Name: Stoker's submarine book
SKU: 18379
Price: 30.00 AUD
Availability: InStock

Stoker’s submarine book

$30.00

Stoker’s Submarine (2001) by Fred and Elizabeth Brenchley is a dramatic narrative history detailing the World War I exploits of Lieutenant Commander Henry “Dacre” Stoker and his crew aboard HMAS AE2, the Royal Australian Navy’s first submarine.

The book recounts the AE2’s perilous mission on April 25, 1915—the same morning of the landings at Gallipoli—when Stoker successfully navigated through minefields, heavy currents, and enemy artillery to breach the heavily guarded Dardanelles Strait into the Sea of Marmara.

It highlights how news of this strategic victory arrived at a critical juncture, convincing Allied commanders to hold their ground at Anzac Cove rather than evacuate. Beyond the tactical maneuver, the book chronicles the crew’s subsequent scuttling of the vessel, their three-and-a-half years in Turkish prisoner-of-war camps, and the modern-day discovery and preservation of the AE2 shipwreck.

Description

Stoker’s Submarine (2001) by Fred & Elizabeth Brenchley

The Historical Narrative & Biography

Overview: A widely acclaimed historical account detailing the saga of Commander Stoker, his British-Australian crew, and HMAS AE2.
Key Themes & Focus:
- Impact on the Gallipoli Campaign: Highlights how news of AE2 successfully penetrating the Dardanelles reached Allied command at a critical junction—just as commanders were contemplating evacuating Anzac Cove due to brutal resistance. The news boosted morale and prompted General Ian Hamilton’s famous directive to “dig, dig, dig until you are safe.”
- Human Element: Profiles the charismatic, theatrical Stoker (who later became a professional stage and film actor in London) and his mixed Australian-British crew.
- Legacy: Examines how AE2—often dubbed the “Silent Anzac”—became a crucial yet long-overlooked chapter of World War I military history, as well as the discovery and preservation of the AE2 shipwreck on the floor of the Sea of Marmara.

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