J1 Sub

The J-Class submarines. J1, J2, J3, J4, J5, J7. Were built between 1915-1917. Overall Length was 274.7ft, beam 23ft and draught 14ft giving a displacement weight of 1210 tons surfaced. Their wartime complement was 5 officers and 40 men. The six British built submarines were transferred to the Royal Australian Navy on 25 March 1919. They had served for a short time with the Royal Navy?s 11th Submarine Flotilla, and although they proved to be the fastest submarines of their time, they were unreliable. So they ended up in Australia! The six submarines departed Portsmouth on 9 April 1919, arriving in Sydney on 10 July where they underwent a very necessary refit. By May 1922 all six submarines had been decommissioned. The J1 submarine was the only submarine to have crippled to capital ships with a single salvo. She was also fitted with depth charges and was the only submarine to ever sink another sub with depth charges. J1 was sold to the Melbourne Salvage Company on 26th February 1924. After whatever stripping proved valuable she was scuttled off Barwon Heads on 26th May 1926. She was rediscovered in 1985 and now lies almost upright with a slight list to port in 38 meters with the conning tower rising to 34 meters. The hull lies northeast to southwest (bow northeast) and is covered in bright yellow zoanthids Location: Graveyard Depth: 35m to 38m Subject to shipping: No