Australian Hospital ship 'Centaur' Sunk by Jap Sub in 1943 - Found......

[1feral1]

The ship was found about 50km due east off the south tip of Moreton Island, which is the next island over from Bribie Island (where I live). All off teh coast of Queensland.

Apparently in over 2000 metres of water.

Link http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,26509762-952,00.html


Australian hospital ship Centaur wreck found off Moreton IslandArticle from:

December 20, 2009 11:30am

A MEMORIAL service will be held early next year for the 268 Australians who lost their lives when hospital ship Centaur sunk in 1943. The wreck was found today.

Five high-resolution sonar shots of the area, taken overnight, confirmed to searchers the ship was resting 2059m below about 30 miles due east of Moreton Islands’ southern tip.


Premier Anna Bligh said she would work with the RSL for a memorial service for the victims early next year, while an exclusion zone will be created around the site.

"The exact location can now be marked and an exclusion zone created, on this very significant gravesite,'' she said.

"In early January, the search team will return to the site with specially designed submarines, these will be equipped with high definition cameras and the entire site will be filmed.

"Once we have been through the entire search process we will then embark on an appropriate way of preserving the marking the site.''

Ms Bligh said nothing will be brought up from the ship, which will be left intact at its resting place.

She said the Centaur was broken two-thirds of the way along the side of the ship, where it was hit by the torpedo.

"I understand from the searchers this morning that this ship was torpedoed, it was a hospital ship, clearly marked, and those who lost their lives on it were mostly civilians,'' Ms Bligh said.

Of the 332 people on board the ship when it sank, only 64 survived.

The search was jointly funded by the state and federal government, at a cost of $4 million.

Ms Gillard said the discovery would ensure all Australians knew and commemorated the 268 nurses and crew who died.





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This will bring closure for many families still wondering where the resting place is for their loved ones.

Its all over the news here today and yesterday.

OWDU

 

[1feral1]

More info and pics of the wreck.  There is some rather clear photos, including a slouch hat, boots and various areas of the ship.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/12/2790305.htm?section=justin

A memorial plaque was laid on the deck yesterday.

OWDU

 

[1feral1]

More info here too http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,26573651-5017790,00.html

Take the time to open the link and look at the pics. Moreton Island is next to Bribie Island, where I live.

During WW2 there was lots of activity by the enemy in this area. The region I live in was a major US trg area with intense concentration for the island hopping campaign againt the Japs by both US and Australian forces.

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Centaur wreck pictures shine light on historyArticle from: Font size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print Submit comment: Submit comment Tuck Thompson and David Barbeler
January 10, 2010 11:00pm

IT was a search operation of amazing complexity - but it triumphed over early technical problems to deliver Centaur images that brought tears to an old man's eyes. MARTIN Pash shed tears yesterday as he prepared to see photos of the ship on which he almost died nearly 67 years ago.

Centaur survivor Martin Pash she tears yesterday as he prepared to see photographs of the ship on which he almost died off the Queensland coast nearly 67 years ago.

When he eventually saw the stunning shots of the AHS Centaur, taken more than 2km below the surface off Moreton Island, the 87-year-old survivor summed up the moment.

"She is in pretty good nick, isn't she," Mr Pash said in his Melbourne home.

Mr Pash said he was stunned by the clarity of the photos, taken early yesterday by a remotely-controlled submersible camera operated by shipwreck hunter David Mearns and his crew.

Should Japan apologise?The photos give a graphic account of Queensland's worst maritime disaster when 268 people died after the Centaur was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1943.

The pictures show the deck and rigging of the Centaur, including the torpedo hole that sank her in less than three minutes.








Mr Pash, one of 64 survivors who clung to rafts and flotsam for 36 hours, yesterday pointed to the photos of the cross on the port bow, still with red as brilliant as the night the Centaur went down.

"That's where we lived, up there where the photo was taken," Mr Pash said.

In-depth reports."The main thing is they have found the Centaur," he said. "It's good for relatives to know where the ship is."

Mr Pash, who was a 20-year-old steward on the Centaur, is one of only three survivors alive today.

Over the next few days Mr Mearns and his crew plan to revisit the wreck at least twice and lay a memorial plaque for those who died in the disaster.

For filming the Centaur, Mr Mearns sent a submarine robot named Remora 3 down to identify three prominent features; the ship's bright red cross, a star on the bow and a corroded identification number 47.

"It's a great relief for everybody, the sonar images were very clear to us . . . but we knew we needed to bring back conclusive video-graphic proof," Mr Mearns said, while also admitting he has had only one hour's sleep in the past 33 hours.

The crew has faced minor technical problems, all of which Mr Mearns said can be expected in deep-water dives.

After the footage was captured, two unsuccessful attempts were made to reach the seabed, the second delaying proceedings for up to eight hours.

The successful six-hour mission, which began at 8.30pm on Saturday, experienced other difficulties.

At 10pm the Remora 3, suffered an oil pressure leak and had to return to the surface after descending past half way to the ship.

On the second attempt, after the Remora 3 had reached the seabed and was 200m away from the wreck site, the Seahorse Spirit's engine room experienced an oil leak and the mission's length had to be shortened.

At this stage, it is still unsure when the memorial plaque for the 268 people who died in the attack will be placed.

"The first dive is a reconnaissance dive, second dive we take a lot of photos, then it will probably be the third dive," Mr Mearns said.

Mr Mearns also said the plaque test run on Sunday morning showed that the "incredibly soft" clay-like seabed had the potential to swallow the entire memorial plaque.

There are fears that placing the plaque directly on the ship may impact on the fragile wreck.

The site is also protected under the Commonwealth's Historic Shipwrecks Act 1976.

Mr Mearns found the Centaur using side-scan sonar on December 20 and returned to the wrecksite about 50km east of Moreton for visual confirmation.

Acting Premier Paul Lucas, echoing previous comments made by Mr Pash, has called upon the Japanese to apologise for the wartime atrocity.

Japan did not admit to sinking the Centaur until 1979.

The submarine responsible, the I-177, was destroyed in 1944 but its captain Hajime Nakagawa lived until 1986 although he stayed silent about the Centaur.

The Japanese Embassy in Canberra has refused to make a specific apology for sinking the Centaur.

Japan has issued general statements admitting to wartime atrocities,

Brightly lit, unarmed and unescorted, Centaur was travelling from Sydney to New Guinea to pick up wounded soldiers when it was attacked at 4am on May 14.



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[mariomike]

Brightly lit, unarmed and unescorted, Centaur was travelling from Sydney to New Guinea to pick up wounded soldiers when it was attacked at 4am on May 14.

They say it took less than three minutes to sink a hospital ship at 0400. The fatality rate indicates most on board never had a chance. I am sure that those who survived never forgot that night.

 

[Rifleman62]

Luckily, the ship was not full of wounded soldiers.