christine liava'a Posted 13 September , 2004 Share Posted 13 September , 2004 The AE1, first Australian submarine, lost with all hands somewhere off the Duke of York Islands, New Guinea. 14 Australian - 20 English - 1 New Zealander = 35 submariners lost. http://www.ae1submarine.com/Last_Contact.html http://www.ae1submarine.com/crew_listings.html The submarine has not as yet been found, so the exact cause of her sinking is not known Able Seaman John REARDON, New Zealander, Royal Australian Navy - # 7474 was probably the first NZer to die in WW1 Reardon, John Number: 7474 Rank: Able Seaman [AB] Unit: HMAS AE1 Service: Royal Australian Navy Conflict: 1914-1918 Date of Death: 14/09/1914 Place of Death: New Guinea Cause of Death: Drowned in accidental loss of vessel Memorial Panel: 1 Cemetery or Memorial Details: 2 Plymouth Naval Memorial Next Of Kin: Place Of Enlistment: Native Place: Notes: Reardon, AB. John, 7474. R Aust N. HMA S/M. "AE1." Drowned in accidental loss of vessel near New Guinea, 14th Sept, 1914. 4. Source: AWM144 Roll of Honour cards, 1914-1918 War, Royal Australian Navy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Brummy Posted 13 September , 2004 Share Posted 13 September , 2004 Also on this date a force of Serbians and Montenegrins take Vishegrad in Bosnia. Brum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuart Lawton Posted 14 September , 2004 Share Posted 14 September , 2004 Christine, You beat me to it A very sad day for my family and a date I will always remember when I look at my Great Grandfather's plaque. (see signature) Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 14 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 14 September , 2004 I couldn't find a memorial to this event in Australia. Is there one? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Beckett Posted 14 September , 2004 Share Posted 14 September , 2004 The AWM has one page on their site: http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_10759.asp Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolphin Posted 14 September , 2004 Share Posted 14 September , 2004 Christine All British submarine losses in both World Wars are commemorated on the K 13 Memorial in Carlingford, NSW. Back in May, I put a photo of the memorial on the Forum at: http://1914-1918.org/forum/index.php?showtopic=14336&hl=k+13 There's probably an easier/better way to cross reference the post, but I've no idea what that might be - this seems to get there. Althernatively, a search for K 13 finds it. Best wishes Gareth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bonza Posted 14 September , 2004 Share Posted 14 September , 2004 Christine Might I suggest you also read the AE2 & SS Berrima entries on Peter's reference to AWM Naval Units. All 3 were lost during WW1, and there does not appear to be specific memorials to any of them. The subs may be 'mentioned' at a submariner display at Holbrook NSW, I will check later. Incidently, that town was formerly Germantown, but renamed during WW1 in honour of a RN submarine Captain. Perhaps Stoker, Capt of AE 2, may have had some claim to the honour. The main feature of the display is an Oberon Class sub. Rumour has it, that one of the (then) still - serving subs was inoperative due to unavailable spare parts. A phone call to Holbrook's Curator was all that was needed. Peter As a local of the Hastings area, you might start stirring 'your' submarine display organisers to commemmorate AE1 & AE2. Dolphin Had posted above without seeing yours Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 15 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 15 September , 2004 Gareth, That is an interesting memorial. I hadn't seen the posting before. Bonza, I'm in NZ! So am not going to ring Australia with vague queries! is there a memorial in Rabaul? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bonza Posted 15 September , 2004 Share Posted 15 September , 2004 Christine Suppose that's what I get for talking in riddles. The phone call I mentioned was from the Naval Stores Depot near Perth to the Curator of the Holbrook NSW museum. The latter took out his shifting spanner & removed the required spare-parts which eventually were fitted to the still serving sub. No! There is no AE1 specific memorial near Rabaul, or anywhere else to my knowledge. On reflection, it may seem strange that Australia lost 100% of its WW1 submarine Fleet, and erected no memorials. Given that the Berrima was not actually commissioned into the RAN, the subs were our total Naval losses. [probably get an argument here] Quite different to WW2 where we lost almost 50% of our ships, a number of which are remembered on specific memorials. Also ironic is that we had only one battle cruiser in WW1, and allowed ourselves to be conned into scuttling her under the Washington Treaty, so the Brits could keep all theirs. Bye Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christine liava'a Posted 15 September , 2004 Author Share Posted 15 September , 2004 Well, There should be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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