SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA—According to ABC News, a team of Australian and American researchers has returned to the site of HMAS AE1, discovered last December near Papua New Guinea’s Duke of York Island, to create a 3-D map of the World War I wreckage site. The vessel, Australia’s first submarine, and its crew of 35 were lost in September 1914 while patrolling the area for German naval vessels. Rear Admiral Peter Briggs said the submarine’s stern cap, on the rear torpedo tube, had been fully opened. “It’s certainly a deliberate action from the crew,” he said. “It requires quite a few turns on a hand wheel to physically open it, it’s the first step in preparing a torpedo tube for firing.” The researchers suggest the crew may have been prepared for an encounter with a German ship when it ran into trouble on a dive and was crushed by water pressure, but they will continue to examine the high-definition video of the wreckage to try to determine what happened. For more on archaeology in Australia, go to “Alone, but Closely Watched.”
