For most, the AUKUS submarine partnership is an alliance between like-minded nations. 

However, to British peer, James Scarlett, 9th Baron Abinger, it is a written testament to the blood, sacrifice and dedication to duty of Australian and British sailors, serving together over the past 100 years.

Lord Abinger’s family has contributed centuries of military and public service to the United Kingdom. His ancestor, General Sir James Yorke Scarlett, led the Charge of the Heavy Brigade in the Crimean War, the birthplace of the Victoria Cross. 

Yet, it was the founding of Australia’s first submarine fleet where his family’s history became intrinsically linked to the Royal Australian Navy.

“My great-uncle Leopold Scarlett was in the Royal Navy before the First World War, but contracted tuberculosis and was invalided out of the navy,” he said. 

“The doctors recommended he should come to a warm climate to recover.”

Thus, when seeking a suitable place to recover, a young Leopold Scarlett wrote to his older brother, Lieutenant Hugh Richard Scarlett – who later became the 7th Baron Abinger – who was serving as Aide de camp to the Governor of Queensland.

'It’s a great honour for the Scarlett family to be associated with the early days of Australian submarines.'

Serving in the Royal Navy as a submariner, 25-year-old Lieutenant Leopold Scarlett possessed a qualification that was in short supply in the Royal Australian Navy – he was a submarine officer. 

With the outbreak of the First World War, and after passing medical tests, he commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy and joined the ship’s company of HMAS AE1 as the First Lieutenant in August 1914.

“It’s a great honour for the Scarlett family to be associated with the early days of Australian submarines,” Lord Abinger said.

“I think the fact that Leopold was an officer in the Royal Navy before joining the Royal Australian Navy is quite a unique situation.” 

One month later, on September 14, 1914, AE1 was lost with her entire complement of 35 crew off the coast of the Duke of York Island Group, in what is now Papua New Guinea. The vessel remained on eternal patrol until discovered decades later in 2017 at a depth of 300 metres.

The Scarlett family’s naval connection after this loss was further forged as the current Lord Abinger’s grandfather married an Australian, Marjorie McPhillamy. She was related through marriage to Vice Admiral John CT Glossop RAN/RN, Commanding Officer of HMAS Sydney when it sunk SMS Emden during the Battle of Cocos in November 1914.

Honouring his family’s service, Lord Abinger has made several pilgrimages to Australia for events relating to key anniversaries for AE1 and has donated his great-uncle’s medals to the Australian Maritime Museum for memorial in Australia.

“It fills me with immense pride. My mother’s family were all in the Navy, so I think she would have been even prouder than my father of me being here today,” Lord Abinger said. 

The delivery of HMA Ships AE1 and AE2 was the first demonstration of this global partnership to produce a submarine force capable of protecting Australian shores, with the two vessels constructed by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering in Northwest England then sailing to Australia, in what was the longest submarine voyage ever attempted at the time.

'It fills me with immense pride. My mother’s family were all in the Navy, so I think she would have been even prouder than my father of me being here today.'

This partnership is significant today, because Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering would go on to eventually become a part of the modern-day multinational known as BAE systems, meaning the first company that delivered submarine technology to Australian in the 20th century will continue to support Australian needs as manufacturers of the new AUKUS Class submarines.

“I think the history of the evolution from AE1 to AUKUS is wonderful,” Lord Abinger said.

“I have visited the BAE Shipyards in Barrow-in-Furness, as a guest during the unveiling of their memorials for AE1 and AE2 with Rear Admiral Peter Briggs. Descendants of the crew of AE1 were granted a tour of a Trident nuclear submarine in the Barrow Shipyard.”

For Lord Abinger and his family, no trip to Australia is complete without a visit to his great-uncle’s memorial at the Garden Island Chapel at HMAS Kuttabul.

This symbol commemorates the Australian and British submariners who lost their lives together, honouring a relationship between two nations forged through sacrifice.     

The UK will commence construction of its first SSN-AUKUS in Barrow-in-Furness, as early as the late 2020s. Australia will also begin building its first SSN-AUKUS in Adelaide, South Australia, by the end of the decade. 

Australia plans to deliver the first Australian-built SSN-AUKUS to the Royal Australian Navy in the early 2040s. 

This new project builds on a legacy of partnership forged over more than a century. 

“I would really like to think that they have created the strong connection between our submariner communities. Recently in Brisbane, an Australian submariner who had retired presented me with his Dolphin badge, saying he would like me to be the custodian of it,” Lord Abinger said.