On the night of 14 May 1943, the Australian hospital ship Centaur was steaming north, off the eastern coast of Australia, when it was struck by a torpedo fired from the Japanese submarine I-177. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. HMAS Centaur, World War2, Japanese sunk hospital ship in Australian waters. Wreck: Shipwreck hunters have captured the first underwater footage of the Centaur, an Australian World War Two hospital ship that sank in 1943 with the loss of 268 lives, Submerged: A search team led by US marine scientist David Mearns sent a submarine robot more than 6,500 feet below the surface to snap the images of the Centaur on Sunday. After the war, the ship was sold to a shipbreaker in Osaka, Japan. By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Roslan Khasawneh. With the oars and a piece of tarpaulin a makeshift sail was rigged on one of the larger rafts, and roped were arranged to keep the others together; but the bedraggled flotilla drifted many miles out to sea, in spite of this. Montevideo Maru was a Japanese auxiliary ship that was sunk in World War II, resulting in the drowning of many Australian prisoners of war and civilians being transported from Rabaul, in what is considered the worst maritime disaster in Australia's history.Prior to the war the ship operated as a passenger and cargo vessel traveling mainly between Asia and South America. Karl James. The motive for such a dastardly attack cannot but be obscure. The ship was en-route to New Guinea and as a result of the sinking 268 people lost their lives. The survivors saw six aircraft while they were afloat, and also two ships on the horizon, but they were either so far away or the weather was so thick at the time that the flares and smoke candles were not seen. Today we know that nineteen (19) merchant ships were sunk by torpedoes, gunfire or … Ironically it was such an object which saved one man’s life, because, although it injured his leg, it severed the logline with which he was entangled, and released him. There were no patients on board. The Australian Hospital Ship Centaur built on the Clyde at Grennock in 1924, was converted early in 1943 to serve in that capacity. 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Kormoran was the only Axis surface ship to be sunk within the Australia Station, and 78 of her crew were killed. Australia’s armed forces used six hospital ships during WWII. 3 September: Britain, France, Australia and New Zealand declare war on Germany; the Battle of the Atlantic begins. They included 30 of the ship's crew of the merchant marine, one nursing sister of a group of 12, a medical man (Dr. Leslie M. Outridge, of Redland Bay, Queensland) and 32 others. An Australian freighter sunk by a Japanese submarine during World War II has been located "relatively intact" in waters off the country's southeast coast. The SS Maheno went from ocean liner to hospital ship to a rusty wreck on Fraser Island, Australia. One shark attacked so fiercely that its nose went right on to a raft. Thick hot oil flooded the sea all round. They paddled with one pair of oars and pieces of the shattered ship’s sides. 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A search team led by US marine scientist David Mearns sent a submarine robot more than 6,500 feet below the surface to snap the images of the Centaur on Sunday. As it was being towed to its new home in 1935, a cyclone hit and broke the line … By North Asia correspondent Jake Sturmer, Yumi Asada and wires The wreck of an Australian ship sunk by a Japanese submarine in World War Two has been found after 77 years, officials say. Fraser Island, Australia. The Japanese submarines also shelled Sydney and Newcastle with little resultant damage. Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur was a hospital ship which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on 14 May 1943. Seven or eight sharks were still nosing around the rafts when later the survivors were picked up by a small Allied vessel, given medical treatment, clothed and fed before being taken ashore. He died in agony many hours later, and was buried at sea in the rain by his companions on a raft. Sunday's images helped confirm the wreck was that of the Centaur, he said. All who were saved were filthy with it, and the eyes of many were badly affected, but the speed with which the ship’s stern reared 60 feet into the air and she dived nose first to the bottom extinguished the flames before they could spread to the floating oil. Rakuyō Maru was sunk by USS Sealion II and Kachidoki Maru by USS Pampanito. Australia said the ship sank after being torpedoed by the Japanese, but Japan says the circumstances surrounding the sinking are unclear. The Centaur sank so quickly that it was impossible to launch any of the lifeboats. From the Archives, 1943: Japan torpedoes Australian hospital ship Centaur. Liberty ship 7,176 tons, sunk at 33º 8' S and 153º 24' E (100 miles N.E. Those who were saved were afloat on rafts and wreckage. Post war she returned to Hong Kong. It will be the 72nd anniversary of the death of his three uncles who drowned when the Australian hospital ship Centaur was torpedoed by the Japanese off Brisbane in World War II. The sinking, which is the tenth announced from General MacArthur's headquarters since the beginning of the year, is the climax of the sub-marine campaign referred to in the communique of May 1. The footage showed the ship's bright red cross and a corroded number 47, its identification number. Others almost certainly were dragged down with the suction of the sinking ship, and were taken by sharks, because about 150 reached the water. On Monday, Mr Mearns and his crew sent the submarine robot into the depths again to take a second round of pictures, which included an image of the ship's bell and an escape hatch that one survivor climbed through just before the Centaur sank. Eerie: An Australian soldier's slouch hat lies near the shipwreck, The starboard bow showing the Centaur's paravane. Fourteen ships were attacked of which six were sunk. Those who survived remained afloat on little groups of rafts and wreckage for up to thirty-six hours, suffering with thirst and the bitter cold in heavy rain and alternate short bursts of sunshine. Sunk by Japanese Submarine I-177, on the 12th. Australia 14 May 1943: Off North Stradbroke Island, Queensland Torpedoed by the Japanese … The ship immediately became a roaring inferno. But Japanese submarines, even a German U-boat and to a lesser extent minelayers, had significant successes operating along the east coast of Australia. Captain G. A. Murray, of Aberdeen, went down with his ship. Australia’s Hospital Ships of WW II. At least one man is believed to have been taken by a shark, because he screamed and disappeared from the baulk of timber which he had been clinging. Prisoners able to evacuate the ships spent the following days in life rafts or clinging to wreckage in open water. Today is the 63rd anniversary of the sinking of the 2/3rd Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur. Florence D. This US warship was sunk by Japanese bombers during the first air raid on Darwin in 19 … She was clearly silhouetted in the moonlight, and remained on the surface for half an hour. Some were completely naked, their night clothes having been torn from them by the suction of the ship as they were dragged down with her, and brief though the periods of sunshine were while they were afloat, many were sunburned. Underwater for nearly 70 years, the guard rail at the stern of the ship has 'rusticles' hanging off, The Centaur was sunk off the Queensland coast by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. It was beaten off with a spar. Convoys were introduced on the Australian east coast on 6 June. Two days later, the ship was sunk by Japanese aircraft. September 4, 2020 — 7.02pm. These ships were used in most theatres of war from the Mediterranean through the Pacific area and became involved in naval and other actions with some loss and damage. They planned to send off a small raft with their only oars to try to reach land, because in the darkness they had seen the flash of a coastal lighthouse. Sailors, soldiers, nurses, doctors, orderlies. • HMAS Armidale: Australian corvette sunk 1 December 1942 by Japanese aircraft. 'We found the bell with the name on it. Practically all were scantily clad, having been in their beds when the torpedo struck. Shipwreck hunters have captured the first underwater footage of an Australian World War Two hospital ship that sank in 1943 and left 268 people dead. The Centaur was clearly marked as a hospital ship, and its sinking sparked a major controversy. On Sunday, Queensland Acting Premier Paul Lucas called on Japan to apologise for the sinking. The Centaur was sunk off the Queensland coast by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. At last, on Saturday afternoon, they were sighted by another aeroplane, which signalled the rescue ship, and they were picked up. enemy submarines during WWII. Fifty four Axis surface raiders and submarines (both German and Japanese) carried out these attacks, sinking 53 merchant ships and three warships within the Australia Station , resulting in the deaths of over 1,751 Allied military personnel, sailors and civilians. Centaur, ablaze with lights, with a compliment of 332 persons on board, was torpedoed by Japanese submarineI-177 south east of Cape Moreton. The comments below have been moderated in advance. One man was so badly burned as to be practically unrecognisable. Monday , June 01, 2020 12:47:22 PM Photographs used here are in THUMBNAILS. Profound distress nurses, doctors, orderlies shark snapped the end from a Japanese submarine and! 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