanding Officers being serviced on the deck of Platypus. It to Australia to advise and report course (Perisher) in England. The was also recognised that a torpedo store, to to the Government on future college and cadets, under Commander hold 28 torpedoes and its accompanying development of the Australian Grant, moved to Jervis Bay in 1914. workshop and an air compressing plant Navy. His report recommended a self- to test the gyroscopes, was needed to contained submarine base, two submarines, In October 1919 the Government based support the flotilla. But despite enthusiastic and one small sea-going vessel. The the new ‘J’ class submarines in Corio, with development, by March 1922 the submarine Government accepted his recommendation Osborne House providing accommodation base was winding down. The submarine to base submarines at Port Phillip, choosing and suitable exercise areas nearby. The fleet was paid off and left to wallow in the Corio Bay as the location. Upon the submarine fleet commanding officer was mud flats of Hanns Inlet at Flinders Naval commissioning of the Royal Australian Commander Edward C. Boyle VC RN. Depot. Platypus returned to Sydney to be Navy, the Geelong Harbour Trust in March recommissioned as a destroyer depot ship. 1911 had offered Osborne House for use Osborne House saw improvements Submarine officers and men attached to the as a Naval College. The Navy was initially to electric light and water services, submarine flotilla returned to general service. reluctant to take up the Osborne House as well as installation of an internal offer, as they were building a college at telephone system and fire extinguishers. In June 1924 the Australian Government Jervis Bay. But delays at Jervis Bay saw the The alterations included installation purchased two ‘O’ class submarines from Navy take up the offer and the Governor- of a Submarine Attack Teacher. England. HMAS Oxley and Otway General, Lord Denman, opened the Naval arrived in Sydney on February 14, 1929. College at Osborne House in March 1913. Corio Bay became very busy as naval craft Australia, a signatory of the Treaty of were brought in to support the submarine Versailles, was obliged to place both The first recruits were 28 cadet flotilla, which now consisted of HMAS submarines in reserve on May 10, 1930. midshipmen, chosen from 137 Australia- Platypus and the ‘J’ class submarines. The Establishment of a second submarine depot wide candidates. Of that group, eight cadets former Cerberus, renamed Platypus II, was with new submarines at Osborne House at the end of their course volunteered for towed from Hobson’s Bay at Williamstown never occurred and Osborne House was submarines and undertook their training for use as a tender. The torpedo boat returned to the Geelong Harbour Trust. in England as midshipmen. Although not HMAS Huon was seconded as a support submariners, two other cadets in that intake ship and target for submarine exercises. The building was again taken over by were to rise in prominence in the navy An oil fuel lighter, AFL501, was attached the Navy from 1941-45 as a training and have a submarine named after them. to the flotilla to fuel the submarines. establishment. The historical importance These were Vice Admiral Sir John Collins Two smaller craft were provided to ferry of Osborne House was recognised by and Rear Admiral Harold Farncomb. the submariners, stores and machinery the National Trust and it was classified between the submarines, ships and shore. in 1965. A museum detailing the In the 1914 intake seven cadets volunteered naval history of Geelong and the role for submarines. Two of them, Frank The lack of a suitable wharf to berth played by Osborne House is located Getting and Norman Shaw, continued the submarines and support vessels was in the coach house and stables. of considerable concern to Commander Boyle. A wharf would serve as a quick 69

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NCOOMRMMANADNERSHAW RAN RTD N orman Shaw joined the RAN as a boy midshipman in In September 1919, the second intake of cadet midshipmen at the RAN after promotion to sub College then housed in Osborne House, Geelong in lieutenant, I was appointed 1914. Frank Getting had joined the college in the first to Platypus for a submarine intake the year previously. Having moved up through course. Others of my the ranks, both Getting and Shaw were the first year in the same course Australian submarine officers to complete the ‘Perisher’ were Casey, Dash, Gould, in England. It is rather unfortunate for Shaw that as Spurgeon and Towers. the forces list their personnel in alphabetical order, Getting gets the We were replacements for kudos and Shaw the footnote. Calder, Getting etc, who had returned to the UK for their The following was written by Norman Shaw when was in his short courses at Greenwich, early 70s and living in Bath, England in 1972—five years after Vernon, and Excellent etc. the current squadron was commissioned at HMAS Platypus in Neutral Bay, Sydney in 1967. The letter is part of the Michael White On completing the Collection housed at Spectacle Island. course in February 1920, I was appointed to J7, which Recollections of Commander N. H. Shaw was undergoing a long refit. Two months later, when My first experience in submarines was with the ‘J’ Class. the visit of the Prince of Wales was imminent and ships in reserve In 1919, the several Australian ships that had been attached to were re-commissioned with reduced crews, I was serving first in the Royal Navy during the war, returned to Australia. Parramatta and later in Sydney for a total of four months before HMAS Australia had been the flagship of the Second Battle returning to the submarine flotilla. Cruiser Squadron, HMAS Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane had been with one of the light cruiser squadrons, and the destroyer Earlier, it had been decided to establish a submarine base at flotilla—Yarra, Parramatta, Warrego, Huon, Torrens, and Swan had Osborne House, Geelong (the temporary site of the RANC during been employed principally in the Mediterranean. 1913 and 1914 pending transfer to Jervis Bay at the end of 1914). Additionally, HMAS Platypus, which had been built during the war and, later, had served as a depot ship for RN submarines in UK Platypus, J1 and J4 were the first arrivals there, and J2 and J5 waters, sailed in company with six ‘J’ class submarines, which had followed later. Platypus was secured to mooring buoys off the end been ‘given’ to the RAN. of the pier with the submarines berthed alongside. The submarine Most of the units proceeded to Australia independently. crews, both officers and men, were accommodated ashore at Osborne I was a midshipman in HMAS Australia at the time and I recall House. that we took J7 in tow for a few days while on passage from Eden to Colombo. Taking passage in the submarines were six Australian sub I am uncertain whether J3 and J7 ever arrived at Geelong, for lieutenants (all of the first RANC entry): Calder, Getting, Larkins, they were still refitting in Sydney when I left Australia in August Sadleir, Showers and Watkins. 1921 for my short courses at Greenwich etc., and when I returned Officers of the flotilla were as follows: to Australia in October 1922, the base at Geelong had been closed Platypus: Commander E C Boyle VC RN down and J3 and J7 were then at Westernport. J1: Lt. Cdr R A Trevor (Capt) and Lt. De Mowbray (XO) J2: Lt. C B Barry (Capt) and Lt. C E Lowther (XO). The ‘J’ class were double-hull boats with an armament of four J3: Lt. H K B Mitchell (Capt) and Lt. Howell-Price (XO). 18-inch bow torpedo tubes. J4: Lt. Cdr A N Lee (Capt) and Lt. Hume-Spry (XO). J5: Lt. J J R Peirson (Capt) and Lt. C C Alexander (XO). They were propelled by three sets of 12-cylinder solid injection J7: Lt. Cdr O E Hallifax (Capt) and Lt. J Drinkwater (XO). diesel engines giving them a speed of 19 knots. (Lt. A. Powell was carried as a ‘spare’ first lieutenant aboard Platypus) Their diving qualities were not the best; it was said by one There were four or five RNR lieutenants: Bunting, Dodds, experienced submarine captain that if you could drive a J boat, you Brickle, Sayle and another, who were the submarines’ ‘navigators’. could drive a bath. In common with the ‘K’ class steam-propelled They were always referred to as the ‘Spearmints’ because of their double hull submarines, the ‘J’s had a very flat upper deck and casing ‘Wrigley’ stripes. which acted rather as one large hydroplane at dive angles of more Of the sub lieutenants, I cannot recall who served aboard which than five degrees. of the boats—except for Larkins, who was washed overboard from J2 in Karimata Straits (Indonesia). The engineers were Broomhead, As a base, Geelong was far removed from the diving ground, even Scott, Allen, McGuffie, Bradley and Ballantyne—all RN warrant when the shallower waters of Port Phillip were used instead of Bass engineers. Strait, but it was a very agreeable place insofar as accommodation and recreation facilities were concerned. J7, unlike the other five Js, had its conning tower situated well aft over the motor room between the forward and after engine rooms. I was never able to find out the reason for this arrangement but it meant a long journey for the captain from his bunk in the wardroom to the control room. 71

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940 WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 My actual seagoing majority of the crew were experience in the J boats was not saved. After re-conditioning, great, for much of my time was she was, for obvious reasons, spent in J7 at Cockatoo Island. re-numbered K22. Following my return Shortly before I joined her to Australia in late 1922, I she had been commanded by spent the next two years as a Lt. Cdr Trevor, who had been watch keeper in the flagship the captain of J1 in Australia. Melbourne, and a short period as One night, when leaving the first lieutenant of the Flower Portland Harbour and about class sloop Marguerite, which to pass through the southern had been re-commissioned entrance, he turned to his to carry the Admiral’s Office navigator and asked, “Which when Melbourne developed side of the light do we pass?” ‘condenseritis’ (sic) and Brisbane The navigator should have was the temporary flagship. replied simply, “To starboard”, By 1924, all the former RAN Platypus with submarines alongside but instead, replied, “Leave it officers with any submarine to port, sir,” and K22 hit the experience (except Getting, Casey breakwater. As a result, Trevor, and myself ) had decided to specialise in ‘G’, ‘T’, ‘N’ etc. who had been considered a certainty for his brass hat in the New In September 1924, Getting and I, with our wives, sailed in Year’s promotions due a couple of weeks later, missed out. TSS Diogenes (Aberdeen White Star) for the UK to get further A couple of days after I had joined K22, the First Submarine submarine experience and, eventually to qualify for command of Flotilla, consisting of the light cruiser Conquest, the depot ship the two ‘O’ class submarines that had been ordered for the RAN. Cyclops, K2, K4, K12 K22 and K26, sailed with the Atlantic Fleet Casey was to follow later to provide a spare CO. on its way to the Mediterranean for combined fleet exercises with It was a grim tragedy that Casey—such a sound, placid and the Mediterranean Fleet. competent fellow—was lost in HMS M1, when she was rammed On completion of the combined fleet exercise, both fleets by a Swedish ship off Start Point in November 1925. steamed into Palma Bay, Majorca and then followed one of the After a short period at Fort Blockhouse, I joined HMS K22 as finest sights I have ever seen. Just over 100 ships came to anchor a ‘spare dinner’ and Getting joined HMS R4 as First Lieutenant on the signal from Revenge (Admiral Oliver). Out went the lower to Lt. Cdr V.R.S. Bowlby, who was the senior submarine officer booms, down went the boats and accommodation ladders, and (SSO) of the 6th Submarine Flotilla at Portland. Commander all awnings were spread—all under a clear blue sky with the sun G.P. Thomson, who commanded the 6th Submarine Flotilla at the shining brightly. time, had been second Naval Member (ACNB) shortly before the While at Palma, I received an appointment to relieve outbreak of WWI. Lt. J Donovan, RAN, as ‘third hand’ of submarine L52 in the K22 was the former K13, which had flooded while undertaking Second Submarine Flotilla based on Malta. Jack Donavan returned diving trials in the Gareloch during the First Wold War. The to the UK to take passage to Australia in HMAS Moresby and I went on to Malta. A few months after I had joined L52, the first The ‘J’ class were double-hull lieutenant went back to the UK for his periscope course and I boats with an armament of four stepped into his shoes. 18-inch bow torpedo tubes. It was a very busy flotilla and our activities covered a wide field. In 1925, all six submarines—L25, L54, L56, L69 and L71— were kept busy for a month at the island of Siros in the Cyclades carrying out 90-degree angled torpedo firing under the direction of Lt. Cdr G E Creasy of HMS Vernon. Creasy attained the rank 72

new track 90 degrees to the right or left of its firing course. surface when firing a salvo of six torpedoes. At one time, the submarines were each painted a different In those days, the Mediterranean Fleet consisted of two battle colour to determine which was the least likely to be sighted by a squadrons (Queen Elizabeth and Iron Duke classes), two cruiser reconnaissance aircraft. White, black, blue green, grey, and striped squadrons, four destroyer flotillas, one submarine flotilla, two mackerel were the colours, but I never heard if a conclusion was aircraft carriers (Glorious and Courageous) and a variety of depot reached—and I imagine much would depend on things like the ships and small craft for target towing and the like. time of the day and the weather conditions. Sea time was plentiful and fleet exercises frequent. During my The L50 class of submarines were very much like the standard spell there, we visited practically every friendly country: Spain, L class except that they had a ducktail stern. They were very good Italy, Greece and Algeria, and islands under their control. diving boats but as automatic inboard venting had not yet been introduced, it was not an easy job to prevent them from breaking In March 1926, Frank Getting and I commenced our periscope course at Devonport. Wormald - proudly supporting the RAN submarine fleet Wormald congratulates the achievements of the Royal Australian Navy submarines in their centenary year. With 125 years’ experience in marine, naval and military fire protection, Wormald is proud to be a supplier to the Collins Class Submarines. We look forward to working with the Royal Australian Navy in the years ahead. www.wormald.com.au 1300 556 015 A Tyco Business 73

SUCBE NMT UARRYINO FES IN AUSTRALIA 1919-19391 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 When the time came and we flooded main ballast, intending to take her down to 25 feet, there was no apparent movement on the control room depth gauges. Our teacher captain was Lt. Cdr C.B. Barry who had commanded boat and the defective item would be repaired in good time for J2 in Australia.We soon gained confidence. installation in Otway. However, he went on to say that during the First World War, when they had contracts for building a number In July 1926, I was appointed to command H27 in the Fifth of submarines, there was scarcely anything left at the end of the Submarine Flotilla based at Blockhouse; a week later, Frank Getting contract with which to build the final boat! assumed command of H29 in the Sixth Flotilla based on HMS Vulcan at Portland. Oxley did her diving trials in the Gareloch. In Otway, we did our diving trails a few miles to seaward of Barrow, and having done a O-Boats 1927 static trim in the yard basin the previous day, we expected all would go well. When the time came and we flooded main ballast, intending In February 1927, I went up to Barrow-in-Furness and took up to take her down to 25 feet, there was no apparent movement on the my appointment as First Lieutenant to Lt. Cdr G.J.G. Tweedy in control room depth gauges. Tweedy had a look through the periscope Otway. Frank Getting had gone up there a little earlier in a similar and immediately ordered, “Blow main ballast!” A few seconds later, capacity to Commander H.R. Marrack in Oxley. we hit the bottom. Fortunately it was sand. An examination showed that someone—maybe a yard workman—had blanked off the small During the fitting out period at Barrow, other officers and key pipes connecting the gauges to the sea overnight. Eventually, our ratings came along and when all personnel had arrived, we started diving trials were completed without further incidents of that kind. ‘school sessions’ to get everyone acquainted with such things as hull construction and the various systems of pumping and flooding, Throughout our time at Barrow, we had Engineer Cdr C.W. venting, telemotor, electrical equipment, and low power etc. Bridge, RAN, assisted by Lt. (E) F.C. Hodgson, RAN, as general overseer but the main overseeing responsibility lay with the Vickers had provided a suitable schoolroom in the shipyard Admiralty through whichever company the Australian Government and when the yard workmen had their lunch break, we took our had placed the order. personnel on board to show them in situ what they had been taught during the forenoon. Each Saturday morning, the ship’s company One rather tiresome job we had there was breaking down was given a written examination covering the week’s instruction. of the specific gravity of the electrolyte in our batteries. This involved drawing off the electrolyte covering the top of the plates Most things worked surprisingly well when several trials and replacing it with distilled water—the operation having to be commenced although there were some occasions when things went repeated three times immediately after re-charging, before the wrong. On one occasion, I expressed concern to the engineering target specified gravity was reached. works manager that when some fault appeared in a piece of equipment in Oxley it was replaced by cannibalising Otway. He From Chatham, we went on to Blockhouse for a short period pointed out that time was of the essence to complete the first 74

Oxley before going on to Portland for exercises with the anti submarine evidence of cracks in the columns of the main engines. On arrival flotilla based there. Oxley went on later for deep diving trials off at Malta an examination of Oxley’s engine columns revealed similar the Scilly Isles, where she was to have gone down to 300 feet but cracks. was signalled en route to limit the depth to 200 feet. (She had been designed for a depth of 500 feet). Engineering experts, both naval and from Vickers, pondered over the problem for some time and eventually it was decided that the While Otway was at Portland, we developed a serious steering engines should be rebuilt with new modified columns. defect. After clearing the breakwater one morning, she would not answer her helm and started turning in circles. Examination A minesweeper in reserve, HMS Stoke, was made available as an showed that the rudder crosshead had fractured, and as it was accommodation ship during the long period it took for HM Dockyard ‘overbalanced’, it remained in the hard over position. in Malta to complete the necessary work under the supervision of personnel from Vickers. Some officers and ratings returned to the UK We were taken back to harbour by tugs and, after the rudder for further training and some returned to Australia. had been clamped to the tail fin in an amidships position, we left for Portsmouth—steering with our engines and with a tug as an Towards the end of the period, Engineer Captain J.J.C escort. Eventually, a team from Vickers arrived to fit a new and Brand, RAN, and the engineering works manager from Vickers (Mr. modified crosshead. W. Johnson) paid a visit on behalf of their separate interests and before they left, they gave a dinner party to the officers and wives, In April 1928, Oxley and Otway sailed in company from heading the invitation “If this be the price of Admiralty, my God we Portsmouth for Australia. have both paid in full.” Officers aboard Oxley were: As both Cdr Marrack and Lt. Cdr Tweedy would have completed Cdr H.R Marrack DSC RN their two-year periods of service with the RAN before the submarines Lt. F.E. Getting, RAN could possibly arrive in Australia, they asked to be relieved. Lt. J. Donovan, RAN Lt. J.B.S. Barwood, RAN Cdr A. Gordon Hine DSO was appointed to Otway as Senior Lt. A.E. Fowler, RAN Officer Submarines and Frank Getting, who had put up his half Lt. (E) F.C. Hodgson, RAN stripe while we were in Malta, was appointed to command Oxley. Wt Eng J.A. Hutton, RAN Officers aboard Otway were: 75 Lt. Cdr G.J.D Tweedy, RN Lt. N.H. Shaw, RAN Lt. J.A.A. Stocks, RAN Lt. L.R. Brooks, RAN Sub Lt. H.C. Wright, RAN Sub Lt. M.L. Power, RN Wt. Eng. A Nairn, RAN After a brief visit to Gibraltar, and as we continued to Malta, the engineer officer of Otway (Alex Nairn) reported Otway

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940 WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 HM Submarine M2 stripe while we were in Malta, was appointed to command Oxley. out attacks on Australia and Canberra but torpedo firing was Otway and Oxley sailed from Malta towards the end of infrequent owing to a lack of vessels available to pick up torpedoes whose heads had been crushed by attacks on the cruisers (when November 1928 and, after a short call at Port Said for fresh attacking other ships, the torpedoes were set to ‘run under’). provisions, continued on through the Suez Canal. When halfway When exercising independently inside Jervis Bay, I frequently fired down the Red Sea we were overtaken by our wives—travelling in SS torpedoes for the sake of keeping the TGM and his team up to Orama—who had returned from Australia to be with us in Malta, scratch in their preparation tests. In calm waters we could recover They were crashing on at 18 knots while we lumbered along at an our own torpedoes. average of about 12 knots. Some time after we returned to Sydney, Jack Donovan and Ben After three days at Aden, we set off for Colombo making a fair Barwood left for the UK for a periscope course. Fowler then became passage with only minor engine stoppages. There, we were topped the first lieutenant of Oxley and Brooks of Otway. up with fresh provisions from Colombo Cold Storage Co., which included Australian sirloin of beef. (After arrival in Sydney we The next occasion we used Jervis Bay was after Platypus had were admonished by the ACNB through the agency of Director of become HMAS Penguin and moored securely alongside Garden Victualling for having brought sirloin at 10p per pound instead of Island, and after both submarines had undergone an extensive rolled ribs at 8p per lb!). refit. Cdr Hine took passage with me in Otway and conducted operations from ashore at the College. Oxley followed shortly Our next stop was Singapore, where we spent New Year’s Day afterwards. HMAS Anzac (Lt. Cdr Paul Hirst) came along to act as with Cdr R.D. King-Harman (a Singapore pilot) who had been the target and recovery vessel. navigator of HMAS Sydney a few years previously; he organised all kinds of entertainment and recreation for both officers and men Shortly after we had returned to Sydney, we received during our visit. information that the submarines were to pay off into immediate reserve; the world financial depression had started. From Singapore, it was on to Batavia where we needed help to re-wind the armatures of our water and oil pumps. While there, we Frank Getting went to the UK for his ‘big ship’ time; Cdr Hine were joined by HMS Kent, the flagship of Admiral Tyrwhitt, and met and Lt. Cdr Voelcker left for the UK and I remained as Senior an old shipmate or two. One was Lt. Cdr P.L.Vian of Cossack fame Officer Submarines in reserve with reduced crews. in later years. He had been Lt. (G) of HMAS Australia when I was a midshipman. I had recently put up my half stripe and he remarked From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that we never really that I had caught up with him. As he subsequently became an got going. Admiral of the Fleet, I had to concede the race to him! In reserve, I had some difficulty in obtaining permission to take On the way south, we called in at Townsville and Brisbane before alternate submarines to sea each week for a day’s diving. Money arriving in Sydney in February 1929. Shortly afterwards, Cdr Hine was short and fuel expensive. Never again did we fire a torpedo, but took command of Platypus and I took command of Otway. Then occasionally I could fluke a target vessel on passage to some place. followed a period of Foreign Service leave for all. Later, when it was decided that Oxley and Otway were to be Lt. Barwood of Oxley had come to Otway as my first lieutenant transferred to the Royal Navy, the takeover went smoothly with both and Lt. Cdr G.A.W Voelcker, RN, who had taken passage out submarines in sound working order. Cdr E.M. Loly took over Oxley in Canberra went to Platypus in the in the dual capacity of first and Lt. Cdr T.H. Dickson took Otway. lieutenant and spare submarine captain. In August 1931, shortly after the submarines had been taken Later in the year, Platypus, Oxley and Otway sailed for Jervis Bay over by the Royal Navy, I went to the UK and before joining from where we worked up to a reasonable state of efficiency after HMS Ramillies at Malta and called on Rear Admiral Submarines such a long period of diving inactivity. (Naismith) at Blockhouse. He questioned me on several matters and asked why we had not fitted Davis Escape Apparatus while the Occasionally, as opportunity offered, we were able to carry submarines were in reserve. I told him that the Naval Board had 76

I told him I believed it was much No.3 battery and connecting half in series with each of Nos. 1 and better to prevent a submarine being 2 batteries. All auxiliary motors and power remained on 220 volts sunk than to seek ways of rescuing the when ‘grouped up’ and the reducer was then switched to ‘levelling’ to crew afterwards. “And how do you preserve an equal discharge from each of the three batteries. propose to do that?” he asked. “By being more careful and discriminating - The main motors were totally enclosed and ventilated by fans in the selection of your submarine drawing air through sea water coolers. captains,” I replied. - The refrigeration plant enabled the storage of a limited quantity While in the UK, I met up with of fresh meat and could also produce six blocks of ice per day. Lt. Cdr Leathes who had been my captain in L25 some years earlier. He - The fresh water supply could be augmented, by passing the was now in command of M2, one exhaust gases of the main engines through an evaporator. of the M-class, which had originally mounted a 12-inch gun. M2’s gun - The forward, and after hydroplanes and steering gear, were turret had been replaced by a hangar powered by Williams-Janney variable speed gear with telemotor housing a small seaplane that could control from the control room. be catapulted along rails set up on the forward casing. Leathes invited me - The armament consisted of six bow and two stern 21-inch onboard for a short demonstration in torpedo tubes. Bow caps were telemotor powered and the tubes had the vicinity of the Isle of Wight. It was automatic inboard venting, electro-magnetic firing gear, and access quite an interesting performance; we openings for 90-degree angling and alteration of depth setting. dived and upon surfacing, the hangar was opened. Then, after a very short - The periscopes were 30 feet but otherwise were much the interval, the seaplane was catapulted same as the shorter periscopes in earlier use. off, did a few circles and low passes before landing on the surface alongside, was hoisted in, stowed away - Water-cooled valve transmission was an innovation in the radio and we dived again. equipment. That was the last time I ever dived in a submarine—circa 1932. Some months later, M2 was lost with all hands. I believe the - On the domestic side, a cook rating and an officers’ steward hangar door was opened too soon when surfacing. were included in the complement for the first time. In harbour, the Apart from submarine X1, which was a purely experimental cook used an oil-fired galley in the forward casing. venture, the ‘O’ class was first of the post-war (WWI) new construction programme. They were probably best described as - A skiff powered by a small engine carrying its own petrol tank modified saddle tank submarines, as far as the hull was concerned. If was stowed in the after casing; a very useful addition after the old I remember correctly, their surface displacement was in the region of Berthon Boats. 1,400 tons. The pressure hull was 1 inch plating calculated to permit a maximum diving depth of 500 feet. Oxley and Otway were very good diving craft and most The only external ballast tanks with Kingstons were Nos. 4, 7 and manageable. For their time, they were comfortable to live in. 8, which could be, and were, used as reserve fuel tanks. Additionally, HM Submarine H27 Nos. 3 and 9 external ballast tanks had smaller fuel tanks built within them. Although these arrangements for fuel stowage gave the vessels HMAS Otway-Oxley great endurance, there was a crucial disadvantage in the matter of oil leaks from these lightly constructed tanks. The differential two-way relief valve installation—spring loaded to 6 lbs—was not satisfactory and my experience was that it was well nigh impossible to avoid leaving a tell-tale oil slick when diving. I expect a solution was found before the outbreak of WWII; otherwise many more of our submarines would have been lost. Many new features in these submarines were incorporated for the first time. - For example, all vent, Kingstons and blowing controls for the external and internal ballast tanks were operated from central telemotor panel in the control room. The LP blowers were of a new rotary type replacing the former, reciprocating blowers, and centrifugal ballast pumps replaced the old reciprocating type. - The main engines were blast injection diesels giving a speed of about 15 knots. The pistons were of aluminium and were oiled cooled through an arrangement of walking pipes connected to a circulating pump; the cooling agent was seawater. - The main batteries were housed in battery rooms—three of them—instead of battery tanks, as hitherto. Each cell of the Exide Ironclad batteries had a connection to the battery ventilating system on the exhaust side and, on the supply side, the air passed through a cooler serviced by the CO2 refrigeration plant. The batteries could be ‘grouped up’ to supply 330 volts to the main motors by splitting 77

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940’ WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Commodore Peter Scott, CSC, RAN is handed a copy of the book Century of Silent Service from one of the authors, Mr Lloyd Blake, during the Centenary of Submarines launch at the National Maritime Museum. ANMM Darling Harbour, Sydney NSW, Australia. LLOCYENDTUBRLYAOKF SEILCENOT-SAEURVTICHEOR T he book project commenced in 2008 Synopsis for the book focused on Australia’s submarine people. Extensive considerable time on behalf of Submarine Institute Australia Inc., research found Australia’s submariners to be a group which paid his local expenses, doing research in the northern with an extremely strong sense of identity that goes hemisphere including the British Submarine Museum, the Imperial well beyond occupational comradeship or the esprit de War Museum, Vickers at Barrow-in-Furness, and other UK locations. corps of military life in peace or war. Since 1914, the Locally, he interviewed submariners and conducted extensive research unique skills, attitudes, values and demands of the work work in eastern Australia and led the Australian National Library they do and the environment in which they do it, have oral history recording of many Australian submariners. Graham’s forged unparalleled camaraderie—camaraderie that extends beyond folklorist view focuses on Australian submariners as the key to success nationality and embraces submariners past and present of every in our past and future submarines. other nation. Nobody but submariners understand the experience of diving deep beneath the waves in technology-filled tubes of steel, On 24 May 1914, His Majesty’s Australian Submarine AE1 each submariner totally dependent on the others for a safe return to accompanied by HMAS AE2 entered Sydney Harbour having the surface. completed what was then the longest ocean passage ever taken by any submarine, sailing from Barrow in Furness in the United Kingdom, The ethos of Australia’s submariners is based upon these factors to Sydney, Australia. and remains strong even when they leave the sea and take up other occupations. Australia’s future submarines will certainly present Very few Australians know the stories of AE1 and AE2, yet in challenges in terms of sophistication, technology and capability. their short lives, these two submarines exerted significant and long- However, their well trained crews—displaying characteristics evolved lasting influence out of proportion to their size (800 tonnes dived) over generations—will undoubtedly meet and surmount any and numbers in their crew (35 per vessel). AE1 and her entire crew challenges, just as they have many times, in silence, throughout a were to be among Australia’s first casualties in WWI, while AE2 century of service. was the first submarine to penetrate the Dardanelles, showing the way for all other Allied submarines—successfully transiting the A willing collaborative researcher/writer was found in Dr Dardanelles as the ANZACs were landing on the other side of the Graham Seal AM, Australia’s foremost folklorist. Graham spent Gallipoli peninsula. Just as few Australians know the stories of AE1 and AE2, even 78

fewer know that American, British and Dutch submarines based the submarine capability that ultimately became the Collins class in Brisbane and Fremantle played a major role in the defence submarine. Thanks to the foresight of Gorton and Beazley, the of Australia from 1942–1945. Similarly, few people know that second 50 years of Australia’s submarines has been a great success. Fremantle was the second largest Allied submarine base in the Pacific and the 160 or so submarines operating from North Wharf Australia’s Oberon submarines evolved quickly from their conducted some of the most successful operations in the history of initially intended role as anti-submarine training targets for surface submarine warfare. ships and aircraft, into a credible deterrent force for the RAN and they established an impressive reputation for long-range intelligence, The year 2014 is the Submarine Centenary Year and marks a surveillance and reconnaissance operations. The Oberon programme century of silent service by Australia’s submarines and their crews to also established significant technology capability in Australian their nation; it is the year in which the known—and some previously industry. However, consistent with the silence of the submarine unknown—exploits of submarines in Australian service are being service, little is known of that industrial capability and, as a result, it presented to the Australian public. has not been sustained, as many might have hoped. Australia was an early entrant to the business of submarine The Collins class submarine that replaced the Oberon has been ownership. In 1907, then Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, proposed the subject of much criticism since the beginning of the program. purchasing submarines—against the recommendations of his However, it must be remembered that they are required to operate Chief of Naval Staff. When Deakin’s government was replaced in the most demanding environment ever required of conventionally the following year, his submarine idea was temporarily scrapped. powered submarines. When properly supported with adequate However, in 1910, the growth of the German Navy prompted a re- numbers of trained personnel, Collins class submarines regularly think by the Admiralty and Australia ordered its first submarines— achieve world-class standards of performance. AE1 and AE2. It is timely that we celebrate the centenary of silent service as the Efforts to maintain a submarine capability for the next 50 years Future Submarine Program seeks to establish the next generation of were intermittent and difficult; indeed, the nation’s submarine service Australian submarines and Australia’s submarine capability for the was established four times. However, Australia never quite gave next century. Everyone in the submarine business hopes any silence up. The trend established by Deakin—in which politicians had to surrounding the next century of Australian submarines relates to persuade naval officers that submarines were useful for Australia— their operational service and is not caused by neglect or disinterest. persisted. In 1959, then Minister for the Navy, John Gorton, announced his intention to recommend purchasing submarines; Century of Silent Service he could see the benefit in purchasing the Oberon class submarines while naval staff of the day were not so convinced, and it took nearly $29.95 Dr. Graham Seal and Lloyd Blake, Boolarong Press Australia four years before an order was placed. Minister Kim Beazley found Ph: +61 7 3373 7855 Email: [email protected] himself in a similar situation when discussing the requirement for WORLD CLASS HYDRAULICS AT EXTREME SUB SEA LEVELS Congratulations to the Royal Australian Navy Submarine Service on their Centenary celebrations. RYCO are proud to have been part of the design and build process of Collins Class Submarines since 1990. 79

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940’ WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Martin, Hudspeth, McFarlane, Place, and Cameron AUOSFTRWALOIARNLSDUBWMAARRINEIRIS A lthough the Australian Navy lacked its own submarine service during World War II, a number of Australians served with distinction in submarines of the British Royal Navy. The list of their service and accomplishments comprises a long and distinguished chapter in Australia’s military history. Many Australian submariners of the 1939-1945 global conflict served in miniature submarines known as X-craft, while others served in Royal Navy long-range submarines. The actions of Australian submariners were highly awarded with four Victoria Crosses, four Distinguished Service Orders, seven Distinguished Service Crosses, one Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, two Distinguished Service Medals, one Bronze Star (USA) and eleven mentions in dispatches. Their stories, whilst little known, provide a new dimension to World War II Australian submarine history. X-craft In 1942–43, the Royal Navy developed a top-secret class of miniature submarines known as X-craft. With a four-man crew, these vessels were designed to attack enemy shipping in port. The diminutive X-craft measured just 51.7 feet in length and weighed 30 tons. Capable of 6.5 knots surfaced and five knots submerged, these were designed to be towed within range of their targets. X-Crafts 80

X-Craft Interior

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940’ WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 the Tirpitz as planned, causing substantial damage that delayed her deployment for vital months, although all three submarines were lost during the action or afterwards. Over the next two years, the X-craft carried out other operations in Bergen harbour, on the French coast in preparation for the D-Day landings and in the Pacific. X-Craft Surfaced Sub Lt. Kenneth Robert Hudspeth Lacking torpedoes, they were instead armed with detachable saddle- mines that could be released from inside the vessel or placed beneath Thought to have been the most highly enemy ships by a diver, allowing sufficient opportunity for submarine decorated member of the Royal Australian and crew to escape before the blast. In practice, however, this proved Navy Volunteer Reserve, Sub Lt. Kenneth to be both difficult and dangerous, a situation worsened by the Robert Hudspeth RANVR was a Hobart often-unreliable operations of the craft and their sometimes-fatal schoolteacher before the war and joined the buoyancy problems. Nine submariners were lost in these extremely RANVR in July 1940. He was in command hazardous operations, many of them in non-combat accidents. An of X10 ‘Excalibur’ during Operation Source, X-craft flotilla first went into combat during Operation Source, penetrating Altenfjord in Norway and an attempt to sink the German warships Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and coming within four miles of the Tirpitz Lutzow at their Norwegian bases in September 1943. The entire but the submarine developed mechanical active fleet at that time, the six X-craft were manned by passage-crews troubles and could not be repaired, despite and towed submerged behind conventional submarines, surfacing her crew’s efforts. Forced to withdraw, every six hours to change crews until the combat crews boarded to Hudspeth received the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC) for carry out the attacks. X9’s towline parted en-route and two men were this exploit. In January 1944 Hudspeth was in command of X20 lost with the vessel, while X10 found herself without her designated conducting reconnaissance off the French coast, for which he won a target when the Scharnhorst put to sea for gunnery practice. X8 second DSC. The citation read, in part: was scuttled after being damaged when jettisoning her side-charges, “For outstanding courage and devotion to duty whilst which flooded on the way to attack the Lutzow. On September 22, commanding HM submarine X20 in a hazardous operation. the three remaining miniature submarines, X5, X6 and X7 did attack He showed great coolness, grasp and ability in manoeuvring his X-craft submerged in shallow water close under enemy defences during the first experimental beach reconnaissance from X-craft in January 1944.” In a similar location later that year, he received yet a third DSC ‘for gallantry, skill, determination and undaunted devotion to duty….’ As one writer described this event: ‘One notable individual was Lieutenant Ken Hudspeth, RANVR, who commanded the X-Craft X20. Prior to the planned departure of the invasion force X20 crossed the Channel to take up a submerged position off Juno Beach. On the night of 4 June X20 surfaced to pick up a BBC broadcast, which contained a coded message that the invasion was postponed. This meant another 18 hours in the cramped, smelly and humid submersible. On the night of 5 June a coded message indicated the invasion was to proceed. Hudspeth and his crew mounted and checked their equipment. As the pre-invasion bombardment began they turned on their radar beacon and shone a light to seaward to allow the assault craft to navigate to the correct beaches.’ XE9 The tow parted on the way to the target and the two men were lost with the vessel Vice Admiral Sir Ian McIntosh Born in Melbourne in 1919, Ian Stewart McIntosh spent much of his childhood in the Western District. He was educated at Melbourne Grammar and Geelong Grammar. By all accounts he was not considered by his family or teachers to be a prospect for the navy but in 1937 he passed the Royal Navy entrance examination and travelled to England to attend Royal Naval College at Dartmouth. In 1940 he graduated first in his class and qualified as a submariner. McIntosh’s greatest exploits were on the water rather than below it. At twenty-one years of age, he was aboard the converted 82

Britannia, torpedoed by the German raider Thor in early 1941. In worked his way a badly damaged lifeboat carrying eighty other survivors, McIntosh up to Lieutenant. and Third Officer Bill McVicar, managed a twenty-three day survival One of the original voyage across 2500 kilometres of the Atlantic Ocean. X-craft trainees, McIntosh’s knowledge of Captain William Bligh’s epic voyage he was generally of survival and a deep knowledge of navigation allowed him and known as ‘Mac’ and McVicar to take charge of the situation and guide the lifeboat to was in command Sao Luis in Brazil with almost perfect precision. It is unlikely that of X8 during any of the thirty-six people who survived the ordeal would have Operation Source. done so without McIntosh’s skill and knowledge. He was awarded On February 7, the MBE for his leading role in this epic of maritime survival. After 1944 McFarlane recuperation, McIntosh served in submarine Porpoise, bringing was in command supplies to the island of Malta until joining HMS Rasher as First of X22 when she Lieutenant the following year. After four patrols in Rasher he was was being towed awarded the DSC. He commanded H44 in 1942 and the following into Pentland Firth year took command of Sceptre, the submarine that towed the X10 by HMS Syrtis as CMDR McIntosh was awarded to Norway to attack the Scharnhorst. McIntosh later towed Max part of a training the MBE for his leading role in this Shean and the crew of X24 to Bergen where a German merchant ship exercise. With gale 23-day epic of maritime survival was sunk. Sceptre subsequently took X24 south, where she sank the force winds and blockade-runner Baldur off the Spanish coast. heavy seas the OOW was washed off the bridge of Syrtis, the reacting While McIntosh was in command, Sceptre destroyed over sudden turn for a rescue bid saw Syrtis collide with X22, which sank 15,000 tonnes of enemy shipping, a total and tonnage unmatched with McFarlane and three others on board. by any submarine in home waters during the period. He was twice mentioned in dispatches and in 1944 was awarded the DSO. Lieutenant Jack Marsden RANVR Macintosh’s post-war career was a steady upward trajectory powered Fellow submariner Max Shean described Lieutenant Jack Marsden by his many talents, beginning with an involvement in the use of RANVR as ‘a burly man of the world from South Australia’, although radar in submarines. The first to be fitted with the then-new device he was born in Kalgoorlie on 10 July 1917. He was a sub-Lieutenant was Alderney, which McIntosh commanded before returning to and subsequently Lieutenant in 1943. He served on HMS Dolphin, Australia in 1948. As Lieutenant Commander he was loaned to the the Royal Navy training base at Gosport, and on HMS Varbel, RAN and based near his home in Geelong. Congenial though this the naval base on the Island of Bute in the Firth of Clyde where was, Australia’s lack of a submarine the X-craft men had their initial capability caused his return to the training. Marsden was onboard UK in 1950 where he commanded X22 when it was sunk in 1944.Dr Aeneas and subsequently was David Clements Jackson RANVR appointed ‘teacher’ for the ‘Perisher’ AM DSC was born in Brisbane in course. He went on to become 1912 and was working as a trainee second in command of the carrier paediatrician in Birmingham at HMS Ark Royal, Deputy Director the outbreak of war. He joined of Naval Equipment and 1961-63, the RANVR and then enlisted commanded the Second Submarine as a Medical Officer in the Royal Squadron. From 1963-1966 he Navy in 1941. He was awarded the was at the Admiralty where he DSC for his medical service under eventually became Director of difficult combat conditions in the Naval Warfare. He returned again engagement between HMS Worcester to Australia in 1967 as Captain and several enemy ships in 1942. of the carrier HMS Victorious and Max Shean Commanding Officers X-Craft His citation reads: became Rear Admiral in 1968. “For daring and resolution in In 1970 he was appointed CB and three years later became Vice- daylight attacks at close range and against odds on the German battle Admiral, being knighted in the same year. He finished his illustrious cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the cruiser Prinz Eugen”. career in the role of Deputy Chief of Defence retiring to a long As Medical Officer in HMAS Dolphin from 1942-1944, he was period as a consultant, patron of naval charities and related activities. involved with the X-craft. David Jackson wrote two published books In one of these roles, a patron of the National Submarine History about his experiences, ‘The Six Horseshoes: Memoirs of a personal Task Force, McIntosh played a role in securing HMAS Ovens, now and professional life’ (1987) and ‘One ship, one company’ (1996). displayed at the Western Australian Maritime Museum in Fremantle. He died in 2006. Vice Admiral Sir Ian McIntosh died in 2003 at eighty-three years of age, having given seventy of those years to outstanding naval service Max Shean in Britain and Australia. Born in Perth in 1918, Max Shean joined the Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reserve at the outbreak of war. He was then studying Brian Mahoney ‘Digger’ McFarlane engineering at the University of Western Australia but in 1940 was Among the other Australians who also served serving in X-craft called up for training, firstly at HMAS Cerberus and then at HMAS in the European theatre was Brian Mahoney ‘Digger’ McFarlane, Rushcutter, where he was introduced to anti-submarine warfare a ‘happy, short, fair man’ born in Cremorne, NSW. He began his techniques. From 1941 he served in the Royal Navy corvette Bluebell naval service as a Cadet Midshipman in 1933 and was ‘loaned’ to the escorting Atlantic convoys. After fourteen months of this dangerous Royal Navy in 1937-1939, during which time he served on HMS work he volunteered for ‘hazardous service’, which transpired to be Hood as well as a number of other British ships. By 1940 he had serving in the highly experimental X-craft. 83

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940’ WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Max was involved in the attack on the Tirpitz in 1943 and was in command of X24 in another raid on German shipping in Norwegian waters in April 1944. Known as ‘Operation Guidance’, the mission was to sink a floating dock in Bergen harbour. Due to poor intelligence and inaccurate charts, X24 laid her charges on a large German merchantman, Barenfels. The ship was sunk and Max Shean was awarded a Distinguished Service Order (DSO). In 1945 six XE craft, refinements of the earlier versions, were sent to Pearl Harbor to take part in the Pacific war. Admiral Nimitz of the Unites States Navy observed that they were ‘suicide craft’ and the Americans were reluctant to put them into operational roles until they discovered that the X-craft had a longer range than they assumed. The XE submarines went into training on the Queensland coast to prepare attacks on Japanese warships and X24 Internal layout, museum display on underwater telegraph cables. This would eventually be known as ‘Operation Sabre’, designed to cut the cables He enlisted in the RANVR in 1941 and saw service in Gibraltar linking Tokyo with Singapore, Saigon and Hong Kong, an important and Operation Torch against Rommel, a precursor to the D-Day communication channel for the Japanese high command. Special invasion. He received officer training and volunteered for submarine tools and techniques had to be developed for this unprecedented duty, which turned out to be in X-craft. Briggs and Sub-Lt Adam operation and during training in Hervey Bay, naval divers David ‘Jock’ Bergius were the two divers aboard XE4 on July 31, 1945, Carey and Bruce Enzers were lost in accidents. Max Shean was in together with crew Max Shean, EV ‘Ginger’ Coles and Sub-Lt Ben command of XE4 when the undersea cable was cut off the coast of Kelly RNVR. The mission allowed divers to be out of the submarine French Indo-China (Vietnam) on July 31, 1945. Three days later at the expected operating depth for only very short periods so having two brought the complement of the submarine from the usual four to a very cramped five. On that day, XE4 and her crew were submerged at the mouth of the Mekong River in French Indo-China, dragging a grapnel across the seabed in an attempt to locate the vital telegraph cables. After several futile runs, described in Max Shean’s book Corvette and Submarine, they finally located the southbound cable beneath sand and silt at a depth of fifty feet. At 1229 Ken Briggs left XE4, found the cable, cut it with the hydraulic cutters specially developed for the task and was back aboard by 1242, carrying a length of cable as evidence of his success. Adam Bergius RNVR then left the submarine at 1402 and, after several attempts, severed the northbound cable and return by 1452. Ken Briggs and Adam Bergius both received the Distinguished Service Cross for their work. The citation for Ken Briggs’ medal read: “For gallantry, perseverance and outstanding skill as a diver in HM submarine XE4, in successfully cutting the Singapore to Saigon cable, off St Jacques, French Indo-China on 31 July 1945. The SBLT Kenneth Briggs operation was performed in water much deeper than expected and hampered by tide and rough weather (18 December 1945).” the X-craft made it back to their depot ship Bonaventure, waiting The cutting of the undersea cable forced the Japanese to use radio for them at Brunei Bay. Max added a bar to his DSO and the for their communications. The Americans had already cracked the United States of America awarded him a Bronze Star for severing Japanese radio codes and so were now able to access information that the Japanese undersea communications. The other members of the had been unavailable when transmitted beneath the sea. XE4’s action crew were also decorated. Max completed post-war studies to work that day provided information that was reportedly a factor in the in Western Australia as an engineer and remained in the RANVR decision to use nuclear bombs on Nagasaki and Hiroshima. After the until 1956. A keen sailor, he won the Open division of the Parmelia war, Ken married, started a family and lived in Perth for some years, race from Plymouth to Fremantle in 1978, sailing his yacht Bluebell working for the British United Shoe Machinery Company, which single-handed after already voyaging from Fremantle to reach the had supplied components for naval use during the war. He later lived start. He wrote about his life and exploits in Corvette and Submarine in Queensland and now lives in retirement in Brisbane. (1992) and was a celebrated member of the submariner community These men and a still-uncertain number of other Australian until his death in June 2009. submariners played significant roles in the 1939-45 conflict. While there were no Australian submarines in which to serve, their Kenneth Briggs experience and example provides an inspiring continuity between the Kenneth Briggs was born in Glen Innes (NSW) in 1923. earlier submarines and those of a new generation. 84

AKTIWRIBIUUTENTDOETHRESEAS IMAGES COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY F ew people today know that approximately 200 New Zealanders served as volunteers in submarines during the Second World War. Many were ratings—seamen, stokers, and telegraphists—but a fair number of officers served as first lieutenants and navigators in submarines, and one achieved command; they took part in many war patrols off the coast of Norway, in the Mediterranean, and in the Far East. Here is a tribute to those fine men— many of whom did not return. (With acknowledgements to the Submarine Old Comrades’ Association, who especially remember their old shipmates, and Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–45: The Royal New Zealand Navy). At the time of the Japanese invasion of Malaya in December 1941, Sub-Lieutenants H.C. Rob Johns, A.L. Cato, C.E. Fisher, and P.W. Smith had arrived to serve as liaison officers in Dutch submarine in the Netherlands East Indies. Smith, who lost his life on 28 February 1942 when HMS Anking was sunk by the Japanese after the evacuation of Java, was awarded a posthumous mention in despatches for his gallantry in swimming away, badly wounded, from a crowded raft to make room for another man. Rob Johns, who was also in the Anking, was one of several New Zealanders picked up by small Dutch ship. He subsequently served in the Dutch submarine, O 19, and in British submarines. Cato was killed in HMS Jupiter in the Battle of the Java Sea. Abel Seaman Spencer, of Nelson, lost his life in the Tetrarch, which, after a successful commission in the Mediterranean, disappeared with all hands between Malta and Gibraltar during a passage to England. Leading Seaman Thurlow, RNZNVR, who served for 12 months in the Mediterranean as a gun layer in the Otus, Una, and Unison, was one of the survivors of the submarine depot ship Medway when she was torpedoed and sunk by a U-boat between Alexandria and Haifa on 30 June 1942. Able Seaman Speed, of Wellington, who saw some exciting patrols in the Mediterranean, was accidentally killed in October 1942 while serving in the Parthian, which was lost off Sicily in August 1943. Sub Scythian, Thodes command 85

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940 WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Stoker Petty Officers Bruce Bennett and P.E. Le Gros served together and shared adventures in submarines for more than four years. Much of that time was spent in the Mediterranean in the Torbay, which they joined in March 1941 at the start of her first commission. During the next two years, under Commander A.C. Miers, RN, VC, DSO, the Torbay sank more than 20 enemy supply ships and small craft. At the end of one patrol in the Aegean Sea in August 1941, she extracted 130 Commonwealth soldiers—including 50 New Zealanders and Australians—from Crete and landed them in Alexandria. Three months later, the Torbay, in company with the Talisman, landed 40 commandos on the Libyan coast near Apollonia to attack Rommel’s headquarters—an affair in which Lt. Col. G.C.T. Keyes, the son of Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Keyes, lost his life and won a posthumous Victoria Cross. On 4 March 1942, the Torbay had completed a 26-day patrol in the Ionian Sea when it sighted four large troopships with a powerful escort. Being unable to attack, the Torbay trailed them into Corfu harbour at dusk but they found they had gone on. She surfaced in the moonlight to charge her batteries and at daybreak, torpedoed and sank two supply ships of 5000 and 8000 tons. She was hunted by a destroyer (at which she fired torpedoes) and was bombarded by 40 depth charges but after 17 hours in the harbour, the Torbay made her escape through the long narrow channel. Commander Miers was awarded the Victoria Cross, and 23 awards were made to members of the crew of the Torbay, including Bennett and Le Gros, who received the DSM and a mention in dispatches, respectively. Both New Zealanders subsequently served in the Trespasser, the Templar and the Stoic and, in 1945, the surrendered German U-776. To Lieutenant-Commander Thode, of Auckland, fell the distinction of being the only RNZNVR officer to attain command of a submarine during the war. In October 1941, he was appointed as the navigating officer in the Proteus, in which he served for six Le Gros, Bennett (left ) and Thode Submariners 86

HMS Thorough months under Lieutenant-Commander P.S. Francis DSO, RN, who The Admiralty then decided that all new submarines and all except a handled the submarine with “dash and distinction”. In the course few of those in service should join the Eastern Fleet. of six patrols in the Aegean Sea, off the west coast of Greece and in the Gulf of Taranto, the Proteus sank three troopships, a tanker, Thus it came about that many New Zealand submarines, officers and a supply ship. On her fifth patrol off the coast off Greece, the and ratings, found themselves in Eastern waters during 1944–45. Proteus attacked an Italian destroyer, which she had mistaken for a submarine. When the destroyer attempted to ram her, Proteus From November 1944 to 20 August 1945, the 31 British turned towards the enemy and the two ships collided head-on. A submarines operating from Ceylon and Fremantle made 54 patrols large hole was torn in the destroyer’s bow, and Proteus’s port forward of an average duration of 33 days. In the first months of 1944, the hydroplane of was sheared off and other gear distorted and she was Tally Ho sank the Japanese cruiser Kuma and two U-boats. During forced to return to Alexandria. For his part in these patrols Thode the last nine months of the war, British submarines sank 11 Japanese was awarded a mention in dispatches. warships and 112 merchant vessels and laid a number of minefields. After serving in several submarines (one of which, H33, he The Tantalus, one of the submarines based at Fremantle, carried commanded for three months) employed in training officers and out six patrols between April 1944 and February 1945, four of men for the anti-submarine duties in the Battle of the Atlantic, them in shallow water in Malacca Strait, well watched by Japanese Thode did two war patrols in the Ultor and Tuna off the North Cape anti-submarine vessels and aircraft. Two patrols (of 52 and 55 of Norway covering the passage of Russian convoys. days) by the Tantalus east of Singapore were by far the longest by a British submarine up to that time. Targets were hard to find, but the In July 1944, he was appointed to command the Scythian then Tantalus sank two large merchant ships and a number of coasters under construction at Greenock. After trials and working up, he took and small craft. Leading Stoker Berwick, RNZN, who served in the Scythian out to Trincomalee, from where he carried out a number the Tantalus on these and other patrols, was awarded a mention in of patrols in the Strait of Malacca between February 1945 and the dispatches. Petty Officer Wickham was also mentioned in despatches end of the war. for his devotion to duty in the Sea Rover, in which, as a torpedo gunner’s mate, he “always kept the torpedoes in an efficient state of Targets were scarce but on her first three patrols, the Scythian readiness for instant action”. Between February 1944 and April 1945, sank 12 vessels by gunfire; for this Thode was again mentioned in the Sea Rover made five war patrols in the Malacca Strait–Burma dispatches. He had completed four years as a submariner when he coast area and the Java and Banda Seas, during which she destroyed paid off the Scythian in England in October 1945. a goods train by gunfire, sank six merchants ships and several junks, and carried out a minelay and an air-sea rescue mission. One patrol, At the end of July 1943, there were only four submarines—three of 37 days, was the longest period at sea on war duty by an S-class Dutch and one British—on the East Indies Station, with another submarine up to that time. seven on their way after their release from duty in the Mediterranean. 87

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA S 1940 WWII1 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 A few New Zealanders saw service in midget submarines, which were known officially as X-craft. One was Lieutenant Westmacott, DSC, RN, who, in September 1944, was detailed to destroy a large floating dock at Bergen, in Norway. He was then in command of X24, with Sub-Lieutenant Derek Purdy, RNZNVR, as his first lieutenant, a diver and an engine- room artificer being the other members of the crew. X24 was towed from the Shetland Islands to Norwegian waters by the submarine Sceptre. In the extremely bad weather they experienced during their passage, Purdy was swept overboard and drowned. After slipping the tow and passing through some 30 miles of narrow fjords, X24 arrived at Bergen on 11 September. They placed two delayed-action charges under the dock and X24 got away unmolested to rejoin the Sceptre that night. The dock was HMS Scythian 4-inch gun crew badly damaged and broken in two by the explosions. under the cruiser amidships, where she was jammed for a quarter At the end of July 1945, the midget XE5 commanded by for an hour. The diver, Leading Seaman J.J. Magennis, RN, had Westmacott made a gallant attempt to cut the Hong Kong– to squeeze through the hatch, which could not be fully opened Singapore cable. The craft spent three and a half days in the strongly and, after scraping places clear of barnacles, secured the limpet defended waters of Hong Kong and made four passages between the mines in pairs under the ship’s keel. After the withdrawal, harbour and the open sea. Magennis again left the midget submarine to clear a limpet carrier Westmacott was awarded a bar to his DSC (he had received the that had failed to release. DSO for his Bergen exploit). In the meantime, XR4, commanded Lieutenant Fraser and Seaman Magennis were each awarded by Lieutenant M.H. Shean, RANVR, had succeeded in cutting the the Victoria Cross for their gallantry. Lieutenant Smith was Hong Kong–Singapore–Saigon cables, bringing back one foot of awarded he DSO for “skill in handling and controlling his craft each. Shean was awarded a bar to the DSO he had gained for his on her 80-mile trip. attack in X24 on the Bergen dock in April 1944. “The mechanical efficiency of the craft was greatly due to his One New Zealand reserve officer who saw more than a organisation and personal supervision.” The midget XE1, which was month’s service in midget submarines was Lieutenant W.J. to have attacked another cruiser nearby, was delayed by enemy small Lanyon Smith, RNZNVR. He was the first lieutenant of XE3, craft and mined the Takao under the same difficult conditions. which, under the command of Lieutenant Ian Fraser, RNR, made A New Zealander, Captain W.R. Fell, OBE, RN, commanding a successful attack on the Japanese heavy cruiser Takao in Johore the 14th Submarine Flotilla in HMS Bonaventure, was in charge of Strait, Singapore, on 31 July 1945. Finding the ship aground, these midget operations. or nearly so, after 40 minutes, the XE3 managed to place herself Other New Zealand-born officers of the Royal Navy in the submarine arm were Lieutenant P.R.H. Allen (a son of Sir Stephen Allen, of Morrinsville), who died when the Upholder, commanded by Lieutenant-Commander M.D. Wanklyn, VC, DSO, DSC, was lost in the Mediterranean in April 1912, and Lieutenant A.O. Baker, who died in the Turbulent, commanded by Commander J.W. Linton, DSC, DSC, and sunk off Sardinia in March 1943. Lieutenant- Commander L.E. Herrick, DSC, RN, of Hastings, served in submarines throughout the war. He gained his DSC in the Tigris, “one of the most redoubtable submarines” that operated in the Bay of Biscay in 1940– 41. He subsequently served in the P34 of the 5th Flotilla and the Uproar of the 10th Flotilla based at Malta. Two brothers from Timaru, Lieutenant A.G. Tait, RN, and Lieutenant J.F. Tait, RNZNVR, also saw much service in submarines. X Craft submarine Sydney Harbour 1946 88



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AOUBSERTORANLSIAIN THE COMMISSIONING OF THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY’S FIRST OBERON-CLASS SUBMARINE IN 1967 HERALDED THE RETURN OF AN ACTIVE SUB-SURFACE CAPABILITY, ABSENT SINCE THE RAN TRANSFERRED ITS TWO BRITISH O-CLASS VESSELS BACK TO THE ROYAL NAVY IN 1931. Oberon class Submarine launching A BY CAPTAIN WILLIAM L. OWEN FCIL RAN (RET.) ustralia’s Oberons were in service for 33 years—from the commissioning of HMAS Oxley in 1967, to the decommissioning of HMAS Otama in 2000. Between 1931 and 1967, the only post-WWII RAN submarine was the obsolete ex-Dutch HMAS K9, used for anti-submarine warfare training purposes from 22 June 1943 until 31 March 1944. Within 20 years, the acquisition of six brand-new Oberons saw the RAN operating a squadron of well-trained, well-maintained, long range, torpedo and missile armed attack submarines. Australia had become a major submarine power in the southwest Pacific and Indian Ocean region. Following WWII, the Australian Naval Board initiated a series of high-level meetings with the Admiralty in London to discuss the structure of the post-war Australian Fleet, including an option of adding a submarine element. It was common practice for the British to be involved in the process of Australia’s naval development as the two navies had worked in close partnership since the RAN was founded in 1911. They fought together through two world wars under the same White Ensign and the RAN’s warships had all been sourced in the UK. In 1947, the Australian Naval Board decided to base its post- war fleet on a carrier strike force. Two light fleet carriers would be acquired from the UK, along with a range of new aircraft and escort ships but there would be no submarines. The Board’s decision to exclude submarines was influenced by bad memories of two earlier unsuccessful and very short-lived submarine acquisitions. In both cases the principal, unresolved, problem had been a total lack of specialised submarine maintenance and support in Australia. The decision to omit submarines left one question unanswered: How could RAN surface ships and RAAF maritime aircraft be properly trained in anti-submarine warfare without exercising at sea with live targets? The Naval Board made an approach to Britain, requesting that the Royal Navy meet this need by basing some of its submarines in Australia. With about forty A-, T- and S-class submarines in service, the RN readily agreed to help. The RN established a small squadron based in Sydney consisting of two T- or A-class submarines deployed under formal inter-governmental agreements. To support the Sydney-based Fourth Submarine Division (SM4) the RN agreed to provide a small engineering base staff and a partial spare crew. The latter would include the Division Commander, an operations officer and marine and electrical engineer officers. The RAN agreed to provide berthing facilities for the submarines at HMAS Penguin, a modern naval barracks located on the north shore of Sydney harbour along with staff offices, workshops and shore accommodation for unaccompanied personnel. 93

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1960-19801 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 K9 crew The submarines were under the operational command of the RAN submarine refitting. This experience proved valuable when the time Fleet Commander in Sydney who delegated operational control to came to refit Oberons. SM4. Administrative command of all RN personnel would remain with SM4 who reported directly to Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) The first two RN submarines, HMS Telemachus and Thorough in Britain. arrived in Sydney in 1949 and, over the next 18 years, ten T- and A- class submarines spent two years or more with SM4, while the RAN Annual dry-dockings for the submarines were undertaken at got used to having submarines around and came to appreciate the Cockatoo Island Dockyard in Sydney harbour—a dockyard with level of specialised support needed to operate submarines successfully. a fine record dating back to the 1860s of building and refitting In 1961 the Royal Navy notified the Naval Board that time was warships. The submarines would do their routine maintenance running out for SM4 as it would not be possible to continue basing periods at Penguin, assisted by the RN base staff, while major refits RN submarines in Sydney beyond 1968. The RN’s T and A class would be conducted at the British naval dockyard in Singapore. submarines were coming to the end of their service lives and were After 1961 these refits were done at Cockatoo Island Dockyard being replaced by 21 of the new, high-capability Porpoise/Oberon giving this yard experience in the highly specialised area of class. The RN suggested that Australia may be interested in acquiring 94

HMS Thorough her own submarines; in which case the UK Government would be knots. The diesel- interested in collaborating in a joint project to make this happen. electric propulsion comprised two This suggestion came at a time in Australia when the Minister diesel generator for the Navy and Chairman of the Naval Board was the dynamic sets and a lead-acid Senator John Gorton, who had seen action as an RAAF fighter main battery in two pilot during WWII. Gorton had been Navy Minister since 1958 sections. Top speed and was convinced that Australia had a strategic need for a capable submerged was submarine force - writing publicly that “the modern submarine, 17kts, while surface whether nuclear-powered or diesel-electric, is the most versatile vessel cruising speed was afloat… the submarine is now a most effective anti-submarine unit”. 13kts. A periscopic Although it is rumoured that some members of the Naval Board did snort system enabled not share the Minister’s enthusiasm—believing that the RAN did not the main generators need submarines for anything more than providing targets for ASW to be run, charging training—Senator Gorton’s view was strongly supported by the Chief the battery while K9 in dry dock of Naval Staff, Vice-Admiral Sir Henry Burrell and Gorton prevailed. the submarine was submerged at periscope depth. There were six bow weapon-tubes Early in 1962, formal discussions began with the RN on the and the Oberons boasted a load-out of 20 torpedoes. The crew of 67 acquisition strategy, which consisted of a build package funded by included seven officers with 20 senior and 40 junior sailors. the RAN in conjunction with a training package provided by the The first of this new class, HMS Porpoise, was laid down RN. Under the build package the Australian Government would in 1954 and commissioned four years later. By 1961 there were order a number of the new Oberon-class submarines to be built—at eight Porpoise-class vessels in RN service and in that year the first a unit cost in the region of Aus$10 million—at Scott’s Shipyard in of 13 Oberons was commissioned. A total of 21 submarines of Greenock Scotland, which had already built five Oberons for the the combined class were serving in the RN by 1967. Underway RN. The RN had provisionally booked slots at Scott’s yard for an sound ranging of the Porpoises/Oberons was carried out in the RAN production run under which submarines would be laid down instrumented Clyde lochs and confirmed the remarkable acoustic annually, starting in 1964. Construction time would be three years performance of the submarines. At periscope depth, there was for each vessel, with the first delivery scheduled for 1967. no propeller cavitation at speeds up to 7kts and at depths below 400ft there was no cavitation up to the top speed of 17kts; ranking The Oberon is a development of its virtually identical Porpoise Oberons the quietest class of submarines in service anywhere in the class predecessor. The only difference between the two classes world—including new submarines with nuclear-steam propulsion. is the use of the latest, higher-tensile steel for the pressure-hull, While the Board had considered the possibility of nuclear-steam giving the Oberons a test diving depth of 600 feet compared with propulsion, this option was rejected due to the high construction, the Porpoises’ 500 feet. The Porpoise/Oberon class was the first support and training costs involved and the lack of a nuclear-power platform design produced by the British Admiralty after the end industry in Australia. of WWII. The design team, headed by gifted naval architect John The RN training package offered to provide onshore training at Starks, used modern hydrodynamic tank testing to optimise the hull the Submarine School at HMS Dolphin (Gosport near Portsmouth) form. He used a pressurised water-tunnel to develop advanced low- cavitation propellers. The 295ft (90 metres) submarines had a dived displacement of 2,400 tons and a range of 10,000 nautical miles at 8 HMS Telemachus crew 95

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1960-19901 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 followed by a final sea qualification phase in operational RN the proposed collaborative submarines. With insufficient time to train any RAN officers to RAN/RN acquisition the requisite level for command of the first four RAN submarines project. Cabinet agreed and or of the squadron, the RN agreed to the transfer to the RAN of in January 1963 Senator five suitably qualified officers. The training package and the RN’s Gorton announced that eight Submarine Command course—nicknamed the ‘Perisher’—would Oberons, in two batches of be available to the RAN as long as it was needed. In addition, all four, would be ordered for new RAN Oberons would be able to work-up in the Clyde exercise the RAN. Some years later, areas under the RN’s Captain Submarine Sea Training before sailing the Government reduced the for Australia. second batch to two, making a total of six. The build contract HMS Dolphin Sub tank The proposed training and build packages were considered with Scott’s was duly placed and evaluated by the Naval Board late in 1962 in a series of special and in July 1964 the keel of the first vessel—HMAS Oxley—was laid meetings and it recommended that the Government go ahead with with a planned completion date of April 1967. At the same time, the Naval Board signed up for the training package and found no HMS Dolphin Class of 1979 Mike Bell (Dinga), Paul Hollis (Blu), shortage of volunteers for submarine training. In April 1963 the Mac, Bruce Mountain (Rocky), Corkas, Ian Burns (Blu), Barney first draft of 29 RAN sailors left by sea for the UK, accompanied by Sullivan (Barnyard), Ian Cox (Coxy), Thommo, Gronk, Crighton, their families. Andy Arms, Beard, Morgan. There were several other important aspects of this project, the most important being a bold decision by the Australian Government to fund the construction in Sydney of a specialised operating, support and training base for the submarines. Work on this major civil engineering project began early in 1964. The new base, HMAS Platypus, was located in North Sydney across the harbour from Fleet Headquarters on part of the site of an existing torpedo-maintenance establishment. It boasted a new 800ft concrete wharf equipped with support features similar to those provided at the RN’s main submarine base on the River Clyde at Faslane, Scotland. These features included a tracked mobile crane, capable of lifting submarine periscopes and other masts. A three-storey administration building adjacent to the wharf contained staff offices, an operations room and a communication centre. Messes for officers, senior and junior sailors and overnight accommodation for duty personnel were all part of 96

the new building. Existing torpedo maintenance buildings on the site were converted for use as mechanical and electrical workshops, a periscope and mast shop and a stores building. The main workshop building included a large AC/DC conversion plant to silently provide DC power for submarines alongside without interfering with any maintenance work on their diesel-generators, and eliminating diesel engine noise that may disturb local residents. The Australian Naval Board set up two specialist submarine authorities in Navy Office in Canberra – a Director of Submarine Policy (DSMP) in the Naval Staff, and a Director of Submarine Maintenance and Repair (DSMR) in the Engineering Branch. DSMP was adviser on submarine operational matters and project director for weapon-system acquisition projects, while DSMR was adviser on submarine maintenance and material safety matters, and project director for all submarine full-cycle refit contracts with Cockatoo Island Dockyard. A new Directorate of Submarine Design was set up in Naval Technical Services in Navy Office Canberra, with informal links to the Admiralty design branch in Bath, UK. The Fleet Commander exercised operational command of the new Oberon Squadron and delegated operational control to the Squadron Commander, who also commanded the base HMAS Platypus. Through the Platypus communications centre, the Squadron Commander managed submarine schedules on a new RAN channel O Boat in drydock of the VLF Submarine Broadcast transmitted via the USN/RAN communication station at North-West Cape in Western Australia. All self-maintenance periods. All four maintenance periods were carried these aspects of the project were in place and functional by the time out berthed at Platypus. In the third year of operational availability HMAS Oxley arrived in Sydney. each submarine underwent a mid-cycle dry-docking at Cockatoo After successful sea trials, including dived runs on the RN’s during one of the scheduled AMPs. This docking included material- sound ranges in the Clyde lochs, Oxley went on to pass her work-up safety certification to cover the remaining two years of operational with flying colours. She sailed for Australia via the Panama Canal availability. and berthed at Platypus on 17 August 1967, on which date the For operational safety, Squadron Standing Orders prescribed a Australian Submarine Squadron and HMAS Platypus were formally work-up and sea inspection after every refit plus a squadron week commissioned in the presence of the Minister for Defence, Mr after every maintenance period. Squadron week began with two Allen Fairhall. Also present at the ceremony was Rear Admiral Ian independent shakedown days at sea to exercise the crew in operating McGeoch—RN Flag Officer Submarines and first procedures and emergency drills to manage fire, Commander of the RN Fourth Submarine Division flood and hydraulic-system failure. After a day in in 1949—who had given valuable support to the harbour the remaining two days of the squadron project. With the establishment of the Australian week were available for pro-submarine exercises squadron the RN Fourth Submarine Division lapsed. such as practice torpedo firings or submarine SM4’s two submarines, Tabard and Trump were versus submarine attacks. transferred to the new Australian Squadron. Tabard These schedules kept the submarines fully left Australia for the UK in late 1967 and Trump prepared and available for eight weeks of exercises early in 1969. or operations at sea as required by the Fleet The three remaining Oberons of the first batch— Commander. Otway, Ovens and Onslow—arrived in Sydney on In 1973, the Director of Submarine Policy schedule, joining the squadron in 1968, 1969 and in Canberra initiated the first of what turned 1970. During this build-up period the squadron out to be a series of five major Navy acquisition settled down to a full programme of exercises in projects aimed at updating and upgrading the local areas, which included participation in major sensors, combat system and weapon fit-out in all fleet exercises, detachments to operate out of the Platypus crest Oberons. This mid-life upgrade—later named Cockburn Sound fleet base in Western Australia the Submarine Weapon system Update Program, and occasional port visits. The orders for the second batch of two or SWUP—was strongly supported by the Chief of Naval Staff, submarines were placed at Scott’s in 1971 at a unit cost of $24 Vice-Admiral Sir Anthony Synnot and comprised the acquisition of million. Orion and Otama had been planned for completion in 1975 a passive sonar range finding capability for the submarines. At that and 1976; however, in 1973 it was announced that their completion time, passive-sonar range finding (measuring the range of a target, dates would be delayed by two years as faulty high-power electrical without having to transmit a “ping”) was a little known technology cabling supplied by a sub-contractor had been installed in both which promised to greatly increase the submarines’ capability; vessels and had to be replaced. The submarines were subsequently particularly in the anti-submarine role. It calculates a target’s range commissioned into RAN service in 1977 and 1978. by measuring extremely small time differences between the times By the mid-1970s, a seven-year operational refit cycle had of arrival of a curved sound front, generated by a distant target at been developed for the RAN Oberons, consisting of 5 years of each of three aligned passive hydrophones along the length of the operational availability based at Platypus followed by a two-year refit submarine. Sperry-Gyroscope had set a prototype system to work, at Cockatoo Dockyard. Each year of operational availability had but were unable to install the systems in the US Navy’s nuclear- its own cycle consisting of four 8-week operating periods plus two propelled submarines. They were excited to find that in the RAN 7-week base-assisted maintenance periods (AMPs) plus two 2-week Oberons it would be possible to mount two lines of three aligned 97

SC EUNBTME NAARRINY EOSF IN AUSTRALIA 1960-19801 9 1 4 - 2 0 1 4 Oberons Platypus base Dec 1984 hydrophone-arrays inside the fairly high topside casing along almost sixth and final SWUP refit in Otama was completed in September the whole ship’s length. This provided a very long base line with noise 1985. These six super refits completed over a period of only five- from the submarine’s propellers shielded by the hull and proved to and-a-half years represent a remarkable achievement by Cockatoo be an ideal passive sonar array model. In 1973 the RAN’s production Dockyard. The entire process, including design, integration and contract was awarded to Sperry-Gyroscope to supply its ‘MicroPuffs’ testing, was done by the RAN and Cockatoo Island Dockyard system for installation in all six Oberons, including the final two still personnel in conjunction with the hardware suppliers without the under construction. need to seek advice or support from the RN or the USN. The total cost of the SWUP mid-life modernisation of the six Oberons was The second SWUP involved the acquisition of a digital combat A$250 million and covered the acquisition cost of the systems, their system to replace the existing analogue system, which was unable installation in six submarines and in the attack-team trainer, but not to process digital passive sonar data. There was no suitable combat the cost of the stockholding of new torpedoes and missiles. system on the market so with the help of the Naval Scientific Service, DSMP developed a concept-specification for a new digital sensor- There were two unexpected benefits from the two-year delay in data processing and fire-control system to process data from all the the completion of Orion and Otama. The delays made it possible Oberon’s sonar and visual sensors, plus fire control functions for two to install the newly-acquired ‘MicroPuffs’ sonar in both submarines new weapons; the tube-launched Harpoon anti-ship, sea-skimming during construction, (with the help of the manufacturer) and to missiles and the Mark-48 wire-guided anti-submarine and anti-ship install in Orion a special electronic surveillance fit, acquired under a torpedoes. Tenders were called with, production awarded to Singer- separate collaborative project with the RN. This special fit was put to Librascope in the USA in 1974. The new combat system—powered good use, by Orion and later by Otama, when these two submarines by an AN/UYK-7 computer—was central to the SWUP upgrade conducted a number of important surveillance patrols in Cold War and required just three operators in the control room, compared with operational missions. seven for the old system, although it did require a redesigned control room layout to accommodate SFCS A striking feature of three decades of the Oberon era was the consistently high morale of the officers and men of the Oberon The third SWUP was the acquisition of a new all-round passive Submarine force. No doubt this was due in large part to the effective attack sonar to replace the old single-beam bow-mounted sonar. The and efficient acquisition, management and maintenance of the new German high-performance Krupp-Atlas type CSU-3.41 system submarines and the programme as a whole. provided accurate, multi-target, bearing data for the combat system plus an active-sonar capability for mine detection. A larger bow dome Captain Bill Owen, FCIL, RAN (Rtd) was born in the United Kingdom in 1927 was required and Cockatoo dockyard removed the existing bow and graduated from the Royal Navy College, Dartmouth, in March 1945. He section of the submarine, replacing it with a newly designed, stronger specialised in submarines and went onto command HM Ships Subtle, Anchorite structure capable of supporting the new, larger and heavier array and and Opossum. In 1954, after qualifying as a naval interpreter in German, he dome. This process was successfully undertaken during Oxley’s first was elected Fellow of the Institute of Linguistics in 1964. After transferring to 1977-79 SWUP refit. the RAN he commanded the new squadron of Oberon class submarines from 1967-70 and again from 1976-79. As Director of Submarine Policy in Canberra The fourth and fifth SWUPs involved the acquisition of the from 1971-76 Captain Owen initiated a series of projects to upgrade the six afore-mentioned new weapon types, each submarines receiving 10 RAN Oberon Submarines re-equipping them with a new digital combat-system, Sub-Harpoon cruise missiles and 10 wire-guided Mark 48 torpedoes. passive range-finding sonar and re-arming them with Sub-Harpoon missiles and Both ammunition acquisition projects were managed in the Mark48 torpedoes. Government Departments of Navy and Supply. This first SWUP refit was completed in February 1980—only four months longer than the standard 2-year refit time—while the 98