- Author
- Marsland, J
- Subjects
- Ship histories and stories
- Tags
- None noted.
- RAN Ships
- HMAS AE2, HMAS AE1, HMAS Sydney I
- Publication
- December 1974 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
We left Singapore at 8.30 a.m. on the 25th, for Batavia, this part of the journey was very interesting, for we had to pass through the straits of Banka, which is between the coasts of Java and Sumatra, and literally swarmed with islands, some are called floating islands.
At 6.55 p.m. we crossed the Equator, and started on the winter side of the world, much to our delight, for we were getting rid of our worst trouble (heat).
At noon on the 27th Sydney dropped anchor about a mile from shore, so we berthed alongside her. Leave was given and we went on shore.
We left Batavia the next day, the 28th, for Port Darwin, where at last we reach the long looked-for land, although on arrival there we are still 3,000 miles from Sydney; the 28th was a very nice day and at 6 p.m. we were on our way with AE1 in tow. Towards night it commenced lightning, and continued throughout the whole night at very short intervals, and was undoubtedly the most brilliant lightning any of us had ever seen, completely turning night into day every few minutes, the horizon could be plainly seen, and the islands, which were very numerous around this part, looked very pretty. The night passed without any trouble arising, the submarine behaving splendid, the next day was much cooler for we were able to put butter on our bread with a knife, instead of a spoon which had been the usual way, the temperature having dropped 10 degrees in a couple of days,
The 1st of May came in very abruptly, for at 1.30 a.m. when everything seemed calm and peaceful, our towrope parted placing us in a very precarious position owing to our being in the vicinity of a large number of reefs, the engine room staff were quickly roused out of their slumber, hatches closed, and engines got ready, and we were soon under our own power, and all went well, except for the Sydney, who had the misfortune to get the end of the towrope foul around her rudder, the night being very dark and the sea infested with sharks, the attempt was abandoned until 10 a.m. when the Sydney steamed towards an island, to send down divers to remove the obstruction, this was eventually done, during which time three large sharks were shot, at 1.30 p.m., AE2 was taken in tow for the remainder of the journey to Port Darwin, the day passed over without any trouble, but the next day the 3rd was very rough, especially passing through the Rotti Straits, into the Arafura Sea, the seas were washing over the bridge of the submarine, which necessitated the closing down of our hatches, and there is no signs of the sea moderating, so we shall be very glad when Port Darwin is sighted.
At 6 a.m. on the 5th of May we sighted Charles Point, and Australia at last, and only 15 miles from the land we have been so anxious to see, at 7 o’clock we stopped to enable AE2 to get off tow, ready to proceed into harbour and at 8.30 we were safely anchored in Australian waters.
We were laying very near a small town called Palmerston, which comprises of three fairly large hotels and a number of wooden and corrugated houses, scattered about, and a part called Chinatown, where the shops are.
Leave was given at 4.30 until 7 a.m. the following morning, a very large number taking advantage of the opportunity of landing on Australian soil for the first time.
We returned to the pier at 11.30 p.m. and returned on board having had a good day. At 7.30 a.m. on the 7th we said goodbye to Port Darwin and journeyed on our way to Cairns, calling at Thursday Island for mails, with AE1 in tow.
On our way to Thursday Island the sea was a little choppy, but occasionally we could open the after-hatch, we passed a few islands but not of any interest and arrived at Thursday Island at noon on Sunday the 10th, picked up our mails from a motor launch and proceeded on our way within an hour, and by 4 o’clock we entered the Barrier Reef, passing fairly close and making very good speed.
We arrived at the entrance to Cairns Harbour at 9.30 p.m. and anchored for the night, and proceeded up the Harbour at 10.30 a.m. and anchored about 200 yards from the pier. The town itself is not very large, but some fairly large ships arrive there, considering the very narrow channel. The inhabitants had arranged to give the men a trip to the Barron Falls, about 100 accepting the offer, they have a sheer fall of 700 feet and it is a most wonderful sight, especially when they are in full flood. Another most unusual sight is a large common tree, which had three orchids in full bloom growing on it, and can be found in the main road, outside the Mining Exchange Hotel, Cairns.
We had a very good time at Cairns, our second Australian port, and left there at 5.30 a.m. on Monday the 17th on our last run to Sydney. We had a very pleasant run for 500 miles out of 1,260 miles that had to be covered to complete our voyage, passing some beautiful islands and scenery, and with ample time to reach Sydney at our allotted time on Saturday noon, the 23rd, but to our utter disgust, we had the misfortune to encounter a violent storm, which very few had ever experienced and ever want to again. The seas were so violent that for hours very little could be seen of either submarine, then to make matters worse the wind sprang up and then a hailstorm of great velocity came along, obscuring the ship and islands from view, and we were being tossed about most unmercifully and not the slightest sign of any abatement in the weather. But still we struggled along, for we were all anxious to get our journey over, and perhaps run into better weather, but it was no good, the seas became worse, with the result that we had to make for Moreton Bay and anchor there for the night, which upset our programme and put us 15 hours late, most unfortunate and aggravating but absolutely necessary, for everything that was not a fixture was strewn about the submarine.
The following morning we weighed anchor and steamed out to sea, but we were soon in the teeth of the gale again, and more violent, however, Sydney had to be reached, so we struggled along through the angry waves, and not until the 23rd, Saturday, did the weather moderate, and then we were over 100 miles away, so seeing it was utterly impossible to arrive by noon, we came along at an easy speed, with the engines running splendid, and crew in fairly good condition, and came up the Harbour at 6 a.m. Sunday morning, at a good speed, and berthed alongside the jetty at Garden Island, having completed a most wonderful journey of endurance, both for men and engines.