HOPES of finding the remains of a sunken Barrow submarine which sank beneath the waves with the loss of 35 lives have been given a boost thanks to a $1m donation.

The loss of the Barrow-built submarine AE1 in 1914 continues to remain a mystery after repeated failed attempts to locate the boat off the coast of Australia.

A group called Find AE1 have carried out extensive seabed searches off the Duke of York Island for Australia’s first submarine which sank with the loss of 35 lives on September 14, 1914.

AE1 is thought to have hit an uncharted reef but there is no evidence of this as there was no distress call made and no wreckage or survivors found.

In 2015 Find AE1 chairman, the Rear-Admiral Peter Briggs, vowed their latest search will not be the last and now the Australian government has confirmed it will provide $500,000 towards another expedition.

The boat was launched at Vickers in Barrow on May 22 in 1913 and commissioned at Portsmouth on February 28 in 1914.

One of two submarines built in Barrow for Australia, AE1 could reach a top speed of 15 knots on the surface and 10 knots submerged.

Her sister boat, AE2, also had an unfortunate ending when she sank in the Sea of Marmara in the Dardonelles on April 25, 1915.

AE1 had a pair of eight-cylinder diesel engines and battery-driven electric motors and was armed with four torpedo tubes.

The boat took part in the early stages of the First World War and was part of the naval force assigned to the capture of the German Pacific colonies.

The submarine was last seen by the destroyer HMAS Parramatta off the Duke of York Islands on September 14, 1914.

In 2013, a plaque listing the names of the submariners who lost their lives was installed in Barrow's Ramsden Square in honour of those who served onboard AE1 and AE2.