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Sub find an error
May 31, 2007 12:00am
A FORMATION thought to be the lost submarine AE1 has been found to be a submarine-shaped rock.
The AE1 was lost off Papua New Guinea at the start of World War I.
Navy searchers uncovered the case of mistaken identity this week.
The rock was found this year by the navy survey ship HMAS Benalla in an area where it was believed AE1 sank with all 35 crew on September 14, 1914.
Veterans' Affairs Minister Bruce Billson said the Government would continue to support the search for AE1.
Sub hopes torpedoed as HMAS Sydney 'found'
Neale Maynard and AAP
May 30, 2007 02:47pm
AN object the Navy hoped was the wreck of a WW1 submarine has been revealed to be just a sub-shaped rock.
The disappointing news came as searchers for another military shipwreck, WW2's HMAS Sydney, said they had located the battleship and the wreck of the German raider Kormoran, which sank the Australian vessel with the loss of 645 lives.
British maritime researcher Timothy Akers says he has located the wrecks of both vessels as well as the wrecks of a number of Japanese warships and submarines, also believed to have been involved in the battle.
However, Mr Akers' claims have been rejected by his former employer - now competitor - and prompted a plea from the Federal Government to reveal the whereabouts of the wrecks.
The Bulletin magazine reported that Mr Akers previously worked for the renowned shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who sacked him in 1998.
In 2005, the Federal Government offered a $1.3 million grant to the Perth-based company HMAS Sydney Search, which contracted Mr Mearns' services, to locate the wreck.
But the conditional grant fell short of the $4 million HMAS Sydney Search said the project required.
Several British experts have supported Mr Akers' findings, but Australian officials want proof.
Mr Akers has refused to divulge all of the details of the technique he used to locate the sunken vessels, which incorporates satellite images and radiation readings to detect images underwater.
He claims to have located the vessels in the Indian Ocean off Shark Bay and Carnarvon - an area also favoured by Mr Mearns.
However, Mr Mearns has rejected Mr Akers' claimed discovery as "total bullshit'', The Bulletin reported.
Mr Mearns said the designated search area takes in 1600 square nautical miles of depths between 2300m and 4300m.
Mr Akers has offered to tell the Federal Government the location of the wreck if a formal request is made and providing "this wreck is not robbed''.
The federal government revealed today that another search for the WW1 submarine AE1 had been unsuccessful.
The vessel, with 35 officers and men on board, disappeared in September 1914 while on patrol on the east coast of the Duke of York Island Group.
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson, said today the Australian Navy had determined that what was orginally thought to be the wreck of the WW1 submarine AE1 off New Guinea was actually a submarine shaped rock.
In February, the object was located by side scan sonar towed by the survey ship HMAS Benalla and was close to a position provided by AE1 researcher and retired Navy Commander
John Foster.
But a four-day search over 50sqkm of ocean by coastal mine hunter HMAS Yarra used a camera in a remotely operated vehicle to determine the object was a submarine shaped rock formation.
A statement from Mr Billson said the "complex bottom topography created some significant challenges in the conduct of the search and provided a number of possible objects of interest for Yarra’s ship’s company to investigate".
He said all objects discovered will be further analysed when the camera footage of the underwater search is returned to Australia.
Mr Billson said the Government would "continue to support the search for AE1 if credible
information about its likely location comes to hand."
May 31, 2007 12:00am
A FORMATION thought to be the lost submarine AE1 has been found to be a submarine-shaped rock.
The AE1 was lost off Papua New Guinea at the start of World War I.
Navy searchers uncovered the case of mistaken identity this week.
The rock was found this year by the navy survey ship HMAS Benalla in an area where it was believed AE1 sank with all 35 crew on September 14, 1914.
Veterans' Affairs Minister Bruce Billson said the Government would continue to support the search for AE1.
Sub hopes torpedoed as HMAS Sydney 'found'
Neale Maynard and AAP
May 30, 2007 02:47pm
AN object the Navy hoped was the wreck of a WW1 submarine has been revealed to be just a sub-shaped rock.
The disappointing news came as searchers for another military shipwreck, WW2's HMAS Sydney, said they had located the battleship and the wreck of the German raider Kormoran, which sank the Australian vessel with the loss of 645 lives.
British maritime researcher Timothy Akers says he has located the wrecks of both vessels as well as the wrecks of a number of Japanese warships and submarines, also believed to have been involved in the battle.
However, Mr Akers' claims have been rejected by his former employer - now competitor - and prompted a plea from the Federal Government to reveal the whereabouts of the wrecks.
The Bulletin magazine reported that Mr Akers previously worked for the renowned shipwreck hunter David Mearns, who sacked him in 1998.
In 2005, the Federal Government offered a $1.3 million grant to the Perth-based company HMAS Sydney Search, which contracted Mr Mearns' services, to locate the wreck.
But the conditional grant fell short of the $4 million HMAS Sydney Search said the project required.
Several British experts have supported Mr Akers' findings, but Australian officials want proof.
Mr Akers has refused to divulge all of the details of the technique he used to locate the sunken vessels, which incorporates satellite images and radiation readings to detect images underwater.
He claims to have located the vessels in the Indian Ocean off Shark Bay and Carnarvon - an area also favoured by Mr Mearns.
However, Mr Mearns has rejected Mr Akers' claimed discovery as "total bullshit'', The Bulletin reported.
Mr Mearns said the designated search area takes in 1600 square nautical miles of depths between 2300m and 4300m.
Mr Akers has offered to tell the Federal Government the location of the wreck if a formal request is made and providing "this wreck is not robbed''.
The federal government revealed today that another search for the WW1 submarine AE1 had been unsuccessful.
The vessel, with 35 officers and men on board, disappeared in September 1914 while on patrol on the east coast of the Duke of York Island Group.
Minister Assisting the Minister for Defence, Bruce Billson, said today the Australian Navy had determined that what was orginally thought to be the wreck of the WW1 submarine AE1 off New Guinea was actually a submarine shaped rock.
In February, the object was located by side scan sonar towed by the survey ship HMAS Benalla and was close to a position provided by AE1 researcher and retired Navy Commander
John Foster.
But a four-day search over 50sqkm of ocean by coastal mine hunter HMAS Yarra used a camera in a remotely operated vehicle to determine the object was a submarine shaped rock formation.
A statement from Mr Billson said the "complex bottom topography created some significant challenges in the conduct of the search and provided a number of possible objects of interest for Yarra’s ship’s company to investigate".
He said all objects discovered will be further analysed when the camera footage of the underwater search is returned to Australia.
Mr Billson said the Government would "continue to support the search for AE1 if credible
information about its likely location comes to hand."