The Crew
Finding crews for the new HMAS AE1 and AE2 submarines in 1913 was to be a significant challenge for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Because no Australian serving members of the RAN had prior submarine experience, the Navy was forced to advertise for submariners in Great Britain as well as in Australia. AE1 and AE2 ended up with a mixture of Australian and loaned Royal Navy crews (Brenchley F & E 2003 Stoker’s Submarine, p 10).
A great deal of biographical research has gone into recording information about the background, the naval history and the later lives of the crew of HMAS AE2. It is known that of the 37 crew members who served under Lieutenant Commander Stoker, only 14 were born in Australia. Twenty-one crew members were born in Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland), one in New Zealand, and another in Brazil.
The following linked biographies of each crew member are taken with permission from Stoker’s Submarine. Additional information about crew members who served on AE2 prior to the Dardanelles campaign are listed under the link to ‘Additional AE2 crew’.
Cary, John Pitt MID; Lieutenant/Commander; RN/RAN
Haggard, Geoffrey Arthur Gordon DSC; Lieutenant/Commander; RN/RAN
Herbert, Douglass Phillips; Engineer Lieutenant/Principal Naval Engineer; RAN
Paterson, Halliday Gunning; Engineer Lieutenant; RN
Abbott, Harry DSM; Chief Petty Officer; RN/RAN 8268
Bell, Stephen Thomas MID; Chief Engineroom Artificer 2nd Class; RN/RAN 8272
Bray, Cecil Arthur; Able Seaman/Chief Petty Officer; RAN 7296
Broomhead, Harry Burton DSM; Chief Engineroom Artificer 1st Class; RN/RAN 8278
Brown, Herbert Alexander (Bert) DSM; Stoker Petty Officer; RN/RAN 8096
Cheater, William Thomas; Able Seaman–Petty Officer; RN/RAN 7999
Churcher, Lionel Stanley; Able Seaman; RN/RAN 7970
Cullen, James; Stoker; RAN 2826
Falconer, William Wolseley; Telegrapher; RAN 1936
Fawns, Peter; Engine Room Artificer Class I; RN/RAN 8285
Gibson, James Henry; Chief Engine Room Artificer Class I; RN/RAN 8273
Gilbert, Stephen John; Petty Officer; RN/RAN 8053
Gwynne, Ernest Alfred; Able Seaman/Petty Officer; RAN 7475
Harding, Horace James; Stoker; RAN 7216
Holderness, Charles; Leading Seaman; RN/RAN 8270
Jenkins, William Brown; Stoker; RAN 2080
Kerin, John; Leading Stoker; RAN 7391
Kinder, Henry James Elly MID; Stoker Petty Officer; RAN 7244
Knaggs, Albert Edward; Able Seaman; RN/RAN 7893
McGregor, John Thomas; Leading Seaman; RN/RAN 7532
Mitchell, Reuben Joseph Edwin, DSM; Able Seaman; RAN 7476
Nash, George Henry; Leading Seaman; RN/RAN 8056
Nichols, Alexander Charles; Able Seaman/Petty Officer; RAN 7298
Suckling, Charles George; Stoker; RAN 2148
Talbot, Benjamin; Able Seaman/Chief Petty Officer; RN/RAN 8221
Thomson, Albert Norman Charles; Leading Signalman; RN/RAN 8271
Varcoe, Charles; Chief Stoker; RN/RAN 8275
Vaughan, Charles MID; Chief Petty Officer; RN/RAN 8259
Walker, Thomas Henry; Stoker; RN/RAN 8289
Wheat, John Harrison; Able Seaman; RAN 7861
Williams, Michael Wright; Stoker; RAN 2305
Wilson, Archibald McCullough; Leading Stoker/Petty Officer; RAN 7501
Wishart, Thomas; Stoker; RN/RAN 8277
Additional AE2 crew
