Royal Australian Navy’s first submarine, the AE1, that sank offshore Papua New Guinea was reported found. The discovery was made by Merlindown system.
Merlindown system is used in conjunction with high-definition images from the Landsat 8 satellite, together with the archived images from Landsat 5 and Landsat 7.
AE1 was lost without a trace on 14 September 1914, with her full crew of three officers and 32 sailors.
AE1 was launched in England in 1913, and was in service less than seven months before she sank.
The submarine represents Australia’s first major loss in World War I.
As the company reports, they’ve discovered the wreck in 2006, and the discovery was confirmed in 2007.
Merlindown didn’t disclose the exact location of the submarine which is, as they report, “ in a good condition bearing in mind the length of time she has been underwater ”.
Last month Navy’s HMAS Yarra conducted an extensive search for the AE1 offshore Papua New Guinea where they found contacts of interest, after which they’ve completed the search.
HMAS Yarra’s crew also participated in the commemorative activities in Rabaul, including a service on 14 September marking 100 years since the loss of AE1 .
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Powered by Cincopa Video Hosting for Business solution. AE1 Image of the AE1, produced by divers during their visit to the wreck site in 2007, shows the bottom plates and popped rivets. Image: Merlindown height 469 width 619 originaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM Image of the AE1, produced by divers during their visit to the wreck site in 2007, shows the bottom plates and popped rivets. Image: Merlindown height 469 width 616 originaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM Merlindown colour-coded image shows the submarine upright on the sea floor. The green dot shows the location of the stern, the red dot shows the location of the bridge and the blue dot shows the location of the bow. Image: Merlindown height 604 width 1024 originaldate 1/1/0001 6:00:00 AM