This week Australia’s first submarine HMAS AE1 has been found, 103 years after it disappeared without a trace off the coast of Papua New Guinea. One of the men aboard AE1 was my great-great-uncle, Cyril Lefroy Baker. Before this week, despite decades of searching, little trace of the vessel or the 35 men on board had been found.
In the absence of conclusive findings, many speculations have been made about the fate of Australia’s first submarine.
The most widely accepted theory is that AE1 struck a reef during an unscheduled practice dive.
Cyril was AE1’s telegraphist (Morse code operator) and he is believed to be the first Tasmanian casualty of World War I. He was just 21.
Cyril, commonly known as ‘Bud’ was born in 1892 at Lefroy, east of George Town.
Before embarking on AE1 in 1914, Cyril had three years’ experience in the Australian Navy, working on HMAS Protector and HMAS Encounter.
During this time, he studied as a wireless telegraphist. At the outbreak of WWI, Australia placed all Royal Australian Navy ships and submarines under the control of the British Admiralty.
AE1 and its sister submarine AE2 joined the Royal Australian Navy’s expeditionary force.
The submarines were sent to PNG, to capture a German Pacific colony, landing at Rabaul on September 11, 1914.
This land mission was successful and they took possession of the colony, with the Germans at Rabaul surrendering on September 13.
The following day, the submarines left on a patrol of the north-east coast of New Guinea. AE1 was last seen patrolling alongside HMAS Parramatta near Cape Gazelle just before 3.30pm on September 14.
The loss of AE1 was reported in the Weekly Courier 10 days after its disappearance, which in those days would have been a relatively quick turnaround of news.
In the article ‘Buds’ was described as “a keen, intelligent, and industrious lad, well known in several mining communities in which his family had lived, and a lad who might have gone far in the service”.
Cyril’s story is but one of thousands that were cut tragically short in WWI.
‘Buds’ was described in news reports as “a keen, intelligent, and industrious lad, well known in several mining communities in which his family had lived, and a lad who might have gone far in the service”.
My grandfather has been collecting information about Cyril and AE1 for several decades as part of our family tree.
Perhaps the greatest honour we can give to those who sacrificed their lives is to keep telling their stories, or at least what we know of them, generations after they passed.
The AE1 was located near the Duke of York Islands, 300 metres under water, on December 21.
Perhaps in time more analysis of the wreck will provide a greater insight into the fate of AE1.
The exact location of the vessel is not being publicly released to protect the wreck from unauthorised salvaging.
It is understood the site will be preserved as a war grave to honour the sacrifice of the crew on board the submarine.
AE1 has piqued much interest throughout the past century as one of Australia’s oldest navel mysteries.
One can only hope that the interest in this vessel and its crew does not diminish in light of recent findings.
This article was first published in The Examiner December 26, 2017.
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