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Stealth and Strength

The motto of the Australian Submarine Service is 'Stealth and Strength'. The boats of the Submarine Service go unseen, unheard and can deliver a knockout punch. They guard the people of Australia and the national interest in periods of peace and war. These national and strategic assets, are ready at short notice to respond to any threat as directed by the Chief of the Navy.

Australia has had long history of operating submarines. In 1901, when the Commonwealth of Australia was proclaimed, the value of submarines (boats, as they are affectionately called) as a form of naval warfare was still a contentious issue. However, the 'Super Powers' of the day encouraged submarine designers and by 1904 France possessed a flotilla of 85 submarines, with the Royal Navy and the United States Navy having 50 and 25 boats respectively.

AE1 & AE2

Germany was also involved with the development of the submarine, with the engineer Rudolf Diesel leading the way in the design of a 'heavy oil' or diesel engine. This engine was to prove much safer than the petrol engines that were available at the time. As a result of the German submarine expansion program, it was decided in Australia to purchase two large 'E' class boats for service in our waters. So began the first of four attempts to establish a submarine service in the RAN.

In February 1914, 'AE1' and 'AE2' were commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy. AE1 and AE2 are now part of the legend that makes up the history and culture of the Australian Submarine Force. Unfortunately at the start of WWI operations to support the Fleet off New Guinea, looking for German commerce raiders had a high price. AE1 commanded by Lt Cdr. T.E. Besant RN in support of HMAS Australia and destroyers HMAS Yarra and Parramatta disappeared without trace on the 14 September 1914 off the Bismarck Peninsular. It was the first allied submarine loss.

In April 1915, only hours before the historic landings on the Gallipoli peninsula, 'AE2' was ordered to attempt what was to become the first successful passage through the Dardanelles, a narrow and treacherous stretch of sea. After successfully penetrating the Dardanelles, 'AE2', sank a Turkish cruiser and for six days harassed the enemy in the Sea of Marmora before being sunk. Her crew was captured and imprisoned in Turkey as Prisoners of War. Thus ended the first attempt to form the RAN Submarine Service.

On 24th April 1915 the now Lt Cdr. Stoker took AE2 into the Dardanelles under the cover of darkness to penetrate as far as possible before submerging to save battery power, only to be thwarted by mechanical failure of the front hydroplanes. He returned to base and repairs were made. At 02.30 on the 26th, just before the dawn landings at Gallipoli, AE2 made its second attempt, again proceeding as far as possible before being forced by gunfire to dive. In order to clear the minefield AE2 was taken down to 80 ft where Stoker found the current less of a problem. In order to navigate AE2 was brought up to periscope depth. Again they were seen and the gun batteries open fire and a destroyer tried to ram them, but not before Stoker had sighted the Turkish warship Peykisevket and fired a torpedo. As they dived they heard the destroyer pass close overhead and the sound of a torpedo striking its target. As they continued, twice they grounded and again came under fire. Only Stoker's cool leadership and the expertise of the crew averted disaster. By this time a small fleet of craft trying to ram them every time their periscope was spotted pursued them. Stoker took AE2 down and rested on the bottom - the time 09.00. Throughout the day they heard ships searching for them. At 21.00, two hours since the last noise, they surfaced and set off on their diesel engines, clearing the foul air from their 16 hours submerged.

Stoker sent a message to inform the fleet he was through into the Sea of Marmara. For four days AE2 created havoc, attacking supply ships and tying up naval resources until she was attacked and sunk by the Turkish torpedo boat Sultan Hissar. Stoker and his valiant crew were taken prisoners of war. Four of the crew died in the prison camps before release in 1918. 

J Boats

The second attempt began in 1919 with the British Admiralty's gift of five 'J' class submarines. Unfortunately they reached Australia in such poor condition they subsequently spent the majority of their period of service in refit. This, coupled with the worsening economic climate led to the boats being placed in reserve and then scrapped. Again, the Submarine Arm of the Royal Australian Navy ceased to exist.

When the J class were removed from service they were all scuttled in and around Port Phillip Bay Victoria. J7 is above the waterline and can be walked on at low tide. It was placed at Sandringham as a breakwater and still serves in this role. J3 was also placed in shallow water as a breakwater on the northern tip of Swan Island. The others of the class (J1, J2, J4, J5 ) were all sunk in approx 30 to 40 metres of water about 2 kilometers off the mouth of Port Phillip Bay and are a popular scuba dive site.

All the submariners' service records that served on the J's in Australia only show that they served on board Platypus, as this was the mother ship.

The old J boat base was located at Geelong and is an old historic mansion, Osbourne House. It is now a submarine museum and two J boat propellers are mounted in the park at Queenscliff.

K Class - K.IX not the Dog, the Dutch Boat

During the Second World War the RAN was given the use of a Dutch submarine for Anti Submarine Training for aircraft crews and navy personnel. Launched in Flushing on 23 December 1922 as one of three ‘K VIII’ Class submarines built to the Electric Boat Co. (USA) design by K.M. De Shelde for the Royal Netherlands Navy. K.IX was built with a single hull of galvanised steel and had a displacement of 521 tons on the surface and 712 when submerged. The Class had a maximum deep diving depth of 132 feet/40 metres. With a length of 210 feet (64.41m), she carried two Shelde-Sulzer diesels, which were capable of 15 knots surfaced and 9.5 knots submerged. K.IX was armed with four 17.7-inch torpedo tubes, two in the bow and two in the stern and a single 3.5-inch gun.

Built in the Netherlands as a colonial boat hence the prefix ‘K’, K.IX saw most of her service in the Dutch East Indies. With the imminent capture of Surabaya by the Japanese in February of 1942 the commanding officer Lieutenant Commander T. BRUNSTING RNN escaped with the submarine and crew to Fremantle, Western Australia. After her arrival in Fremantle, K.IX was sent in early May 1942 to Sydney and in November was entrusted to the Royal Australian Navy for the duration of the War. Due to the submarine’s age and size it was considered by the Royal Navy as unsuitable for fleet activities and saw limited use as a training boat. This was due to damage it sustained from a torpedo blast during a Japanese midget submarine attack in Sydney Harbour on the night of 31 May/1June 1942. The torpedo intended for the ‘Augusta’ class cruiser USS CHICAGO, passed under K.IX which was moored alongside the requisitioned harbour ferry HMAS KUTTABUL and detonated against the retaining wall at Garden Island. The concussion sunk the accommodation ferry and created shock waves that rolled the submarine onto her bea m-ends, lifting her diesel engines off their beds and damaging the batteries.

K.IX was commissioned into the RAN as HMAS K9 on 22 June 1943 and placed under the command of Lieutenant FM PIGGOTT RNR, with a complement of 31 made up of RAN and RN sailors. Whilst in the Australian Navy’s commission, HMAS K9 was to spend more time in refit than in service. It was during this time that the boat was living up to its nickname of "Canine", for while in dry dock her shape was likened to a pregnant bitch and jokes like "she is a dog of a boat" abounded.

On 22 January 1944 one of her batteries exploded during a trot change at Garden Island. Due to the lack of spare parts for the class of boat it was decided to pay off the submarine on 31 March 1944 and hand her back to the Royal Netherlands Navy. K9 was converted to an oil lighter and in this new capacity was being towed north on 7 June 1945 by the RNN minesweeper ABRAHAM CRIJNSSEN. During a storm on 8 June she broke her tow and was driven ashore to flounder on Fiona Beach near Seal Rocks on the central coast of New South Wales. The wreck and her diesel fuel cargo were sold by the Commonwealth Disposals Commission on 20 July 1945. The buyers were local men Mr. A.H. Batt and Mr. Thomas Humphreys whose bid of 985 Pounds was accepted.

After successfully stripping most of the boat of its fittings and fuel, a hole in her hull became the downfall to complete the salvage as she stated to fill with sand. With continued changes to the dunes and sand build up, K9 became quickly buried. During storms of 1962, 1969 and 1974 K9 briefly showed herself to the world before more sand was dumped back on her each time by wind and tide. The area K9 is located has over the years been called Submarine Beach and is now gazetted as such. The actual position of where K9 rests has never been officially recorded until 1999 when officers from the NSW Heritage Office inspected the site. Over several visits and using a Ferex magnetometer the site of K9’s final resting-place was found under approximately 3 metres of sand on 20 July 1999.

Footnote: The officers from the Heritage Office approached me for access to the Michael White research documents and files held in the Submarine Historical Collection, it was during this search that a letter from Lofty Batt was discovered which recounts the story of the partial salvage of K9 at Submarine Beach. To introduce his letter I have located a letter written by a naval officer or rating based at HMAS Watson published in the (Australian) Navy News, 22 July 1966.

By Peter SMITH

History Forgotten by a Watson reader

The letter, “History forgotten by a Watson reader:” was written by one of our members who was I believe was a Sub Lieutenant on K9 Commodore Brian Cleary RAN (Rtd).

O Class

British insistence that the Royal Navy could not alone bear the burden of the Empire's Naval Defence led to the order for the O class submarines Oxley and Otway being placed in March 1925 and the commissioning of the submarines OXLEY and OTWAY in 1927. The O class were at the cutting edge of the technology of the time, so much so that the design of the main diesel engines existed only on paper. The boats were completed, fitted out, and completed sea trials before setting out for Australia on the 8 February 1928. Before they reached Malta engine problems were experienced. These proved to be major and require the engine block to be replaced with modified units; it was nine months before they could continue to Australia.

When HMAS Oxley left Malta she was under the command of Lt.Cdr.F.L. Getting, thus becoming the first 'Australian' submarine commander. Shortly after, Lt.Cdr. N.H. Shaw took over HMAS Otway when she arrived in Sydney on the 14 February 1929.

However, because of the London Naval Treaty of 1930 and the onset of the Great Depression, these boats were handed back to the Royal Navy. For the third time the RAN Submarine Service was nullified. It is noteworthy that OXLEY was sunk in error by the British submarine HMS TRITON in late 1939. Only the Commanding Officer and one sailor survived the disaster and she became the first submarine casualty of WWII.

Apart from the Dutch submarine 'K9' used for training during the war years, Australia did not operate submarines for 36 years. However, during the period 1949-69 a total of 10 Royal Navy 'A' and 'T' class submarines were stationed in Sydney. The cost of operating these submarines was met jointly by the governments of Australia and New Zealand.

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Send email to Norm Williams with articles, questions or comments, or contact him on 0419 863 556 or by snail mail to PO Box 63, Bauple Qld 4650.
Last modified: 08-Nov-2008