Lieutenant Commander Henry Hugh Gordon Dacre STOKER DSC MiD
 Just
before the ANZACs landed at Gallipoli on the morning of 25
April 1915 an Australian submarine, the HMAS AE2
set out on an historic journey. Its mission was to
force a passage up the treacherous Dardanelles Strait into
the Sea of Marmara, and then, in the words of the Chief of
Staff, 'Generally run amok.' Such an
extraordinary order required an extraordinary Captain and
luckily the AE2 had such a Captain, Lieutenant
Commander Henry Hugh Gordon Dacre Stoker -- an Irishman.
Henry Stoker, the second son of a physician, was born in
Dublin on 2 February 1885. At the age of 12 he went to
England to enter a school which specialised in training boys
to pass the entrance examination for the Royal Navy, which
he eventually joined at 15.
His initial service was in the training ship HMS
Britannia, moored in the river near Dartmouth.
While an average student, he did excel at sport,
particularly rugby and tennis, and he continued to play the
latter well into his seventies. He was promoted to
Midshipman on 30 May 1901 and posted briefly to the
battleship HMS Jupiter, part of the Channel Fleet,
before joining the battleship HMS Implacable which
served in the Mediterranean.
Stoker was promoted to Sub Lieutenant on 30 July 1904, and
left Implacable to undertake courses and
examinations at the Naval College at Greenwich. After
completing his training at Greenwich he was sent to the
armoured cruiser HMS Drake which was operating in
the western Atlantic, off the coast of Canada and the United
States. Stoker became interested in the submarine
service and applied to join this relatively new branch of
the Navy. In October 1906, after a years service in
Drake, he was selected for submarine training and
dispatched to the submarine depot ship HMS Thames
at Portsmouth. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 31
December 1906.
Stoker was very much a free spirit and revelled in the
freedom that the submarine service offered. He
completed his submarine training in October 1907 and in
January 1909 was given command of the submarine HMS A10.
On 19 December 1908, at Exeter, Stoker married Olive Joan
Violet Gwendoline Leacock, daughter of Colonel Schuler
Leacock of the Bengal Cavalry.
In January 1910 he took command of the submarine HMS B8
which, in August 1911, became part of a flotilla of three
submarines based in Gibraltar; these were the first RN
submarines to serve outside of Britain. In 1913 Stoker
volunteered to serve on loan with the RAN as Commanding
Officer of one of the fledgling navy's new submarines.
He was selected, and on 7 November 1913 was loaned to the
RAN as the Commanding Officer of the new submarine HMAS
AE2, one of the two new submarines built at
Barrow-in-Furness for the Australian Navy.
Despite the fact that the rudimentary submarines of that era
had never managed to sail more than 200 miles without
breaking down, the intrepid Stoker and his mixed crew of
Australian and English ratings -- in company with the other
Australian submarine AE1 -- set sail for Australia
on 2 March 1914. On 24 May 1914, after an incredible
voyage of 83 days of which 60 were at sea, the two
submarines made their entrance into Sydney Harbour.
They were the first submarines to travel such a distance.
The HMAS 'AE2', in dock in
Sydney, circa 1914. (Australian War Memorial / Sydney Mail)
Soon after their arrival in Australia, the AE1 and
AE2 were sent north to assist in the Australian
occupation of German New Guinea. AE1 was
mysteriously lost with all hands during the mission.
However, Stoker and AE2 successfully returned to
Australia. Immediately on his return, Stoker in his
flamboyant style, bailed up the Australian Defence Minister
-- behind the Speaker's chair in the House of
Representatives -- and talked him into sending the AE2
back to Europe to assist in the European war. Not
content with doing the historic England-Australia voyage
once, Stoker and the AE2 set off back to Europe in
December 1914. However, he only got as far as the
Mediterranean before being ordered to join the British fleet
at Tenedos Island and patrol the entrance to the
Dardanelles. It was the start of the Gallipoli
Campaign.
According to Stoker, in his gripping autobiography "Straws
in the Wind", he quickly...
...'formed the opinion
that an attempt to dive a submarine right through the
Dardanelles Strait and into the Sea of Marmara held
sufficient chance of success to justify the attempt being
made'.
The psychological advantage of entering the Sea of Marmara
and thereby threatening Constantinople from the sea would be
enormous.
However, the difficulties were tremendous. The Strait
was thirty-five miles long with a continuous current running
at five knots back into the Mediterranean. The whole
area was heavily mined, and although a submarine could dive
under the mines with its periscope submerged it had to
remain at periscope depth in order to navigate the narrow
Strait. If it cleared the minefield, the submarine
would be in narrow waters, completely controlled by the
Turkish Navy.
Despite the fact that the British submarine, the E15,
had just been lost attempting to force the Strait, Stoker
badgered the Admiralty with letters requesting an
opportunity to make an attempt. Finally Stoker was
received by the Chief of Staff, Commodore Roger Keyes and
told he would be permitted to try. Admiral Sir John De
Robeck, the Vice-Admiral of the Mediterranean Fleet told
Stoker that...
...'if you succeed there is no calculating the result it
will cause, and it may well be that you have done more to
finish the war than any other act accomplished'.
As Michael White remarked in his book, "Australian
Submarines"...
... 'these were heady words for any man to have
addressed to him, let alone one such as Stoker who had
already shown outstanding qualities of enterprise and
daring'.
At 2.30 am on the morning of 25 April 1915, Stoker weighed
anchor and set out on the attempt to run the Dardanelles
Strait, which would forever assure him of a place in
Australian naval history. His plan was basically
simple -- travel as far as possible on the surface to
conserve his limited battery power, and dive at daylight or
when he reached the minefields.
The night of 25 April was a beautiful dark and calm night
and the AE2 proceeded along at seven knots in the
centre of the Strait. Suddenly they were spotted by
the searchlight at Kephez and shells began to rain down.
Stoker quickly submerged and passed a harrowing hour slowly
creeping under the minefield. He could hear the
mooring wires of the mines scraping the sides of AE2...
... 'Choose a wrong moment to rise for observation
through the periscope and you choose a moment to hit a mine
-- so choose as few of these moments as possible',
Stoker dryly observed in "Straws in the Wind".'
Rising twice in the minefield, Stoker realised he was
travelling faster than he had anticipated. When he
rose for the third time, he was pleased to find himself
through the minefield and only three hundred yards below the
famous Narrows.
The Turks were now well aware of the AE2's presence
and soon a small Cruiser and a number of Destroyers were
attacking the Submarine. Stoker fired a torpedo which
missed the Cruiser but it struck and damaged one of the
Destroyers. Submerged and trying to escape the
Destroyers' attempts to ram him, Stoker hit the bottom hard
and slid up to a depth of 10 feet, right under the guns of a
shore-based fort. The position was perilous.
AE2 was fast aground with almost half of its structure
out of the water. Stoker described it...
...'as unpleasant as it well could be'.
Luckily they were so close to the fort that the guns could
not be depressed enough to hit the Submarine and after a
short time the efforts of the crew to refloat AE2
were successful. One of the crew recorded in his
diary...
...During all this the Captain remained extremely cool,
for all depended on him at this stage. It is due to
his coolness that I am now writing this account.
Nobody knows what a terrible strain it is on the nerves to
undergo anything like this, especially the Captain, as all
depends on him.
Stoker and his crew resumed their journey pursued by dozens
of Turkish warships. Anti-submarine warfare was in its
infancy and the only way the Turks could attack the AE2
was by trying to ram her. As long as AE2
could stay submerged, it was relatively safe. However
navigating the narrow strait was impossible without
frequently coming up to periscope depth to take a sighting.
Whenever they lifted the periscope, the Turkish ships
attempted to ram. Stoker decided to run the AE2
on to an underwater bank and sit on the bottom until dark.
For sixteen hours the dauntless Stoker and his crew sat in
darkness and silence at a depth of 80 feet. When they
finally rose to the surface they found themselves about half
a mile from the shore in a bay above Nagara Point -- the
worst of their journey was now behind them. Stoker
sent a radio message back to the fleet but never received an
answer, and consequently was unsure if the message had been
received. He was to learn much later that the message
was indeed received, and that his message was to change the
course of history.
The Allied landings on the Gallipoli peninsular had been met
with fierce resistance. From their position on the
beach General Bridges and his staff were alarmed at the
ANZACs position and requested that they be withdrawn back to
the fleet. Just as Stoker's message was received, a
midnight conference was being held on the flagship HMS
Queen Elizabeth to decide whether to withdraw the
troops off the peninsular.
A friend of Stoker's, Lieutenant Commander C G Brodie,
ignored requests to keep quiet and read to the conference
Stoker's message heralding AE2's success.
'The psychological impact at that precise time was
momentous', Michael White said in Australian
Submarines.
It will never be known if they were actually going to pull
the troops off Gallipoli, but after Stoker's message was
read Hamilton sent his famous 'dig, dig, dig' message to the
Australians:
Your news is indeed serious. But there is nothing
for it but to dig yourselves right in and stick it out.
It would take at least two days to re-embark you, as Admiral
Thursby will explain to you. Meanwhile the Australian
submarine has got up through the Narrows and has torpedoed a
gunboat at Chanak.
P.S... You have got through the difficult business.
Now you have only to dig, dig, dig, until you are safe.
The news of the AE2's achievement spread to the
Diggers clinging to the Gallipoli cliffs and lifted their
morale. A notice was stuck on a shell-shattered stump
on the hillside:
'Australian sub AE2 just through the Dardanelles.
Advance Australia'.
Meanwhile Stoker was pressing on in AE2 towards the
Sea of Marmara. He encountered two Turkish warships
and fired a torpedo at the largest but was unsuccessful.
After spending the night of 25-26 April on the surface,
AE2 finally entered the Sea of Marmara early in the
morning of 26 April. Their mission now was to prevent
Turkish ships transporting troops across the Marmara to
Gallipoli.
Spotting a likely target Stoker fired one of his precious
torpedoes but again missed. He spent the remainder of
the day on the surface sailing among fishing boats and doing
all he could to broadcast the arrival of an allied submarine
in the Marmara. After dark, Stoker again attempted to
contact the fleet by wireless but was forced to dive
constantly to escape Turkish patrol vessels.
At dawn Stoker resumed the offensive and fired a torpedo at
a ship which was accompanied by two destroyers. The
torpedo's engine failed to start and Stoker just managed to
avoid being rammed by one of the destroyers. No other
ships were sighted for the rest of the day which shows that
the AE2's presence was curtailing Turkish ship
movements.
By the morning of the 29th, Stoker was still sailing in the
Sea of Marmara and harassing any Turkish ship he could find.
However, he was now down to one torpedo which he decided to
keep in reserve. His plan was to sail around, be as
provocative as possible, and try to fool the Turks into
believing that more than one submarine had made it to the
Sea.
Early on the evening of the 29th, while sailing towards
Marmara Island, the crew of AE2 was surprised to
encounter another submarine. It was the British
submarine E14 under the command of Captain Boyle,
which had been dispatched after the Admiralty heard of
Stoker's successful passage up the Strait. Boyle asked
Stoker what he planned to do the next day. It had been
Stoker's intention to sail to Constantinople but Boyle,
being the senior officer, overruled that plan and arranged
to rendezvous with Stoker the next morning. This
decision would seal the fate of AE2 and her gallant
crew.
When Stoker surfaced at the rendezvous at 10am, he observed
a torpedo boat and immediately dived. For some
unaccountable reason the AE2 suddenly went out of
control and began rapidly to rise. The submarine shot
to the surface about 100 yards from the torpedo boat which
opened fire. Stoker again attempted to dive but the
AE2 was out of control and began to plunge into the
depths.
Stoker took the prescribed emergency action and arrested the
descent, but now AE2 rushed back towards the
surface where it was hit by shells from the attacking boat
and was holed in several places. AE2 was
doomed. Stoker ordered the submarine scuttled and
concentrated on saving the lives of his men.
All the crew survived and were taken prisoner, and together
with Stoker spent the next three-and-a-half years as
'guests' of the Turks. Stoker escaped twice but was
recaptured and endured numerous hardships in Turkish
prisons.
After repatriation he was awarded the Distinguished Service
Order (London Gazette, 22 April 1919)
‘In recognition of his gallantry in making the passage
of the Dardanelles in command of HM Australian Submarine AE2
on 25 April 1915’.
Six months later he was mentioned in dispatches (London
Gazette, 17 October 1919)
‘For valuable services in HM Australian Submarine AE2 in
the prosecution of the war’.
He was offered the command of a Cruiser but chose to leave
the Navy for a career on the stage. He was also having
serious problems in his personal life and divorced his wife
in early 1919 and lost contact with his two daughters.
He appeared in a number of plays, films and television
dramas. His contemporaries included Sir Laurence
Olivier and Sir John Mills.
When the Second World War began, Stoker was recalled to
duty, commanded a naval base, worked in public relations,
and was involved in the planning for D-Day.
Man for all seasons: Henry Stoker commanded
the AE2, played at Wimbledon and acted in the West End
In 1948 he enjoyed what he described as “one of the most
pleasant days I ever spent in my life” as a guest of King
George VI. While playing cricket he was in at bat and
facing the King’s bowling. He said, “Sir, please
remember that I was a shipmate with your grandfather”,
raising a laugh all round.
The larger-than-life Stoker died on his 81st birthday, the
2nd February 1966.
While Australia takes justifiable pride in the heroism of
the ANZACs, and Simpson and his donkey are part of the
nation's folklore, little is known of the dauntless Henry
Hugh Gordon Dacre Stoker. Yet this man sailed a
submarine around the world, and pulled off one of the most
daring exploits in naval history. His achievements
deserve to be placed firmly in history; he caused the Turks
to abandon attempts to reinforce Gallipoli by sea, and
forced them to use a much more hazardous land route.
His success changed the whole course of the Gallipoli
Campaign. As searchers have now successfully located
the sunken hull of AE2, it's time that the intrepid
Stoker and his crew were awarded their place in Australian
history.
Lieutenant Commander Stoker's
medal group, now on display in the Naval Heritage Collection
in Sydney
Sources:
Anzac Day Commemoration Committee
Sea Power Centre - Australia
Australian War Memorial
Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC)
The UK Telegraph
Compiled by Laurie Pegler
|
