Diving the J Class Submarines

Diving The J Class Submarines - An Underwater Photographic Journal.

On April 8 1919 six J Class submarines departed mother England. A gift to the grateful antipodean colony of Australian, their destination was Sydney. They were state of the art when launched in 1915/6 with an unprecedented 19 knots surface speed. Times had now changed. They were superseded by the new L and H class submarines sporting 21 inch torpedos versus their 18 inch fish.

Australia was receptive. We had lost our first two submarines, the AE1 (sunk with all hands off Papua New Guinea in 1914) and the AE2 (scuttled in the Dardanelles in 1915). Both fascinating stories in their own right.

The gift came with strings - a heavy maintenance burden to keep them operational. The cherished gift soon lost its allure and by 1922 Australia decommissioned all six. Two became breakwaters and four were sent to the 'Ship's Graveyard' in Bass Strait outside Port Phillip Heads in the southern Australian state of Victoria.

Naturally they became a magnet for divers. This book covers three of the submarines I photographed during the years 1978 to 1992. I have also included chapters on a former mine sweeper scuttled near the submarines and a WWII Japanese submarine in Micronesia.

Technical detail and background information for each submarine has been included.

Wayne’s books have been enjoyed in 37 countries.