A team of Australians is undertaking a "world-first" expedition to survey a well-preserved Navy submarine sunk by Ottoman gunfire off the Turkish coast in 1915.

The HMAS AE2 was an E-class submarine of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and was the first Allied submarine to penetrate the Dardanelles strait in a bid to secure the Gallipoli Peninsula.

The AE2 launched a torpedo attack on enemy warships and spent five days "running amok" before succumbing to Ottoman gunfire and sinking in the Sea of Marmara.

Commander HG "Dacre" Stoker and his crew were captured and became prisoners of war.

The AE2 was forgotten beneath the ocean for 83 years until she was rediscovered in 1998, sitting upright in 73 metres of water off the coast of Turkey.

The AE2 Commemorative Foundation and the Submarine Institute of Australia are now working with the Turkish government to preserve the "time capsule" wreck as part of the Silent Anzac Project.

Retired Rear Admiral Peter Briggs, chairman of the AE2 Commemorative Foundation, is leading the team and says the operation, due to begin this weekend, is a delicate one.

The plan involves sending remotely operated vehicles with high-definition cameras attached into the submarine to get a clear picture of its interior.

"It's something of a world-first," he told the ABC.

"I don't think anyone has tried to insert remote vehicles on a submarine as confined as this one."

The international team includes 18 Australians, among them scientists and technicians from the Defence Science and Technology Organisation.

There are also maritime archaeologists, 16 Turkish divers, and what Mr Briggs describes as "a bunch of die hard ex-RAN sub-mariners" such as himself, who are managing the project.

Mr Briggs says that judging from a 2007 dive and a survey done in October, the 99-year-old submarine is in "remarkably good shape".

The project comes with a fair amount of risk, however, mainly because an unfired torpedo remains in its chamber and its condition is unclear.

"There is a potential, depending on where it is stored and how much sea water has been able to get at it, [that] it could in some situations still be in a dry torpedo tube. And that would be the worst case," he said.

"We have to be careful that we don't give the submarine a sufficient bump that could set off that warhead. That would be a bad day for the expedition and a bad day for the submarine as well."

Ottoman gunners sunk the AE2 in the Sea of Marmara in 1915. ( Supplied )

Century-old ship a 'time capsule'

Mr Briggs says the team is expecting to find some rather unusual artefacts within the old sub - an uncommon occurrence for a 100-year-old shipwreck.

"It's basically been sealed. There has been only one hatch open - 100 milimetres - all this time, so there has been little to no circulation of water," he said.

"The limited observations we got in 2007 inside show it is very clear, there is no build up of silt inside the submarine - the gauges, the hand wheels [and] the valves are all still there and there is not much growth on them either.

Sixteen Turkish divers will form part of the survey team. ( Supplied )

"It's almost like a time capsule."

After the survey is complete, the team will fit the ship with corrosion protection and seal the hatch, handing the keys over the Turkish authorities.

"And finally we will put a navigational buoy to mark the position. That will have the effect of stopping the fishing boats sweeping through the area and it will also let shipping know where the submarine is so hopefully there will be less chance of any anchoring incidents," Mr Briggs said.

The discovery of the submarine in 1998 was made by Selcuk Kolay, who was commissioned by the Australian ambassador to Turkey to conduct research on the sub.

It took Mr Kolay more than three years to locate the wreckage, which was confirmed when an Australian dive team filmed the wreck later that year.

The $3.1 million Silent Anzac project is partly funded by the Federal Government as part of the Anzac centenary.

One of the less tangible positives of the project, Mr Briggs says, has been the chance for collaboration between the Australian and Turkish team members.

"It's interesting, from such a difficult start, how strong the links [between the two countries] are," he said.