Before the Anzac landing at Gallipoli in Turkey, then part of the Ottoman Empire and allied to Germany, Britain wanted to force a way through the Dardanelles, the narrow strait connecting the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara, and attack the Turkish capital, Istanbul. In March 1915 a large Allied fleet failed to achieve this end, leading to the decision to attempt a land offensive on 25 April 1915, a day indelibly imprinted on the Australian psyche.
However, just days before the Gallipoli landing, the Australian submarine, AE2, was ordered to slip through the Dardanelles and disrupt Turkish shipping in the Sea of Marmara during the Allied assault. Besides creating a diversion, it was hoped that if the mission were successful other submarines could follow to harass Turkish shipping and prevent enemy reinforcements being sent to the front. Previous attempts by British and French submarines had failed.
Early on that first Anzac Day, 25 April 1915, AE2 began to creep silently through the strait. A few hours later, the submarine reached Chanak, where the strait is at its narrowest, and torpedoed the Turkish gunboat Peyki Sevket. But, while trying to avoid an enemy destroyer, it ran aground right under the guns of a Turkish fort. Despite a second grounding, AE2 safely reached the Sea of Marmara to become the first Allied vessel to pass through the Dardanelles.
Meanwhile, the initial landing at Gallipoli had exposed the Allied troops to devastating enemy fire. The Anzacs, facing an entrenched enemy, had difficulty advancing far up into the ridges and ravines. The divisional commanders on the ground, seeing the situation was bad, sent a message to General Birdwood, in command of the Anzac forces, suggesting a strategic withdrawal. General Hamilton, the British commander, was discussing the suggestion with his senior officers when the report of AE2’s success reached him.
The general hesitated to withdraw before the campaign was really under way, and the prospects of getting the troops out safely and efficiently were not promising. His ‘… dig, dig, dig …’ message to Birdwood has often been quoted. The important part of the message explained that it would take at least two days to re-embark the forces, but the news that AE2 had got through would have cheered the troops.
Over the next four days, Turkish ships hunted the little submarine. Then the torpedo boat Sultanhisar damaged it so seriously that it was necessary to abandon ship. AE2 was scuttled and the captain and crew were taken prisoner, enduring three and a half years in captivity, during which time three men died.
Unlike the British submarines that followed, AE2 was unable to return in triumph, and the fact that it was an Australian submarine that first forced a passage through the Dardanelles seems to have been forgotten.
Taken from Secret Fleets, Lynne Cairns (Western Australian Museum, 2011)
Lynne Cairns 