Churchill´s lost submarine

For ten years a group led by Swedish historian-explorer Carl Douglas has been researching the operations of the Royal Navy Submarine Squadron that fought in the Baltic in World War 1. Having found many of the ships sunk by these submarines, they now turned their attention to the one British submarine lost in the Baltic: the HMS E18. Through the unique collaboration with an Australian descendant the submarine has been located. Melbourne-born Darren Brown's great-grandfather was the telegraphist on the ill fated submarine. Listening to the stories told by his grandmother, he started to look into the history of E18. He became drawn into the fascinating story of bravery and derring do. For years he spent much of his spare time delving into the historical archives from Britain, Germany, Estonia and Russia.

Armed with this information, Swedish survey company MMT last week sent the MV Triad to a designated search area off the Estonian island of Hiiumaa. Using state of the art side scan technology the first contact with the submarine was made this last weekend in an area known to have been mined by Germany during WWI. A remotely operated vehicle (ROV) was then deployed and pictures of a submarine not seen since 1916 made their way to the surface.

E Class submarine expert David Hill on examining these first pictures :
'Without a shadow of a doubt they do show an E class submarine and certain details indicate that it is probably E18.'

For the Swedish historian-explorer Carl Douglas the discovery of Churchill’s lost submarine E18 was very poignant moment:

’this is the fruition of nearly a decade of work, this is a very emotional discovery for me and the search team. We will now complete our mission to document this wreck and inform the relevant authorities, We want to investigate the exact cause of the sinking – and to honour the fallen by telling their story"

Picture: The central hatch of the E-18

Note:

E18 was captained by Lt Cdr R C Halahan, and the last known sighting of her was on the 28th May 1916 returning from a mission where she is reported to have torpedoed the German destroyer V100. Lt Cdr Halahan was awarded by Tsar Nicholas II, Russia’s highest military honour, the Order of St George never normally awarded posthumously.

Further research by Jonas Dahm and LtCdr Gunnar Möller (RSwN). Search operations were led by Karin Gunnesson (MSc) and Ola Oskarsson (CEO) of MMT. In charge of the actual search were offshore manager Joakim Holmlund, PhD and Captain Anders Wranå. ROV-pilot was Joakim Ander (Lt, RSwN Ret).

Video material on Youtube: HMS E18 Discovered; Churchills Lost Sub Found

Churchill’s Lost Submarine is a forthcoming documentary, a coproduction between Mallinson Sadler Productions of Glasgow and Deep Sea Productions of Stockholm, Sweden

Contact:
Crispin Sadler, Mallinson Sadler Productions, TEL: 0117 973 1935, Mobile: 07831 556939
www.msptv.co.uk

Carl Douglas, Deep Sea Productions, www.deepsea.se

Ola Oskarsson, MMT AB +46708527885  ola.o@mmtab.se  www.mmtab.se

Eric Grove, Naval Historian, University of Salford, Mobile: 07889 221946

Royal Navy Submarine Museum, George Malcolmson, Archivist: TEL: 023 9252 9217 extn 226
www.rnsubmus.co.uk

In memoriam:
LtCdr Robert Halahan (age 31), 1st Lt Walter Landale (age 27), Sub-Lt Douglas Colson (age 25), Lt Vasiliy Mikhailovich Polykarpov, CPO Edwin Bagg (age 37), Leading Seaman William Bass (age 35), PO Frederick Clack (age 35), Stoker Percy Duffield (age 22), Leading Telegraphist Clement Edwards (age 22), Stoker Ernest Fox (age 24), ERA Maurice Fuller (age 28), Telegraphist George Gaby (age 29), ERA Cyril Godward (age 23), Stoker Thomas Guest (age 25), Stoker Albert Hall (age 23), Leading Stoker Herbert Harris (age 32), ERA Charles Holland (age 26), Stoker PO Charles Hunt (age 29), Able Seaman Frank Maddox (age 30), Chief Telegraphist Fyodor Nikolaevich Markovsky, Stoker Percy Nye (age 24), Signalman Ivan Yefimovich Pantyukhov, Stoker James Percy (age 28), Stoker Arthur Phillips (age 35), Leading Seaman William Powell (age 46), Able Seaman Horace Pritchett (age 23), Leading Seaman Ernest Ruaux (age 33), Stoker PO Samuel Sheppard (age 36), ERA William Spencer (age 34), PO Charles Turall (age 32), Able Seaman Sydney Welsh (age 29) and Leading Seaman Frederick White (age 24).