Pacific Wrecks Forum

Did anyone see the submarine wreck discovered by HMAS Gascoyne on 60 Minutes last night during the story about UXOs?

There was brief suspiscion that it could have been AE-1 but that was soon quashed

Hopefully it's being followed up and we'll learn the identity of the sub soon

Back on the AE-1, it's exactly 100 years today (or tomorrow) that the keel was laid for Australia's first navy sub.

The submarine was built by Vickers Son & Maxim at the Naval Construction Works, Barrow-in-Furness, County Lancashire, England.

Her keel was laid down on the 14th November 1911.
The British Admiralty had gained much experience with the ‘D’ class submarines and made a further step forward in the design of the ‘E’ class; of which two would go to Australia under prior agreement 1 and be given the classification numbers AE1 and AE2, meaning Australia ‘E’ Class submarines, numbers one and two.

Hi Julz

Yep, saw that and my first thought was it was a reasonably small sub. Probably completely wrong. An impressive find either way. Here's hoping its discovery solves some mysteries and, perhaps, brings closure to some families.

Yeah, I saw the segment on 60 Minutes. The wreck found by HMAS Gascoyne definitely sparked some speculation, but as you said, the AE-1 connection was ruled out pretty quickly. It’s still an interesting discovery though, and it’d be great if more research is done to confirm the wreck's true identity. As for AE-1, what a significant milestone today—100 years since her keel was laid! It’s a reminder of the ambition behind Australia's first submarines.