History of the AHS Centaur
Built at Scotland's Greenock Shipyard in 1924, the 3222 ton Centaur served as a cargo ship on the run between Singapore and Fremantle before World War II.
Her shallow draft and simple design made her ideal for conversion to a hospital ship following the commencement of hostilities in Papua New Guinea. She was commissioned as Australian Hospital Ship AHS Centaur (AHS47) on 12 March 1943.
1943 Sinking of the AHS Centaur
In May 1943 the AHS Centaur steamed from Sydney with 332 personnel aboard, including medical staff, field ambulance personnel and her crew of merchant seamen.
Sydney was a city in fear. Long-range Japanese submarines had attacked the harbour using midget submarines and launched aircraft to conduct surveillance on the anchorage. One submarine, I-177 had surfaced off shore and shelled Sydney with her deck gun before submerging and heading north toward Brisbane.
The Japanese sub pack had hunted down a number of merchant ships along the east coast, and I-177 was waiting east of Moreton Island as Centaur steamed north during the night of 13 May 1943.
In accordance with the Hague Conventions, Centaur was clearly identifiable as a hospital ship being painted white and marked with large red crosses. She was fully lit and her voyage had been well publicised through neutral diplomatic channels, yet the precautions served only to make her an easier target when, at 4.10am on 14 May 1943, the Japanese submarine torpedoed the hospital ship.
The ship exploded, probably as a result of a hit on the fuel bunkers. The death toll was the highest of any merchant vessel sunk by a submarine in the Pacific theatre of war. Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived.
Last updated Tuesday, December 15, 2009
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