It’s a tale of derring-do by the Dublin-born lieutenant-commander, Henry Hugh Gordon Dacre Stoker, who began his career as a 14-year-old sea cadet and ended it as an actor and playwright.

His submarine, the AE2 was one of two E-Class submarines built for the fledgling Royal Australian Navy.

Both submarines sailed from England for Australia on March 2, 1914, arriving in Sydney on May 24.

It was, at that time, the longest ocean transit of any submarine.

When World War I began in August, 1914, the submarines were ordered to help capture the German colonies in New Guinea.

It was on this assignment the AE1 was lost.

The AE2, under the command of Stoker and with a crew of 35 men, went on to help fighting in Suva before returning to Sydney in December for maintenance.

Always a free spirit, Stoker decided to return to the northern hemisphere and serve with the British submarine flotilla operating in the Mediterranean.

It was from the island of Tenedos in the Aegean Sea that the AE2 operated in support of the unfolding Dardanelles campaign.

Up until that time, all attempts to sail submarines up the Daradenelles Strait had failed, largely because the waterway was heavily mined and was regularly patrolled by Turkish warships.

But that didn’t stop Stoker.

Still relatively young in his early 30s, Stoker had always enjoyed the freedom afforded by the submarine service.

Since joining this relatively new branch of the navy in 1906, Stoker had completed submarine training and taken command of a number of other submarines.

Indeed, he was promoted to lieutenant commander on New Year’s Eve, 1914.

By April 25, 1915, he was ready for a fresh adventure.

He sailed the AE2 through 75 kilometres up the Dardanelles, evading Turkish minefields, shore batteries and patrolling warships.

She broke through into the Sea of Marmara and became the first Allied submarine to do so.

The AE2 dodged a torpedo boat destroyer, gun batteries that opened fire when she surfaced, and a fort that opened fire.

It was shortly after that the AE2 became grounded off Gallipoli, exposing the vessel to the enemy.

In Stoker’s own words: “As my vessel was lying with inclination down by the bows I went full speed ahead.

“Shortly afterwards she began to move down the bank, gave a slight bump, gathered way and then bumped very heavily.

“She, however, continued to descend and at 80ft I dived off the bank.

“The last bump was calculated to considerably injure the vessel, and probably impaired the fighting efficiency, but as I considered my chief duty was to prove the passage through the Straits to be possible, I decided to continue on course.”

The situation was highly dangerous, however, the crew behaved in a calm and collected manner, allowing the vessel to be refloated.

Back in open waters and the AE2 was surrounded by enemy ships.

The vessel’s casing was struck by a large object; Stoker bottomed the submarine for 16 hours to try evade the enemy.

When he did eventually “up periscope” and re-surface, the threat had vanished and Stoker was able to recharge the AE’s batteries, also signalling his commander-in-chief of the successful passage past Nagara Point.

The relayed news via morse proved a fillip for staff and generals above, who had been mulling an evacuation of Gallipoli.

Commodore Roger Keyes said of the success of the AE2: “It is an omen. An Australian submarine has done the finest feat in submarine history and is going to torpedo all the ships bringing reinforcements, supplies and ammunition into Gallipoli.”

The decision was made to “dig in” on those fateful shores.

Remarkably, over the next few days, Stoker continued to sail his vessel up the Dardanelles, firing torpedoes at enemy craft.

But the game ended on April 30.

About mid-morning a torpedo boat approached the submarine at high speed, firing torpedoes, one which hit the engine room and blew three holes into the AE2.

After this death blow, Stoker ordered all hands on deck.

All crew took to the water, wearing life belts. They were all picked up and taken prisoner, spending the next three-and-a-half years in Turkish prisons.

Stoker was repatriated to England in December, 1918 and reverted to Royal Navy service in February, 1919.

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and went on to serve in World War II.

Throughout his life Stoker remained active, taking up sports and becoming croquet champion of Ireland in 1962, aged 77.

He was said to be a cousin of Bram Stoker, author of  Dracula and took up acting, appearing in a number of films as Dacre Stoker. He died in 1966.

His achievements may have been lost to the annuls of history had it not been for the discovery of the AE2 in 1998, lying in 72 metres of water.

One hundred years on and in 2014, a team of divers took photos of the remains of the AE2, showing quite clearly its control room and showing the ship’s speed, head and light switches.

The divers also found a portable wireless telegraph pole and antenna wire.

There are no plans to try retrieve the wreck and return her here.

More information at navy.gov.au