In 1914 , Australia ’s first submarine vanish somewhere off the seashore of New Britain in Papua New Guinea . At the fourth dimension , there was no distress call and in the subsequent   retrieval missions , no wreckage was find . The 35 gang appendage on card   – some Australian , some British , and some from New Zealand   – were all missing and their story has stay on a complete enigma ever since .

Now , 103 old age after , the cadaver of the 800 - tonne vessel have been found . Australian defense minister , Marise Payne , madethe announcementon Tuesday .

HMAS AE1 was the first of two E social class submarines gifted to the Royal Australian Navy ,   which was then just a newcomer organization . The journey it took from Portsmouth , England , to Sydney , Australia , was the longest transit distance taken by a sub at the clip .

A few years later , the submarine was involved in the World War One ( WW1 ) mission to catch German New Guinea . The expedition was a winner and the Germans surrendered . But the victory was tarnished by the sudden disappearance of   AE1 and the 32 sailors and three officer onboard just a 24-hour interval later on . It was September 14 ,   1914 and the sub had been in cognitive process for only seven months .

According to theRoyal Australian Navy ,   weather precondition on their terminal voyage were bad . Visibility was poor and , in some typesetter’s case , the work party   was only able to see   up to five miles ahead .

Since the disaster   – the first Allied submarine loss in WWI – there have been 13 separate attempts to retrieve the wreck .

Last Sunday , an jaunt set off to the waters around the coast of the Duke of York Island Group in Papua New Guinea and chance the   sub ’s remains   under 300 meter ( 984 feet ) of piss . The ship involved in the rescue mission is theFugro Equator , a   vas fully equipped with the previous in advanced hunt applied science .

We ’ll have to wait to see out what actually happened on that fateful day but researchers hope the discovery will bring an end to this century - long mystery . Retired Rear Admiral Peter Briggs , who was involved in the search , has his suspicions , believing it an accident rather than something malicious .

“ The submarine appears to have struck the bottom with sufficient force out to dislodge the fin from its ground , forcing it to hinge onwards on its lead bound , impact the casing , ” Briggs toldThe Australian .

There has been a small commemorative divine service have   and efforts are presently being made to get in touch with   the descendants of the men on board .