Submarine HMAS AE1 located after 103 years
Channel: Royal Australian Navy
Date: 2018-01-09

After 103 years since her loss, HMAS AE1 was located in waters off the Duke of York Island group in Papua New Guinea in December 2017.

The Royal Australian Navy and the Silentworld Foundation commissioned the most comprehensive and technologically capable search ever committed to finding AE1 and the 35 Australian, British and New Zealand men entombed within.

The team of maritime surveyors, marine archaeologists and naval historians scoured the search area with a multi-beam echo sounder and side-scan technology in an underwater drone flying 40 metres above the sea bed on pre-programmed 20 hour missions. The data collected was analysed and a three-dimensional rendering of the underwater environment was produced before dropping a camera to confirm the find.

The search led by Find AE1 Limited, and was funded by the Royal Australian Navy and the Silentworld Foundation, with assistance from the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian National Maritime Museum, Fugro Survey and the Papua New Guinea Government.