HD footage from a closed-circuit decompression dive I did last weekend on the HMAS J1 Submarine wreck, which rests in the Ships Graveyard off Port Phillip Heads, Victoria, Australia. The J1 was a First World War J-class submarine operated by the British Royal Navy (HMS J1) and the Royal Australian Navy (HMAS J1). The J-class was designed by the Royal Navy in response to reported German submarines with surface speeds over 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and remains unique using triple propeller arrangement for propulsion. The J1 and the other J-class submarines were members of the 11th Submarine Flotilla during the First World War. J1 operated in patrols in the North Sea. In November 1916, a German force of half a destroyer flotilla, three dreadnoughts, and a battlecruiser set out from port to rescue two submarines U-20 and U-30 that were stranded in fog off Jutland. On the return, having only rescued one of the submarines, the force passed J1 off Horns Reef on 5 November 1916. Two of the dreadnoughts, SMS Kronprinz and SMS Grosser Kurfürst, were torpedoed by J1, earning her commanding officer, Commander N. F. Laurence, a Bar for his Distinguished Service Order. The dreadnoughts did not sink, but reached port and underwent repairs. The submarine was later transferred to Gibraltar for operations in the Mediterranean. On 9 November 1918, during an engagement with UB-57, J1 launched a depth charge from a specially fitted launcher. After the war, the British Admiralty decided that the best way to protect the Pacific region was with a force of submarines and cruisers. To this end, the offered the six surviving submarines of the J-class to the Royal Australian Navy as gifts. Apart from local exercises and a 1921 visit to Tasmania, the submarines saw little use, and by June 1922, the cost of maintaining the boats and deteriorating economic conditions saw the six submarines decommissioned and marked for disposal. The J1 was scuttled in the Ships Graveyard off Port Phillip Heads on 26 May 1926. She was rediscovered in 1985 almost upright with a slight list to port in 38 meters. Ship characteristics of J-class submarines: - Displacement: 1,210 long tons (1,230 t) surfaced, 1,820 long tons (1,850 t) submerged - Length: 275 ft (84 m) - Beam: 22 ft (6.7 m) - Draught: 14 ft (4.3 m) - Propulsion: Three shafts - Surfaced: Three 12-cylinder diesel engines - Submerged: Battery-driven electric motors - Speed: 19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph) (surfaced), 9.5 kn (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph) (submerged) - Range: 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph) - Test depth: 300 ft (91 m) max - Complement: 44 personnel - Armament: six 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes (four bow, two beam) and one 4 in (102 mm) gun Filmed on Saturday 22nd November 2014 with a handheld GoPro Hero 2 and no additional lighting.
Posted on: Wed, 26 Nov 2014 22:53:21 +0000
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