January 3, 2018

Last month, the wreckage of HMAS AE1, a Royal Australian Navy submarine lost early in World War I (1914-1918), was found north of Australia off the coast of Papua New Guinea. HMAS stands for His or Her Majesty’s Australian Ship. AE1 and its sister ship, AE2, were the first submarines to serve in Australia’s navy. AE1 disappeared in September 1914, and a dozen searches since had turned up nothing of the submarine or its 35 crew members. At last, in December 2017, the research vessel Fugru Equator tracked down AE1 deep beneath Saint George’s Channel off the New Britain island port of Rabaul.

Crew members walk the deck of the surfaced HMAS AE1 during a mail delivery on Sept. 9, 1914. The submarine disappeared with all hands five days later. Credit: Australian War Memorial

AE1 and AE2 were built in the United Kingdom and entered service in the fledgling Royal Australian Navy (RAN) in the spring of 1914. As a dominion of the British Empire, Australia went to war when the United Kingdom declared war on Germany on August 4. The RAN was immediately tasked with securing German-controlled ports in the south Pacific Ocean. AE1 and AE2 took part in a naval operation that forced the surrender of a German garrison at Rabaul on Sept. 13, 1914. AE1 disappeared the next day, September 14, while patrolling with other ships near the Duke of York Islands in Saint George’s Channel. The loss of AE1 was most likely due to mechanical failure.

The sinking of AE1 was the first major loss suffered by the RAN. It was also the first loss of an Allied submarine during World War I. AE2 went on to participate in the Gallipoli campaign on Turkey’s Gallipoli Peninsula (now also called Gelibolu Peninsula). On April 30, 1915, AE2 was damaged and forced to surface while engaging enemy ships in the Sea of Marmara. The submarine was scuttled, and the entire crew became prisoners of war. The wreckage of AE2 was found in 1998.

June 10, 2016

Police confront protesters in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, on June 8, 2016.
Credit: © PNGFM News/Reuters

On Wednesday, June 8, weeks of simmering protests in the South Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea (PNG) boiled over, leading to clashes between students and police. At the University of Papua New Guinea (UPNG) in Port Moresby, the capital, about 1,000 student protesters—who are calling for the resignation of Prime Minister Peter O’Neill over corruption charges—tried to march to Parliament House where they hoped to present a petition for O’Neill’s removal. Police barred their path, however, and—in a confusing confrontation—police opened fire on the students. Frightened students fled the gunfire, but not before several people were injured. PNG officials claim that several people were hurt, but that no one was killed. Opposition groups—and the students themselves—say that four people were killed and many more injured. Details remain unclear.

Regardless of the truth, the violence—as so often happens—spurred further violence. Angry UPNG students set fire to dormitories, blocked streets, and—according to police—even tried to burn down a police barracks. The unrest spread to the highland cities of Goroka and Mount Hagen, as well as Lae, PNG’s second-largest city. The nation’s top court ordered a halt to the protests, as well as an end to a long-running UPNG boycott of classes. The situation has quieted somewhat in recent days, but the undercurrent of anger and dissatisfaction remains combustible and close to the surface.

Prime Minister O’Neill has been accused of fraud and has dodged an arrest warrant on corruption charges since 2014. O’Neill has fired numerous public officials and government ministers who have opposed him, as well as the nation’s police commissioner and attorney general. He claims the charges against him are politically motivated and absolutely refuses to step down. Papua New Guinea has suffered from corruption and widespread poverty for many years.