E Class

The Beginning of the Submarine Force

HMAS AE1 in Devonshire Dock, Barrow in Furness, February 1914

Image from Flickr.com

The Australian submarines HMAS AE1 and HMAS AE2 Arrived in Sydney in May 1914. World War I saw both submarines deployed against German forces in New Guinea. AE1 was lost and its crew becamewere the first casualties in WWI. AE2 sailed to the Mediterranean where it was the first submarine to penetrate the Dardanelles.