From 'In Depth' Down Under:
'The Lost Submarine'

Bulletin Board

by Harry Cooper


In a recent newsletter of the AUSTRALIAN SUBMARINE Veterans Association (5155-1997), there appeared some unique and impressive items. For instance:

A plaque which was attached to the bulkhead in the control room of a Russian submarine said.

    "Submarine life is not a service, but a religion"

They quote the newsletter of the Canadian SubVets (west) stating:

    "In Australia -- they make monuments of their old, worn-out boats and give them a last resting place on the ground, to be enjoyed by all, In Canada -- we keep the monuments at sea and try to run them into the ground, to be enjoyed by no one. "

And there is a poignant poem by M. Ashby entitled: The Lost Submarine

    There beneath tropic waters deep
    Where bright-scaled fish dark and seek
    There is that cavern where moray eels sleep
    Dark, now silenced that shape
    Where sea-rocks hold in eternal embrace
    So silent that entry, that conning tower
    Bent downward forever
    Sarcophagus of blackness
    Encased by those rocks with evil intent
    Forever there - at the bottom of the sea
    Never to hear of their Englands victory
    Brave men of AE1
    As your bones whiten there
    Poignant are the memories of those who still care

Beautiful words Mrs. Ashby is in her late 80s and recalls visiting HMAS AE1 on the boat's arrival in Australia in 1914.

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© Copyright 1999 by Harry Cooper, Sharkhunters International, Inc.
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