Vickers Yard (Barrow in Furness) mould loft records book 1910 - 1915
Date1910 - 1915
Object number00031325
NameBook
MediumInk on paper, fabric
DimensionsOverall: 430 x 570 x 30 mm, 5.6 kg
ClassificationsBooks and journals
Credit LineANMM Collection
DescriptionA book containing the mould loft records from 1910 - 1915 from the Vickers Yard, Barrow in Furness. The Vickers Yard was where AE1 and AE2, the first two Submarines to be built for the Royal Australian Navy, were laid down.
AE1 was launched on 22 May 1913 and AE2 on 18 June 1913. AE1 and AE2 departed Portsmouth on 2 March 1914, for Australia. The passage took 83 days and was at the time the longest journey ever under taken by a submarine.
HistoryThe Vickers Yard was established in Barrow in Furness 1871 by James Ramsden as the Iron Shipbuilding Company, but its name was soon changed to Barrow Shipbuilding Company. In 1897, Vickers & Sons bought the Barrow Shipbuilding Company and its subsidiary the Maxim Nordenfelt Guns and Ammunition Company, becoming Vickers, Sons and Maxim Limited and became the Naval Construction Yard. The company, through a series or mergers and acquisitions, changed names numerous times through the next century and is now known as BAE Systems.
During its dominance of English submarine and ship building, the Barrow yard constructed approximately 373 merchant ships, 312 submarines and 148 naval surface ships.
The AE1 was put into service in September 1914 as part of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force into New Guinea in the attempt to eliminate German presence there and ensure their wireless communication stations were not able to be used by them. On September 14, HMA Submarine AE1 and HMAS PARRAMATTA were directed out into the St Georges channel around New Britain and New Ireland in attempts to locate any enemy ships that may still be in the area.
Although seas were calm, it was noted that the day itself was hazy and by mid-afternoon visibility on the water was reduced to five nautical miles. At 1520 HMAS PARRAMATTA spotted AE1 off Bernard Point. However, by 2000 that night AE2 had not returned to Simpson Harbour as agreed. HMAS PARRAMATTA and HMAS YARRA started to search for her that night but no trace was found. The next morning the search was widened and now included HMAS ENCOUNTER and HMAS WARREGO. At the end of three days searching, which now also included a number of smaller vessels available to the Australians, the search was concluded with no trace or clue as to what had happened to AE1. In a report back to the Admiralty Vice Admiral Patey suggested that AE1 most likely had struck and an underwater reef and sunk in the deeper waters of the channel.
In December 2017, a search for Australia’s first submarine, HMAS AE1, was undertaken by a collaborative team comprising researchers and specialists from the Silentworld Foundation, ANMM, Find AE1 Ltd., the Royal Australian Navy and Fugro, N.V. The search was successful and identified AE1’s final resting place off the Duke of York Islands in Papua New Guinea.
In April 2018, further research was carried out at the site by the ANMM, Find AE1 Ltd. and Curtin University’s HIVE (Hub for Immersive Visualisation and eResearch) aboard R/V Petrel, a vessel owned by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen and operated by Vulcan, Inc. Also on board was a Remotely-Operated Vehicle (ROV) and images relayed back to researchers aboard Petrel revealed vital clues to a sequence of events that led to AE1’s loss.
For example, the submarine’s bow and stern torpedo tube caps were found to be either partially or fully open, and that this appears to have been an intentional act carried out on the surface. Why the caps were open, and whether they contributed in some manner to the loss will likely never be known.
Similarly, the reason that a ventilation valve was partially open will probably never be known, but it is fair to say that it was one of the root causes of the submarine’s demise once it began to submerge on what would be its last dive. Despite efforts by the crew to recover—as evidenced by the positions of the submarine’s hydroplanes—AE1 was overwhelmed by the inflow of water through the ventilation valve and began to sink by the stern.
At an unknown depth, the forward pressure hull partially imploded, killing the crew instantly. The submarine continued its fatal dive until it struck the seabed stern first at a shallow angle, breaking off the skeg and rudder. The hull then pitched forward, breaking AE1’s back and possibly snapping off all four hydroplane guards. This violent movement also affected the fin, which—likely already weakened structurally during the implosion—began to topple forward into the remnants of the control room.
Going forward, the imagery and 3D model generated as a result of the 2018 investigations will prove critical in AE1’s ongoing interpretation, exhibition and management.
SignificanceThe submarines AE1 and AE2 have a significant place in RAN history, not only as the first submarines built for the navy but also the role they played in Australia’s first engagements in World War 1. AE1 as part of the Australian Expeditionary Force to New Guinea and AE2 in her heroic mission through the Dardanelles and into the Sea of Marmora. Crews of submarines were very much viewed as heroes, "That is why every man who joins the sub- marine service, officer and man, are among the pick of the navy, the bravest of brave. Though AE1 was not lost in action with the enemy, each man on board, from Lieutenant-Commander Besant down, ready to hazard his life in the dangerous work he had chosen in the Empire's vice “(Sydney Morning Herald, 21 September 1914).
18 June 1913
1931-1939
