Posted: 8/12/2007 9:44:06 AM EDT
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from:www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2007/08/13/1530_gold-coast-news.html Probe 'finds our first sub 75m down' 13Aug07 A RETIRED naval commander from Murwillumbah is confident he has solved one of Australia's greatest maritime mysteries. The HMAS AE1, Australia's first submarine, disappeared with its crew of 35 in 1914 during World War I action off Papua New Guinea. John Foster, who served in the navy for 30 years, has devoted almost the same amount of time to researching the submarine and its disappearance. He has travelled to PNG searching for the wreck for the past 20 years, but believes he finally found it on an excursion in May and June. Video footage taken from a remote-controlled probe found what appears to be submarine wreckage lying in 75m of water off the East New Britain province coast. The footage has been sent to the Royal Australian Navy's Sea Power Centre for analysis. Mr Foster said yesterday he remained 'cautiously optimistic' he had found the 55m AE1, believed to have sunk after a skirmish with German soldiers in September, 1914. It was Australia's first real involvement in World War I, coming several months before people even knew where Gallipoli was. The theory that the AE1 was hit by land-based German troops is just one of several speculating how the sub was sent to its watery grave. "I'm very hopeful," said Mr Foster. "It's in pretty poor condition as you would expect after 90-odd years, it's totally covered with coral and sand and the currents are pretty rough in that area, but I think it's her. "But I don't want to say that it definitely is the AE1, because that's up to the navy to say now." Mr Foster's discovery was the result of persistence. Previous attempts to find the wreck had been plagued by bad weather and once divers were scared off by sharks. With the findings and all subsequent decisions now in the hands of the Australian Defence Force, Mr Foster said he felt satisfied at what he had been able to achieve. "I am very pleased that I was able to bring this to light." He said there was still some confusion over what would happen to the site if it was confirmed as the resting place of the AE1. "There's some doubt as to whether it can actually be called an official war grave, because it's not on land, but that is what I would like to see it called." He said the mystery that had taken him 30 years to uncover would remain a secret to most people. "Nobody will be told exactly where it is," he said. "And anyway, it's in 75m of water in a remote location that took me years to find. "It's pretty unlikely that any recreational divers are just going to chance across it." |
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Looks like they may have also found HMAS Sydney that dissapeared with all hands after engaging the german raider Kormoran early in WW2 as well. August 11, 2007 01:00am Article from: AAPFont size: + - Send this article: Print Email THE 66-year search for the wreck of HMAS Sydney is believed to be over. The ship, in which 645 Australians died, is believed to have been found by a group of West Australians using a grappling hook and a camera last weekend. The Sydney sank after a battle with German raider, Kormoran, on November 19, 1941, Fairfax newspapers said. Video film of the find shows tangled wreckage over large, much longer than any other ship known to have sunk nearby. The search team believe the video, which shows decking bolts, radio aerials, steam tubes and signs of massive damage show the wreck is the Sydney. The shipwreck is near Cape Inscription on the northern end of Dirk Hartog Island. It is in about 150m of water. One of our biggest mysteries is what happened to the Sydney. Edit, more searching turned up this. Might not be Sydney after all. Will have to wait and see I guess. 13 August 2007 View all news | Send to a friend | Print Doubts wreck is HMAS Sydney Jonathan Dart One of the world's foremost authorities on shipwrecks, David Mearns, has all but ruled out identifying a vessel found off the Western Australia coastline as HMAS Sydney. Three amateur researchers claim they have found the ship, which was sunk by the German raider, Kormoran, on November 19, 1941, killing 645 Australian sailors. But Mr Mearns, the man responsible for finding one of World War II's great shipwrecks, HMS Hood, told The Canberra Times from London last night he doubted the group's find. Mr Mearns has worked as a consultant for the Finding Sydney Foundation, an organisation established in 2001 to find the wreck. After viewing half an hour of video footage and photographs of the wreck, he said there was not any convincing evidence linking the wreck to HMAS Sydney. "I just don't share their confidence at all," he said. "They've had a very brief, cursory look, using a very primitive camera system and they have done, in total, about 30 minutes of what they call good video, which, in my terms, is actually poor-quality video. "They haven't seen any distinguishing features or any classic fingerprints of a naval ship, or even a naval ship that has been in a battle. "They do not have any convincing proof that the wreck they have found is Sydney." Mr Mearns said that there were inconsistencies with the wreck and the historical evidence known about HMAS Sydney. He has pinpointed an area of roughly 1500 square nautical miles, which he believes the wreck is located in, based on eyewitness accounts given by the 317 German survivors of the Kormoran. He said the survivors were picked up almost 65 nautical miles further out to sea than the alleged HMAS Sydney wreck. "It would certainly be the first instance I have ever heard where there have been people, almost a whole fleet of survivors, and all of those survivors have directed their lifeboats further offshore away from the safety of the coast," he said. Authorities have welcomed the find, but are treating it with caution. Defence Minister Brendan Nelson, has given in-principle support to surveying the wreckage with the help of the navy, but warned families of the 645 sailors not to get their hopes up. "I'm advised by the Chief of Defence that we can have a naval survey ship examine the wreck in some detail within the next week," he said. "[But] until such time as we've actually ascertained certainly whether it is Sydney or isn't Sydney, I don't think we should unfairly raise the expectations of Australia and particularly the families of those whose lives were lost." Defence spokesman Brigadier Andrew Nikolic said that navy ships would only be used to survey the site on the basis of sound evidence as provided by the authority on ship-wrecks off the west coast, the Western Australia Maritime Museum. "We will work with the WA Maritime Museum to investigate any new evidence that could help locate HMAS Sydney," he said. Brigadier Nikolic said the navy had ships capable of investigating underwater wreckage. These would be used once the new information has been examined by the WA Maritime Museum." But families of the sailors who died on the wreck encouraged the department to conduct a survey of the site, so that "they can at least be sure" if the wreck is or isn't HMAS Sydney. Latham resident June McCluskey lost her cousin, Bill Menzies, in the tragedy. Sixty-six years later, she said she was still looking for closure. "When I heard the news, I was very relieved, because this is something that people have wanted for a very long time," she said. |