FROM LEFT: MARITIME ARCHAEOLOGIST TIMSMITH (PIC: STEVE WESTH); STOKER GUIDESTHE AE2 THROUGH A TURKISH MINEFIELD.ACTOR: DAVID SMYTH (PIC: GAVIN HEAD)Submarines had to surface periodicallyto pump fresh air in andcarbon dioxide out. water pressure on the hull wouldcrush it and everybody in it. to recharge the batteries, and toreplace the stale air. where a submerged <strong>submarine</strong>was – there was no radar or sonaron boats to detect it. ‘blind’ if it did not have its periscopeup. With no sonar or radarto guide it, the <strong>submarine</strong> hadto surface to ‘see’ where it was.(Stoker had to do this when AE2was passing through the Turkishminefield – twice!) edby the enemy by touch (such asdragging a cable along and hittingthe <strong>submarine</strong>), or by sighting itsperiscope wake. it could take the crew half an hourto reload the torpedo tube. number of torpedoes – and thesewere often faulty and unreliable. guide a torpedo to its target – accuracydepended on the captain’sjudgement. He had to work out thespeed of the <strong>submarine</strong>, the speedand direction of the target ship, thespeed of the torpedo, the distanceit had to travel and the time itwould take to reach the target. emycould see its wake and knewthe position of the <strong>submarine</strong> thathad fired it. were volunteers. Most were young,single and under six feet tall. Makea list of the reasons why you thinkthis was the case?When the AE2 was scuttled, CaptainStoker wrote in his memoirs:Perhaps a minute passed, and then,slowly and gracefully, like the lady shewas, without sound or sigh, withoutcausing an eddy or a ripple on thewater, AE2 just slid away on her lastand longest dive … And of the menwho served her; no captain has everbeen more proud of the men underhis command that I was whilst commanding,in my good fortune, thatAustralian <strong>submarine</strong> … Hard work,privation, discomfort, dangers, weretheir companions during practicallythe whole of the AE2’s short life. And,if that were not enough, they entered,at her death, on a new life which wasnot a life, but a sorry existence. Goodcomrades, loyal servants and bravemen; the straws in the wind led themto captivity.3 What qualities would the captainand the crew of the AE2 need inthese circumstances?What did the AE2 achieve?Did the AE2 influence the<strong>Gallipoli</strong> landing?Historians have disagreed over theeffectiveness of the AE2 in its fivedaymission in the Dardanelles Straitand the Sea of Marmara. Stoker firedseven of his eight torpedoes, but hitonly one ship. Historians disagreeabout how effective AE2’s ‘presence’in the Dardanelles Strait was.One of the claims in the film is that themessage sent by Stoker influencedthe commander of the <strong>Gallipoli</strong> invasion,General Hamilton, to keep thetroops at <strong>Gallipoli</strong> rather than withdrawthem on the first day.SCREEN EDUCATION7