Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) ''Centaur'' was a
hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. ...
which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of
Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
, Australia, on 14 May 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 died, including 63 of the 65 army personnel.
The Scottish-built vessel was launched in 1924 as a
combination
In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are th ...
passenger liner
A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...
and
refrigerated cargo ship and operated a trade route between
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
and
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
via the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
(now Indonesia), carrying passengers, cargo, and livestock. At the start of World War II, ''Centaur'' (like all
British Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom and comprises the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguar ...
vessels) was placed under
British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...
control, but after being fitted with defensive equipment, was allowed to continue normal operations. In November 1941, the ship rescued German survivors of the
engagement between ''Kormoran'' and HMAS ''Sydney''. ''Centaur'' was relocated to Australia's east coast in October 1942, and used to transport
materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...
to New Guinea.
In January 1943, ''Centaur'' was handed over to the Australian military for conversion to a hospital ship, as her small size made her suitable for operating in
Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...
. The refit (including installation of medical facilities and repainting with
Red Cross
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
markings) was completed in March, and the ship undertook a trial voyage: transporting wounded from
Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
to Brisbane, then from
Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
to Brisbane. After replenishing in Sydney, ''Centaur'' embarked the
2/12th Field Ambulance
The 2/12th Field Ambulance was an Australian military unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force, serving during World War II. During their six years of service, over 200 soldiers were killed, the highest figure for a non-combatant unit in Aust ...
for transport to New Guinea, and sailed on 12 May. Before dawn on 14 May 1943, during her second voyage, ''Centaur'' was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off
Moreton Island
Moreton Island (Mulgumpin) is an island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia. The Coral Sea lies on the east coast of the island. Moreton Island lies northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisbane. ...
, Queensland. The majority of the 332 aboard died in the attack; the 64 survivors were discovered 36 hours later. The incident resulted in public outrage as attacking a hospital ship is considered a
war crime under the
1907 Hague Convention
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaty, treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions w ...
. Protests were made by the Australian and British governments to Japan and efforts were made to discover the people responsible so they could be tried at a war crimes tribunal. In the 1970s the probable identity of the attacking submarine,
''I-177'', became public.
The reason for the attack is unknown; there are theories that ''Centaur'' was in breach of the international conventions that should have protected her, that ''I-177''s commander was unaware that ''Centaur'' was a hospital ship, or that the submarine commander, Hajime Nakagawa, knowingly attacked a protected vessel. The wreck of ''Centaur'' was found on 20 December 2009; a claimed discovery in 1995 has been proven to be a different shipwreck.
Design and construction
Original design
In early 1923, the Ocean Steamship Company (a subsidiary of Alfred Holt's
Blue Funnel Line
Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significan ...
) decided that a new vessel would be required to replace the ageing ''
Charon
In Greek mythology, Charon or Kharon (; grc, Χάρων) is a psychopomp, the ferryman of Hades, the Greek underworld. He carries the souls of those who have been given funeral rites across the rivers Acheron and Styx, which separate the wo ...
'' on the Western Australia to Singapore trade route.
[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 9] The vessel had to be capable of simultaneously transporting passengers, cargo, and livestock.
[ She also had to be capable of resting on mud flats out of the water as the tidal variance in ports at the northern end of Western Australia was as great as .][Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 281]
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships.
History
John Scott fou ...
in Greenock
Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...
was chosen to build ''Centaur''.[ The ]keel
The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...
was laid on 16 November 1923, and the ship was ready for collection by 29 August 1924.[ Constructed at a cost of £146,750 sterling, ''Centaur'' was designed to carry 72 passengers and 450 cattle.][Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', pp. 5–6] Cargo was carried in four holds; the two decks within the hull were primarily for livestock, and could also be used as extra cargo space.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 22] The hull of the ship was a 'turret deck' design; decks below the waterline were wider than those above water, and a flat, reinforced hull allowed the ship to rest on the bottom.[ ''Centaur'' was among the first civilian vessels to be equipped with a diesel engine. One of the most visible characteristics was the smokestack, the extreme size was more a concession to tradition than of practical advantage on a diesel-powered vessel.][ Her engine was 6-cylinder 4-stroke, single cycle single action ]diesel engine
The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...
. It had cylinders of 24 inches (64 cm) diameter by 51 inches (135 cm) stroke. The engine was built by Burmeister & Wain
Burmeister & Wain was a large established Danish shipyard and leading diesel engine producer headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded by two Danes and an Englishman, its earliest roots stretch back to 1846. Over its 150-year history, it g ...
, Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark.[ One of her holds was fitted with refrigeration equipment. The refrigerant was ]brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
and the insulation was cork
Cork or CORK may refer to:
Materials
* Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product
** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container
***Wine cork
Places Ireland
* Cork (city)
** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...
. The refrigerated hold had a capacity of .
In December 1939, ''Centaur'' underwent a minor refit in Hong Kong, with a supercharger
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement.
The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...
and a new propeller fitted to the engine. The supercharger broke down in April 1942, and could not be repaired because of equipment shortages and restricted dockyard access caused by World War II.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 25]
Hospital ship refit
At the beginning of 1943, ''Centaur'' was placed at the disposal of the Australian Department of Defence
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Aus ...
for conversion to a hospital ship.[ The conversion was performed by United Ship Services in Melbourne, Australia, and was initially estimated to cost AU£20,000.][Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 21]
The cost increased to almost AU£55,000, for a variety of reasons.[ It was originally intended for the ship to travel between ports in New Guinea and ]Townsville, Queensland
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
, Australia.[ Increasing casualty numbers in the ]New Guinea campaign
The New Guinea campaign of the Pacific War lasted from January 1942 until the end of the war in August 1945. During the initial phase in early 1942, the Empire of Japan invaded the Australian-administered Mandated Territory of New Guinea (23 Jan ...
meant that the hospitals in Queensland would quickly become unable to deal with the quantity of the casualties and the nature of their injuries, so a longer voyage to Sydney was required.[ The Army demanded that more facilities and conversions be added to the original plans such as expanded bathing and washing facilities, hot water made available to all parts of the ship through installation of a calorifier, the rerouting of all steam pipes away from patient areas, and ventilation arrangements suitable for tropical conditions.][ The unions representing the ship's crew requested improved living and dining conditions, including new sinks in the food preparation areas and the replacement of flooring in the quarters and mess rooms.][
When AHS ''Centaur'' was relaunched on 12 March 1943, she was equipped with an operating theatre, dispensary, two wards (located on the former cattle decks), and a dental surgery, along with quarters for seventy five crew and sixty five permanent Army medical staff.][Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 51] To maintain the ship's mean draught of , 900 tons of ironstone
Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be con ...
were distributed through the cargo holds as ballast.[ AHS ''Centaur'' was capable of voyages of 18 days before resupply and could carry just over 250 ]bedridden
Being bedridden is a form of immobility that can present as the inability to move or even sit upright. It differs from bed-rest, a form of non-invasive treatment that is usually part of recovery or the limitation of activities. Some of the more ser ...
patients.
Operational history
1924 to 1938
''Centaur'' was allocated the United Kingdom Official Number 147275 and the Code Letters
Code letters or ship's call sign (or callsign) Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853"> SHIPSPOTTING.COM >> Mtide Taurus - IMO 7626853/ref> were a method of identifying ships before the introduction of modern navigation aids and today also. Later, with the i ...
KHHC. Her port of registry was Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. When ''Centaur'' entered service at the end of 1924, the Fremantle
Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
–Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
– Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
trade route was being serviced by two other Blue Funnel Line vessels; ''Gorgon'' (which remained in service until 1928) and ''Charon'' (which ''Centaur'' was replacing).[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 13] ''Centaur''s route ran from Fremantle up the Western Australian coast calling at Geraldton
Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth.
At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...
, Carnarvon, Onslow, Point Samson
Point or points may refer to:
Places
* Point, Lewis, a peninsula in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
* Point, Texas, a city in Rains County, Texas, United States
* Point, the NE tip and a ferry terminal of Lismore, Inner Hebrides, Scotland
* Point ...
, Port Hedland
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...
, Broome, and Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
then to the Bali Strait
Bali Strait is a stretch of water separating Java and Bali while connecting the Indian Ocean and the Bali Sea. At its narrowest it is wide.
Geography
The Bali Strait is one of the bodies of water surrounding the island of Bali: Lombok Strait ...
, Surabaya
Surabaya ( jv, ꦱꦸꦫꦧꦪ or jv, ꦯꦹꦫꦨꦪ; ; ) is the capital city of the Provinces of Indonesia, Indonesian province of East Java and the List of Indonesian cities by population, second-largest city in Indonesia, after Jakarta. L ...
, Semarang
Semarang ( jv, ꦏꦸꦛꦯꦼꦩꦫꦁ , Pegon: سماراڠ) is the capital and largest city of Central Java province in Indonesia. It was a major port during the Dutch colonial era, and is still an important regional center and port today. ...
, Batavia
Batavia may refer to:
Historical places
* Batavia (region), a land inhabited by the Batavian people during the Roman Empire, today part of the Netherlands
* Batavia, Dutch East Indies, present-day Jakarta, the former capital of the Dutch East In ...
, and Singapore.[ ''Centaur'' operated as a cross between a ]tramp steamer
A boat or ship engaged in the tramp trade is one which does not have a fixed schedule, itinerary nor published ports of call, and trades on the spot market as opposed to freight liners. A steamship engaged in the tramp trade is sometimes called ...
and a freight liner; she travelled a set route, but stops at ports along the route varied between journeys.[ From 1928 until sometime in the 1930s, ''Centaur'' remained alone on her route, but the increase in trade along this route prompted Blue Funnel Line to reassign ''Gorgon'' and assign the new ''Charon'' to work alongside ''Centaur''.
Following the change in Code Letters in 1934, ''Centaur'' was allocated the Code Letters GMQP.] A highlight of ''Centaurs pre-war career was the rescue of the 385 ton Japanese whale-chaser ''Kyo Maru II'' in November 1938.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 13] ''Kyo Maru II'' had developed boiler problems while returning from the Antarctic and was drifting towards the Houtman Abrolhos
The Houtman Abrolhos (often called the Abrolhos Islands) is a chain of 122 islands and associated coral reefs, in the Indian Ocean off the west coast of Australia, about west of Geraldton, Western Australia. It is the southernmost true coral ...
Archipelago, where she was in danger of being wrecked by the reefs in the area.[ ''Centaur'' responded to the distress signal and towed ''Kyo Maru II'' to ]Geraldton
Geraldton (Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West region of the Australian state of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth.
At June 2018, Geraldton had an urban population of 37,648. ...
.[
]
1939 to 1942
As a vessel of the British Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom and comprises the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguar ...
, ''Centaur'' was affected by the British Parliament's 1939 outline of how the Merchant Navy would respond to the declaration of war, primarily submission to the Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
* Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
* Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
*Admiralty, Tr ...
in all matters excluding the crewing and management of vessels.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 15] Following the outbreak of World War II on 3 September 1939, ''Centaur'' was equipped with a stern
The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...
-mounted Mark IX naval gun and two .303 Vickers machine gun
The Vickers machine gun or Vickers gun is a Water cooling, water-cooled .303 British (7.7 mm) machine gun produced by Vickers Limited, originally for the British Army. The gun was operated by a three-man crew but typically required more me ...
s located on the bridge wing
The interior of the bridge of the RV_Sikuliaq.html" ;"title="Research Vessel ''RV Sikuliaq">Sikuliaq'', docked in Ketchikan, Alaska
file:Wheelhouse of Leao Dos Mares.jpg, Wheelhouse on a tugboat, topped with a flying bridge
The bridge, also ...
s for protection against Axis warships and aircraft. She was also fitted with port and starboard paravanes and degaussing
Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to redu ...
equipment for protection against naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 18] The weapons were removed during the hospital ship refit, although the anti-mine countermeasures remained. ''Centaur'' initially remained in service on her original trade route.[
On 26 November 1941, a damaged lifeboat carrying 62 '']Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' (German navy) sailors and officers was spotted by an aircraft looking for the missing Australian cruiser ; the aircraft directed ''Centaur'' to the lifeboat. Upon encountering the lifeboat, food was lowered to its occupants, and one person was allowed on board to explain the situation.[ Initially posing as a Norwegian merchant navy officer, the man quickly revealed that he was the first officer of the and that the lifeboat contained German survivors from ''Kormoran''s battle with HMAS ''Sydney'' seven days earlier, including Captain ]Theodor Detmers
Theodor Detmers (22 August 19024 November 1976) was a German naval officer and captain of the German auxiliary cruiser ''Kormoran'' during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Detmers command ...
.[
]
Unwilling to leave the shipwrecked men at sea, but afraid of having his ship captured by the Germans, ''Centaur''s master
Master or masters may refer to:
Ranks or titles
* Ascended master, a term used in the Theosophical religious tradition to refer to spiritually enlightened beings who in past incarnations were ordinary humans
*Grandmaster (chess), National Master ...
decided to take the lifeboat in tow, after allowing nine wounded men aboard.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 16] During the tow towards Carnarvon, Western Australia
Carnarvon is a coastal town situated approximately north of Perth, in Western Australia. It lies at the mouth of the Gascoyne River on the Indian Ocean. The popular Shark Bay world heritage area lies to the south of the town and the Ningaloo Re ...
, the lifeboat was swamped and partially sunk by rough seas, so two of ''Centaur''s lifeboats were lowered to carry the Germans.[ On arrival in Carnarvon, the Germans were relocated to the number one cargo hold, where they were joined by another hundred ''Kormoran'' survivors collected by other ships, plus forty Australian Army guards, which were then transported by ''Centaur'' to Fremantle.][Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 19][
Following the Japanese ]attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii, j ...
and the beginning of the Malayan Campaign
The Malayan campaign, referred to by Japanese sources as the , was a military campaign fought by Allied and Axis forces in Malaya, from 8 December 1941 – 15 February 1942 during the Second World War. It was dominated by land battles between ...
on 7 December 1941, ''Centaur''s run was curtailed to Broome, Western Australia
Broome, also known as Rubibi by the Yawuru people, is a coastal pearling and tourist town in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, north of Perth. In the the population was recorded as 14,660. It is the largest town in the Kimberley reg ...
.[ On 6 October 1942, ''Centaur'' was ordered to sail to Queensland, where she began runs between the east coast of Australia and New Guinea, carrying ]materiel
Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context.
In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specifi ...
.
1943
With the commencement of hostilities between Japan and the British Empire, it became clear that the three hospital ships currently serving Australia—''Manunda
TSMV ''Manunda'' was an ''Australian'' registered and crewed passenger ship which was converted to a hospital ship in 1940. During the war ''Manunda'' saw service in both the Middle East and Pacific Campaigns, specifically New Guinea. She resume ...
'', ''Wanganella'', and '' Oranje''—would not be able to operate in the shallow waters typical of Maritime Southeast Asia
Maritime Southeast Asia comprises the countries of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and East Timor. Maritime Southeast Asia is sometimes also referred to as Island Southeast Asia, Insular Southeast Asia or Oceanic Sout ...
, so a new hospital ship was required.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 19] Of the Australian Merchant Navy vessels able to operate in this region, none were suitable for conversion to a hospital ship, and a request to the British Ministry of Shipping placed ''Centaur'' at the disposal of the Australian military on 4 January 1943.[ The conversion work began on 9 January and ''Centaur'' was commissioned as an Australian Hospital Ship on 1 March.][ During her conversion, ''Centaur'' was painted with the markings of a hospital ship as detailed in Article 5 of the tenth ]Hague Convention of 1907
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...
("Adaptation to Maritime War of the Principles of the Geneva Convention"); white hull with a green band interspersed by three red crosses on each flank of the hull, white superstructure, multiple large red crosses positioned so that the ship's status would be visible from both sea and air, and an identification number (for ''Centaur'', 47) on her bows. At night, the markings were illuminated by a combination of internal and external lights. Data on the ship's markings and the layout of identifying structural features was provided to the International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
during the first week of February 1943, who passed this on to the Japanese on 5 February.[ This information was also circulated and promoted by the press and media.
]
''Centaur'' entered operation as a hospital ship on 12 March 1943.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 23] The early stages of ''Centaur's'' first voyage as a hospital ship were test and transport runs; the initial run from Melbourne to Sydney resulted in the Master, Chief Engineer, and Chief Medical Officer composing a long list of defects requiring attention. Following repairs, she conducted a test run, transporting wounded servicemen from Townsville
Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...
to Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
to ensure that she was capable of fulfilling the role of a medical vessel.[ ''Centaur'' was then tasked with delivering medical personnel to ]Port Moresby
(; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New Z ...
, New Guinea, and returning to Brisbane with Australian and American wounded along with a few wounded Japanese prisoners of war.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 24]
Arriving in Sydney on 8 May 1943, ''Centaur'' was re-provisioned at Darling Harbour
Darling Harbour is a harbour adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central business district.
Origin ...
, before departing for Cairns
Cairns (, ) is a city in Queensland, Australia, on the tropical north east coast of Far North Queensland. The population in June 2019 was 153,952, having grown on average 1.02% annually over the preceding five years. The city is the 5th-most-p ...
, Queensland
)
, nickname = Sunshine State
, image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, established_ ...
on 12 May 1943.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 25] From there, her destination was again New Guinea.[ On board at the time were 74 civilian crew, 53 ]Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...
personnel (including 8 officers), 12 female nurses from the Australian Army Nursing Service
The Australian Army Nursing Service (AANS) was an Australian Army Reserve unit which provided a pool of trained civilian nurses who had volunteered for military service during wartime. The AANS was formed in 1902 by amalgamating the nursing servic ...
, 192 soldiers from the 2/12th Field Ambulance
The 2/12th Field Ambulance was an Australian military unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force, serving during World War II. During their six years of service, over 200 soldiers were killed, the highest figure for a non-combatant unit in Aust ...
, and one Torres Strait
The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...
ship pilot
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are regarded as skilled professionals ...
.[Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 278][Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 27] Most of the female nurses had transferred from the hospital ship ''Oranje'', and the male Army personnel assigned to the ship aboard were all medical staff. During the loading process, there was an incident when the ambulance drivers attached to the 2/12th attempted to bring their rifles and personal supplies of ammunition aboard.[ This was met with disapproval from ''Centaur''s Master and Chief Medical Officer, and raised concerns amongst the crew and wharf labourers that ''Centaur'' would be transporting military supplies or commandos to New Guinea: the rifles were not allowed on board until ''Centaur''s Master received official reassurance that the ambulance drivers were allowed to carry weapons under the 10th Hague Convention (specifically Article 8), as they were used "for the maintenance of order and the defence of the wounded."][Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', pp. 76–77] The remaining cargo was searched by the crew and labourers for other weapons and munitions.
Sinking
At approximately 4:10 am on 14 May 1943, while on her second run from Sydney to Port Moresby, ''Centaur'' was torpedoed by an unsighted submarine.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 28] The torpedo struck the portside oil fuel tank approximately below the waterline, creating a hole across, igniting the fuel, and setting the ship on fire from the bridge aft.[ Many of those on board were immediately killed by concussion or perished in the inferno. ''Centaur'' quickly took on water through the impact site, rolled to port, then sank bow-first, submerging completely in less than three minutes.][ The rapid sinking prevented the deployment of lifeboats, although two broke off from ''Centaur'' as she sank, along with several damaged liferafts.][
According to the position extrapolated by Second Officer Gordon Rippon from the 4:00 am ]dead reckoning
In navigation, dead reckoning is the process of calculating current position of some moving object by using a previously determined position, or fix, and then incorporating estimates of speed, heading direction, and course over elapsed time. ...
position, ''Centaur'' was attacked approximately east-northeast of Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island, Queensland.[Stevens, ''A Critical Vulnerability'', p. 358] Doubts were initially cast on the accuracy of both the calculated point of sinking and the dead reckoning position, but the 2009 discovery of the wreck found both to be correct, ''Centaur'' located within of Rippon's coordinates.[Milligan & Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', pp. 238–39][Fraser, ''Discovery proves maligned navigator got it right'']
Survivors
Of the 332 people on board, 64 were rescued.[ Most of the crew and passengers were asleep at the time of attack and had little chance to escape.][ It was estimated that up to 200 people may have been alive at the time ''Centaur'' submerged.][Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 122] Several who made it off the ship later died from shrapnel wounds or burns; others were unable to find support and drowned.[
The survivors spent 36 hours in the water, using barrels, wreckage, and the two damaged lifeboats for flotation.][ During this time, they drifted approximately north east of ''Centaur''s calculated point of sinking and spread out over an area of .][Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 258] The survivors saw at least four ships and several aircraft, but could not attract their attention.[Goodman, ''Our War Nurses'', p. 195]
At the time of rescue, the survivors were in two large and three small groups, with several more floating alone.[ Amongst those rescued were Sister ]Ellen Savage
Ellen Savage, GM (17 October 1912 – 25 April 1985) was an Australian army nurse (AANS) and hospital matron
from Quirindi, New South Wales.
Savage was the only nurse to survive the sinking of the hospital ship '' Centaur'' off the Queenslan ...
, the only surviving nurse from 12 aboard; Leslie Outridge, the only surviving doctor from 18 aboard; Gordon Rippon, second officer and most senior surviving crew member; and Richard Salt, the Torres Strait ship pilot
A maritime pilot, marine pilot, harbor pilot, port pilot, ship pilot, or simply pilot, is a mariner who maneuvers ships through dangerous or congested waters, such as harbors or river mouths. Maritime pilots are regarded as skilled professionals ...
. In 1944, Ellen Savage was presented with the George Medal
The George Medal (GM), instituted on 24 September 1940 by King George VI,''British Gallantry Medals'' (Abbott and Tamplin), p. 138 is a decoration of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, awarded for gallantry, typically by civilians, or in circ ...
for providing medical care, boosting morale, and displaying courage during the wait for rescue.
Rescue
On the morning of 15 May 1943, the American destroyer departed Brisbane to escort the 11,063 ton New Zealand freighter ''Sussex'' on the first stage of the latter's trans-Tasman
Tasman most often refers to Abel Tasman (1603–1659), Dutch explorer.
Tasman may also refer to:
Animals and plants
* Tasman booby
* Tasman flax-lily
* Tasman parakeet (disambiguation)
* Tasman starling
* Tasman whale
People
* Tasman (name), ...
voyage. At 2:00 pm, a lookout aboard ''Mugford'' reported an object on the horizon.[ Around the same time, a ]Royal Australian Air Force
"Through Adversity to the Stars"
, colours =
, colours_label =
, march =
, mascot =
, anniversaries = RAAF Anniversary Commemoration ...
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...
of No. 71 Squadron, flying ahead on anti-submarine watch, dived towards the object.[ The aircraft returned to the two ships and signalled that there were shipwreck survivors in the water requiring rescue.][ ''Mugford''s commanding officer ordered ''Sussex'' to continue alone as ''Mugford'' collected the survivors.][Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 257][Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 33] Marksmen were positioned around the ship to shoot sharks, and sailors stood ready to dive in and assist the wounded.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 149] ''Mugford''s medics inspected each person as they came aboard and provided necessary medical care.[ The American crew learned from the first group of survivors that they were from the hospital ship ''Centaur''.][
At 2:14 pm, ''Mugford'' made contact with the Naval Officer-in-Charge in Brisbane, and announced that the ship was recovering survivors from ''Centaur'' at , the first that anyone in Australia had knowledge of the attack on the hospital ship.][Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 34] The rescue of the 64 survivors took an hour and twenty minutes, although ''Mugford'' remained in the area until dark, searching an area of approximately for more survivors.[ After darkness fell, ''Mugford'' returned to Brisbane, arriving shortly before midnight.][ Further searches of the waters off ]North Stradbroke Island
North Stradbroke Island ( Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was onl ...
were made by during the night of 15 May until 6:00 pm on 16 May, and by and four motor torpedo boats from 16 to 21 May, neither search finding more survivors.[
]
Identifying attacker
At the time of the attack, none aboard ''Centaur'' witnessed what had attacked the ship. Due to the ship's position, the distance from shore, and the depth, it was concluded that she was torpedoed by one of the Japanese submarines known to be operating off the Australian east coast.[Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 259] Several survivors later claimed to have heard the attacking submarine moving on the surface while they were adrift, and the submarine was seen by the ship's cook, Francis Martin, who was floating alone on a hatch cover, out of sight from the main cluster of survivors.[Smith, ''Three Minutes of Time'', p. 29] Martin described the submarine to Naval Intelligence following the survivors' return to land; his description matched the profile of a KD7 type ''Kaidai''-class submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
.[
]
At the time of the attack, three KD7 ''Kaidai'' were operating off Australia's east coast: '' I-177'' under the command of Hajime Nakagawa, '' I-178'' under Hidejiro Utsuki, and '' I-180'' under Toshio Kusaka.[ None of these submarines survived the war; ''I-177'' was sunk by on 3 October 1944, ''I-178'' by on 25 August 1943,][Gill, ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', p. 260] and ''I-180'' by on 26 April 1944. Kusaka and Nakagawa were transferred to other submarines before the loss of ''I-180'' and ''I-177'' respectively, but Utsuki and ''I-178'' were sunk while returning from the patrol off the coast of Australia.
In December 1943, following official protests, the Japanese government issued a statement formally denying responsibility for the sinking of ''Centaur''.[Frame,. ''No Pleasure Cruise'', p. 188] Records provided by the Japanese following the war also did not acknowledge responsibility.[ Although ''Centaur''s sinking was a war crime, no one was tried for sinking the hospital ship.] Investigations into the attack were conducted between 1944 and 1948, and included the interrogation of the commanders of the submarines operating in Australian waters at the time, their superiors, plus junior officers and crewmen from the submarines who had survived the war. Several of the investigators suspected that Nakagawa and ''I-177'' were most likely responsible, but they were unable to establish this beyond reasonable doubt, and the ''Centaur'' case file was closed on 14 December 1948 without any charges laid.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', pp. 196–214]
Historians were divided on which submarine was responsible.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', pp. 214–15] In ''Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945'', published in 1968 as part of the series detailing the Australian official history of World War II, George Hermon Gill concluded that either ''I-178'' or ''I-180'' was responsible; the former was more likely as she had served in Australian waters the longest of any Japanese submarine at the time, but had claimed no kills in the three-month period surrounding ''Centaur''s sinking. In 1972, German military historian Jürgen Rohwer
Jürgen Rohwer (24 May 192424 July 2015) was a German military historian and professor of history at the University of Stuttgart. Rohwer wrote over 400 books and essays on World War II naval history and military intelligence, which gained him wo ...
claimed in ''Chronology of the war at sea'' that ''I-177'' torpedoed ''Centaur'', based on a Japanese report stating that ''I-177'' had attacked a ship on 14 May 1943 in the area the hospital ship had sunk. Japanese Rear Admiral Kaneyoshi Sakamoto, who had shown Rohwer the report, stated that Nakagawa and ''I-177'' were responsible for the attack on ''Centaur'' in his 1979 book ''History of Submarine Warfare''.
As an official history of the Japanese Navy, Sakamoto's work was considered to be official admission of the attacking submarine's identity. Subsequently, most sources assumed as fact Nakagawa's and ''I-177''s role in the loss of ''Centaur''. Nakagawa, who died in 1991, refused to speak about the attack on ''Centaur'' following the war crimes investigation at the end of World War II or even to defend himself or deny the claims made by Rohwer and Sakamoto.[Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', pp. 284–85]
Reaction
Public reaction
The media were notified of ''Centaur''s sinking on 17 May 1943, but were ordered not to release the news until it had been announced in the South West Pacific Area's General Headquarters dispatch at midday on 18 May, and in Parliament by Prime Minister John Curtin
John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...
that afternoon. News of the attack made front pages throughout the world, including ''The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...
'' of London, ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', and the ''Montreal Gazette
The ''Montreal Gazette'', formerly titled ''The Gazette'', is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Three other daily English-language newspapers shuttered at various times during the second half of th ...
''. In some newspapers, the news took precedence over the 'Dambuster' raids performed in Europe by No. 617 Squadron RAF
Number 617 Squadron is a Royal Air Force aircraft squadron, originally based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire and currently based at RAF Marham in Norfolk. It is commonly known as "''The Dambusters''", for its actions during Operation Chastise ag ...
.[Wilson, ''Sunken Hearts'', p. 23]
The initial public reaction to the attack on ''Centaur'' was one of outrage, significantly different from that displayed following the loss of Australian warships or merchant vessels.[Frame, ''No Pleasure Cruise'', pp. 186–87] As a hospital ship, the attack was a breach of the tenth Hague Convention of 1907
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...
, and as such was a war crime.[Frame, ''No Pleasure Cruise'', p. 187] The sinking of ''Centaur'' drew strong reactions from both Prime Minister Curtin and General Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...
. Curtin stated that the sinking was "an entirely inexcusable act, undertaken in violation of the convention to which Japan is a party and of all the principles of common humanity". MacArthur reflected the common Australian view when he stated that the sinking was an example of Japanese "limitless savagery". Politicians urged the public to use their rage to fuel the war effort, and ''Centaur'' became a symbol of Australia's determination to defeat what appeared to be a brutal and uncompromising enemy.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 179][Department of Veterans' Affairs, ''Sinking of the Centaur – Commemoration''] The Australian Government produced posters depicting the sinking, which called for Australians to "Avenge the Nurses" by working to produce materiel, purchasing war bond
War bonds (sometimes referred to as Victory bonds, particularly in propaganda) are debt securities issued by a government to finance military operations and other expenditure in times of war without raising taxes to an unpopular level. They are ...
s, or enlisting in the armed forces.[
People also expressed their sympathy towards the crew, and there were several efforts to fund a new hospital ship.][ The councillors of ]Caulfield, Victoria
Caulfield is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Glen Eira local government area. Caulfield recorded a population of 5,748 at the 2021 census.
It is bound ...
, organised a fund to replace the lost medical equipment, opening with a donation of AU£2,000.[ Those who worked on ''Centaur''s conversion contributed money towards a replacement, and employees of ]Ansett Airways
Ansett Australia was a major Australian airline group, based in Melbourne, Australia. The airline flew domestically within Australia and from the 1990s to destinations in Asia. After operating for 65 years, the airline was placed into adminis ...
pledged to donate an hour's pay towards the fitting out of such a replacement.[
With some people unable to believe that the Japanese would be so ruthless, rumours began to spread almost immediately after news of the attack was made public.][ The most common rumour was that ''Centaur'' had been carrying munitions or commandos at the time of her sinking, the Japanese being made aware of this before her departure.][Frame, ''No Pleasure Cruise'', p. 177] This stemmed from an incident involving the ambulance drivers' weapons during loading in Sydney.[
]
Military reaction
The attack was universally condemned by Australian servicemen, who commonly believed that the attack on ''Centaur'' had been carried out deliberately and in full knowledge of her status.[Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 282] Similar reactions were expressed by other Allied personnel; United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...
General George Kenney
George Churchill Kenney (August 6, 1889 – August 9, 1977) was a United States Army general during World War II. He is best known as the commander of the Allied Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), a position he held between Augu ...
recalled having to talk a sergeant bombardier out of organising a retaliatory bombing run on a Japanese hospital ship known to be in their area.
Six days after the attack on ''Centaur'', a request was made by the Australian Department of Defence that the identification markings and lights be removed from Australian hospital ship ''Manunda'', weapons be installed, and that she begin to sail blacked out and under escort.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', pp. 189–92] The conversion was performed, although efforts by the Department of the Navy, the Admiralty, and authorities in New Zealand and the United States of America caused the completed conversion to be undone. The cost of the roundabout work came to £12,500, and kept ''Manunda'' out of service for three months.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 192] On 9 June 1943, communications between the Combined Chiefs of Staff
The Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military staff for the United States and Britain during World War II. It set all the major policy decisions for the two nations, subject to the approvals of British Prime Minister Winston Churchil ...
on the subject of hospital ships contained a section referring to the ''Manunda'' incident as a response to the attack on ''Centaur'', with the conclusion that the attack was the work of an irresponsible Japanese commander, and that it would be better to wait until further attacks had been made before considering the removal of hospital ship markings.
When the consideration was made that the ambulance drivers' weapons incident just before Centaur's voyage may have been partially responsible for the attack, it led to the tightening of rules regarding who was allowed to travel on a hospital ship.[ Quasi-medical staff, like ]repatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...
teams, were no longer permitted on hospital ships.[ Ambulance drivers had to transfer from the regular Army to the ]Australian Army Medical Corps
The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian coloni ...
before they were allowed aboard, although they were still permitted to carry their unloaded weapons and ammunition.[Goodman, ''Our War Nurses'', p. 197]
Official protests
After consultation with the Australian armed forces, General MacArthur, the Admiralty, and the Australian Government, an official protest was sent.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 187] This was received by the Japanese Government on 29 May 1943.[ At around the same time, the ]International Committee of the Red Cross
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC; french: Comité international de la Croix-Rouge) is a humanitarian organization which is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and it is also a three-time Nobel Prize Laureate. State parties (signato ...
sent a protest on behalf of the major Allied Red Cross organisations to the Japanese Red Cross.[
On 26 December 1943, a response to the Australian protest arrived.][ It stated that the Japanese Government had no information justifying the allegation made, and therefore took no responsibility for what happened.][ The reply counter-protested that nine Japanese hospital ships had been attacked by the Allies, although these claims were directed against the United States, not Australia.][ Although several later exchanges were made, the lack of progress saw the British Government inform the Australian Prime Minister on 14 November 1944 that no further communications would be made on the loss of ''Centaur''.
]
Theories for attack
Torpedo attacks in Australian waters were common at this time, with 27 Japanese submarines operating in Australian waters between June 1942 and December 1944.[Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 286] These submarines attacked almost 50 merchant vessels, 20 ships confirmed to be sunk as result of a Japanese attack, plus 9 more unconfirmed.[ This was part of a concentrated effort to disrupt supply convoys from Australia to New Guinea.
Several actions on ''Centaur''s part may have contributed to her demise. ''Centaur'' was under orders to sail well out to sea until reaching the ]Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...
; her course keeping her between from shore. ''Centaur''s Master, believing he had been given a route intended for a merchant vessel, set a course closer to land, but on the seaward side of in depth. Also, ''Centaur'' was sailing completely illuminated, with the exception of the two bow floodlights, which had been switched off as they interfered with visibility from the bridge.[
There are three main theories as to why ''Centaur'' was attacked:
]
Legitimate target
This theory stems from the rumours spreading after ''Centaur''s sinking. If ''Centaur'' had been in breach of the Hague Convention of 1907
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amon ...
, and someone had informed the Japanese of this, ''I-177'' may have been under valid orders to attack.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 232] When ''Centaur'' left Sydney, her decks were packed with green-uniformed men, and as Field Ambulance uniforms were only distinguishable from other Army uniforms by badge insignia and the colouration of the cloth band ringing the hat, a distant observer could have concluded that the hospital ship was transporting soldiers. Those witnessing the loading in Sydney would have seen the ambulance drivers bring their weapons aboard, and could have come to a similar conclusion. If a spy or informant had passed this information to the Japanese, ''I-177'' could have been lying in wait.[ The main flaw in this theory is the question of how Nakagawa and his crew were able to predict that ''Centaur'' was taking an alternative route and how they were able to determine the new route selected.][Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 233]
Similar but later rumours included that during her first voyage, ''Centaur'' had transported soldiers to New Guinea, or Japanese prisoners of war
A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610.
Belligerents hold priso ...
back to Australia for interrogation, and consequently had been marked as a legitimate target by the Japanese. ''Centaur'' had carried 10 prisoners of war on her return voyage from New Guinea, but as they were all wounded personnel, transporting them on a hospital ship was legal.
Mistaken target
This theory states that Nakagawa was unaware that the vessel he was attacking was a hospital ship, and that the sinking was an unfortunate accident.[Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 280] This view was supported by several Japanese officers, both before and after the revelation that Nakagawa was responsible.[ Amongst them was Lieutenant Commander Zenji Orita, who took command of ''I-177'' after Nakagawa.][ Orita did not hear anything from the crew about having sunk a hospital ship, not even rumours, and believed that if ''I-177'' had knowingly attacked ''Centaur'', he would have learned this from the crew's gossip.][
When compared to the other contemporary Australian hospital ships, ''Centaur'' was the smallest, approximately a third of the size of ''Manunda'' or ''Wanganella''.][ ''Centaur'' was also slightly shorter than ''I-177''.][ The observation of ''Centaur'' was made through a periscope, and submarine officers attest that at , the optimum range of attack for World War II–era Japanese submarines, some officers would not be able to clearly identify a target ship's profile or hull markings.][Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 283] With ''Centaur''s bow floodlights out, and with the observation of the target made through the periscope, there is a possibility Nakagawa would not have seen the hospital ship's markings if he had been in the wrong position.[ Apart from the two bow floodlights, ''Centaur'' was lit up brilliantly.][ To attack, ''I-177'' would have had to approach from ]abeam
This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...
of ''Centaur'', which was illuminated by both its own lights and a full moon.[
]
Intentional target
This theory states that Nakagawa was fully aware that his target was a hospital ship and decided to sink her regardless, either on his own initiative or on a poor interpretation of his orders. Researchers speculate that as Nakagawa was approaching the end of his tour in Australian waters, and had only sunk a single enemy vessel, the 8,742 ton freighter ''Limerick'', he did not want to return with the disgrace of a single kill.[ Other claims include that Nakagawa may have been acting in vengeance for casualties inflicted by the Allies during the ]Battle of the Bismarck Sea
The Battle of the Bismarck Sea (2–4 March 1943) took place in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) during World War II when aircraft of the U.S. Fifth Air Force and the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) attacked a Japanese convoy carrying troops ...
, or may have expected praise for the sinking of an enemy naval vessel.
In February 1944, while in command of ''I-37'', Nakagawa ordered the machine-gunning of survivors from three British merchant vessels torpedoed by his submarine (, on 22 February; , on 24 February; and , on 29 February).[ His defence, that he was acting under orders from Vice Admiral ]Shiro Takasu
Shiro, Shirō, Shirow or Shirou may refer to:
People
* Amakusa Shirō (1621–1638), leader of the Shimabara Rebellion
* Ken Shiro (born 1992), Japanese boxer
* Shiro Azumi, Japanese football player 1923–1925
* Shiro Ichinoseki (born 1944), Ja ...
, was not accepted, and he was sentenced to four years imprisonment at Sugamo Prison
Sugamo Prison (''Sugamo Kōchi-sho'', Kyūjitai: , Shinjitai: ) was a prison in Tokyo, Japan. It was located in the district of Ikebukuro, which is now part of the Toshima ward of Tokyo, Japan.
History
Sugamo Prison was originally built in 1 ...
as a Class B war criminal.[Jenkins, ''Battle Surface'', p. 284] These incidents showed that Nakagawa was willing to ignore the laws of war
The law of war is the component of international law that regulates the conditions for initiating war (''jus ad bellum'') and the conduct of warring parties (''jus in bello''). Laws of war define sovereignty and nationhood, states and territor ...
.[
]
Shipwreck
Following World War II, several searches of the waters around North Stradbroke and Moreton Islands failed to reveal ''Centaur''s location. It was believed that she had sunk off the edge of the continental shelf, to a depth at which the Royal Australian Navy did not have the capability to search for a vessel of ''Centaur''s size.[Department of Defence, ''Navy findings of search for ex Army Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur''] Some parties also believed that Rippon's calculated point of sinking was inaccurate, either intentionally or through error.[
Several points were incorrectly identified as the location where ''Centaur'' sank. The first was in the War Diary Situation Report entry for the hospital ship's sinking, which gives , east of Rippon's position.][Milligan & Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 239] According to Milligan and Foley, this likely occurred because an estimated distance from Brisbane, included as a frame of reference, was interpreted literally.[ In 1974, two divers claimed to have found the ship approximately east of Brisbane, in of water, but did not disclose its exact location. Attempts to relocate the site between 1974 and 1992 were unsuccessful, an associate of the divers claiming that the Navy destroyed the wreck shortly after its discovery.
]
Dennis's claim
In 1995, it was announced that the shipwreck of ''Centaur'' had been located in waters from the lighthouse on Moreton Island, a significant distance from her believed last position.[''A Grave Mistake'' '60 Minutes'' segment/ref> The finding was reported on '']A Current Affair
''A Current Affair'' may refer to:
* ''A Current Affair'' (Australian TV program), 1971–present Australian current affairs program that airs on Nine Network
* ''A Current Affair'' (American TV program), a 1986–1998 American television news ...
'', during which footage of the shipwreck, underwater, was shown. Discoverer Donald Dennis claimed the identity of the shipwreck had been confirmed by the Navy, the Queensland Maritime Museum
The Queensland Maritime Museum is located on the southern bank of the Brisbane River just south of the South Bank Parklands and Queensland Cultural Centre precinct of Brisbane, and close to the Goodwill Bridge.
The museum was founded in 1971 an ...
, and the Australian War Memorial
The Australian War Memorial is Australia's national memorial to the members of its armed forces and supporting organisations who have died or participated in wars involving the Commonwealth of Australia and some conflicts involving pe ...
. A cursory search by the Navy confirmed the presence of a shipwreck at the given location, which was gazetted
A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper.
In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspapers ...
as a war grave
A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations.
Definition
The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to b ...
and added to navigation charts by the Australian Hydrographic Office
The Australian Hydrographic Service (formerly known as the Royal Australian Navy Hydrographic Service) is the Australian Commonwealth Government agency responsible for providing hydrographic services that meet Australia's obligations under the SO ...
.
Over the next eight years, there was growing doubt about the position of Dennis' wreck, due to the distance from both Second Officer Rippon's calculation of the point of sinking and where USS ''Mugford'' found the survivors.[Wilson, ''Sunken Hearts'', p. 24] During this time, Dennis had been convicted on two counts of deception and one of theft through scams.[ Two wreck divers, Trevor Jackson and ]Simon Mitchell
Simon Mitchell (born 1958) is a New Zealand physician specialising in Occupational safety and health, occupational medicine, hyperbaric medicine and anesthesiology. Trained in medicine, Mitchell was awarded a PhD for his work on neuroprotecti ...
, used the location for a four-hour world record dive on 14 May 2002, during which they examined the wreck and took measurements, claiming that the ship was too small to be ''Centaur''.[Jackson, ''Wreck diving in Southern Queensland'', pp. 157–81] Jackson had been studying ''Centaur'' for some time, and believed that the wreck was actually another, much smaller ship, the MV ''Kyogle'', a lime
Lime commonly refers to:
* Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit
* Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide
* Lime (color), a color between yellow and green
Lime may also refer to:
Botany ...
freighter purchased by the Royal Australian Air Force and sunk during bombing practice on 12 May 1951.[ The facts gathered on the dive were inconclusive, but the divers remained adamant it was not ''Centaur'', and passed this information onto Nick Greenaway, producer of the ]newsmagazine
A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or new ...
show ''60 Minutes
''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...
''.[
On the 60th anniversary of the sinking, ''60 Minutes'' ran a story demonstrating that the wreck was not ''Centaur''.] It was revealed that nobody at the Queensland Maritime Museum had yet seen Dennis' footage, and when it was shown to Museum president Rod McLeod and maritime historian John Foley, they stated that the shipwreck could not be ''Centaur'' due to physical inconsistencies, such as an incorrect rudder. Following this story, and others published around the same time in newspapers, the Navy sent three ships to inspect the site over a two-month period; HMA Ships , , and , before concluding that the shipwreck was incorrectly identified as ''Centaur''. An amendment was made to the gazettal, and the Hydrographic Office began to remove the mark from charts.
Discovery
In April 2008, following the successful discovery of HMAS ''Sydney'', several parties began calling for a dedicated search for ''Centaur''.[Dart, ''Shipwreck hunter offers to find Centaur remains''] By the end of 2008, the Australian Federal and Queensland State governments had formed a joint committee and contributed A$2 million each towards a search, and tenders to supply equipment (including the search vessel, side-scan sonar
Side-scan sonar (also sometimes called side scan sonar, sidescan sonar, side imaging sonar, side-imaging sonar and bottom classification sonar) is a category of sonar system that is used to efficiently create an image of large areas of the sea ...
systems, and a remotely operated inspection submersible) were opened in February 2009, and awarded during the year.[Berry, ''Search for sunken hospital ship to begin soon''] The search, conducted from the Defence Maritime Services
DMS Maritime, formerly Defence Maritime Services, is a company providing port services to the Australian Defence Force and Marine Unit. It is a subsidiary of Serco.
History
Defence Maritime Services was founded in 1997 as a 50:50 joint ventu ...
vessel ''Seahorse Spirit
''Seahorse Spirit'' was a multi-purpose vessel operated by Defence Maritime Services under contract to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).Wertheim (2007), pp.28–29. She was based at Westernport, Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Vict ...
'' and overseen by shipwreck hunter David Mearns
David Louis Mearns, OAM, M.Sc. (born 10 August 1958), is an American-born United Kingdom based marine scientist and oceanographer, who specializes in deep water search and recovery operations, and the discovery of the location of historic shipwrec ...
, commenced during the weekend of 12–13 December 2009.[Tedmanson, ''Search begins for wreckage of hospital ship Centaur destroyed in war''] The initial search area off Cape Moreton covered , the search team being given 35 days to locate and film the wreck before funding was exhausted.[
Six sonar targets with similar dimensions to ''Centaur'' were located between 15 and 18 December: as none of the contacts corresponded completely to the hospital ship, the search team opted to take advantage of favourable weather conditions and continue investigating the area before returning to each site and making a detailed inspection with a higher-resolution sonar.][Australian Associated Press, ''Centaur searchers find 'target' off Qld''][Heger, ''Shipwreck hunter David Mearns confirms ship is the Centaur''] On the afternoon of 18 December, the sonar towfish separated from the cable, and was lost in of water, forcing the use of the high-resolution sonar to complete the area search.[Australian Associated Press, ''Centaur searchers lose vital equipment''] After inspecting the potential targets, Mearns and the search team announced on 20 December that they had found ''Centaur'' that morning.[
The wreck was found at ( east of Moreton Island, and less than from Rippon's coordinates), resting below sea level in a steep-walled gully, wide and deep.][Australian Associated Press, ''Hospital ship Centaur discovered off Queensland coast ''][ After returning to shore for Christmas and to install a ]remotely operated vehicle
A remotely operated underwater vehicle (technically ROUV or just ROV) is a tethered underwater mobile device, commonly called ''underwater robot''.
Definition
This meaning is different from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the ai ...
(ROV) aboard ''Seahorse Spirit'', the search team commenced efforts to document the wreck, the first photographs being taken by the ROV in the early morning of 10 January 2010 confirming that the wreck is ''Centaur''.[Barbeler & Long, ''First photos of hospital ship Centaur''] Conditions for documenting the hospital ship were not optimal on the first ROV dive, and three more dives were made during 11 and 12 January.[Barbeler & Australian Associated Press, ''Memorial plaque laid on the Centaur''] During the four dives, over 24 hours of footage were collected, along with several photographs: features identified during the operation include the Red Cross identification number, the hospital ship markings, and the ship's bell.[ The ''Centaur'' wreck site has been marked as a war grave and protected with a navigational exclusion zone under the '']Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976
The ''Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976'' was an Australian Act of Parliament designed to legally protect historic shipwrecks and any relics or artefacts from those wrecks. The Act automatically affects all shipwrecks that meet the "historic" crite ...
''.[
]
Memorials
In 1948, Queensland nurses established the "Centaur Memorial Fund for Nurses" which used the money raised to purchase an establishment and name it "Centaur House"; a facility supporting nurses by holding convivial meetings and providing inexpensive accommodation for out-of-town nurses. The original Centaur House was sold in 1971, a new building being purchased and renamed.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 252] The second Centaur House was sold in 1979 and although the fund still exists, it no longer owns a physical facility.[ On 15 September 1968, a cairn was unveiled at ]Caloundra
Caloundra ( ) is a coastal town and the southernmost town in the Sunshine Coast Region in South East Queensland, Australia.
Geography
Caloundra is north of the Brisbane central business district. Caloundra is accessible from Landsborough ra ...
, Queensland, erected by the local Rotary International Club. In 1990, a stained glass
Stained glass is coloured glass as a material or works created from it. Throughout its thousand-year history, the term has been applied almost exclusively to the windows of churches and other significant religious buildings. Although tradition ...
memorial window depicting ''Centaur'', along with a plaque listing the names of those lost in the attack, was installed at Concord Repatriation General Hospital
Concord Repatriation General Hospital (abbreviated CRGH), commonly referred to as Concord Hospital, is a major hospital in Sydney, Australia, on Hospital Road in Concord. It is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the University of ...
, at a cost of A$16,000. A display about ''Centaur'' was placed at the Australian War Memorial.[ The centrepiece of the display was a scale model of ''Centaur'' presented to the Memorial by ]Blue Funnel Line
Alfred Holt and Company, trading as Blue Funnel Line, was a UK shipping company that was founded in 1866 and operated merchant ships for 122 years. It was one of the UK's larger shipowning and operating companies, and as such had a significan ...
, and the display included items that were donated by the survivors, such as a lifejacket, a signal flare, and a medical kit.[Milligan and Foley, ''Australian Hospital Ship Centaur'', p. 255] It was removed in 1992 to make way for a display related to the Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.[
A memorial to ''Centaur'' was unveiled at Point Danger, Coolangatta, Queensland on 14 May 1993, the 50th anniversary of the sinking.][Larsen, ''Centaur memorial unveiled'', p. 2] It consists of a monumental stone topped with a cairn
A cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. The word ''cairn'' comes from the gd, càrn (plural ).
Cairns have been and are used for a broad variety of purposes. In prehis ...
, surrounded by a tiled moat with memorial plaques explaining the commemoration. The memorial is surrounded by a park with a boardwalk, overlooking the sea, with plaques for other Merchant Navy and Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
vessels lost during World War II. The unveiling of the memorial was performed by Minister for Veterans' Affairs, Senator John Faulkner
John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating, Rudd and Gillard Governments.
After his election to ...
.[
]
A memorial plaque was laid on the foredeck of ''Centaur'' on 12 January 2010, during the fourth and final ROV dive on the hospital ship.[ This would normally be a breach of the ''Historic Shipwrecks Act'', but a special dispensation permitted the manoeuvre, as placing the plaque on the seabed next to the ship would have seen it sink into the sediment.][ Following the ship's discovery, a national memorial service at ]St John's Cathedral, Brisbane
St John's Cathedral is the cathedral of the Anglican Diocese of Brisbane and the metropolitan cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of Queensland, Australia. It is dedicated to St John the Evangelist. The cathedral is situated in Ann Street ...
on 2 March 2010 was attended by over 600 people, including Prime Minister Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and again from June 2013 to September 2013, holding office as the leader of the ...
.[Barbeler, ''Centaur dead remembered''] A second ceremony for 300 relatives of the hospital ship's personnel was held aboard on 24 September.[Hurst, ''Hope floats''] During the service, which occurred over the wreck site, wreaths were laid and the ashes of three survivors were scattered.[
]
See also
*
* USS ''Relief''
*USS Comfort (AH-6)
The second USS ''Comfort'' (AH-6) was launched 18 March 1943 by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, Los Angeles, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by First Lieutenant E. Hatchitt, USAMC; transferred to the Navy the same da ...
* SS ''Op ten Noort''
*Japanese war crimes
The Empire of Japan committed war crimes in many Asian-Pacific countries during the period of Japanese militarism, Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Second Sino-Japanese and Pacific Wars. These incidents have b ...
Footnotes
Citations
References
;Books
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
;Journal and news articles
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
;Other media
*
**
*
Further reading
2/3 AHS Centaur Association Inc.
– The AHS ''Centaur'' veterans' association
Centaur Personnel
– List of personnel aboard AHS ''Centaur'' at the time of the sinking
Hospital Ship Mystery – Find the Centaur
– Collection of news articles from ''The Courier-Mail
''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, ...
'' relating to the hospital ship and the December 2009 search
* – David Mearns' daily reports on the progress of the 2009 search (archived fro
the original
* Two-part article by Trevor Jackson on diving the assumed wreck of AHS ''Centaur''
**
**
{{DEFAULTSORT:Centaur
Hospital ships of the Australian Army
Ships built on the River Clyde
Maritime incidents in May 1943
1943 in Australia
Merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Monuments and memorials in Queensland
Ships sunk by Japanese submarines
Japanese war crimes
Shipwrecks of Queensland
World War II shipwrecks in the Coral Sea
1924 ships
Hospital ships in World War II
Cargo liners
Australian Shipwrecks with protected zone
Queensland in World War II