It was early morning on the 14th of May 1943 and the brightly lit Australian Hospital Ship Centaur
was off Brisbane, heading north to support the campaign in Papua New Guinea. Two days earlier
she'd departed Sydney, having embarked the 2/12th Field Ambulance.
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Unbeknown to those aboard Centaur, most of whom were asleep at 4am, the sleek shape of
Japanese submarine I-177 lay to port. The submarine's commander made a fateful decision and
launched a torpedo which hit Centaur's fuel oil tank – causing an explosion and conflagration from
which few would emerge alive. The large hole ripped in her side caused Centaur to sink by the bow,
disappearing beneath the waves in under three minutes. There had been no time to launch lifeboats
and survivors clung to various pieces of wreckage, barrels and a few damaged boats torn from
Centaur as she sank.
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By the time of their rescue by the American destroyer USS Mugford, the survivors had spent 36
hours in the water. Of the 332 people aboard Centaur, just 64 survived.
The unprovoked sinking of a marked and lit hospital ship naturally caused outrage at the time,
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and deeply impacted the lives of survivors and the families of the dead. It continues to do so to this day,
the children and grandchildren of those lost mourning their loved one. Their lives were irrevocably
changed that early May morning.
Various tales of heroism emerged following the sinking, with the most well known being that of
Sister Ellen Savage, the sole survivor of the 12 female nurses aboard. Despite having been wounded,
she concealed her wounds and attended to others, and did what she could to keep up morale
among the survivors. She was subsequently awarded the George Medal for conspicuous gallantry.
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Naturally there were many examples of courage and individual sacrifice, many of which will never be
known.
This ANZAC Day let us remember the sacrifice of those aboard Centaur, lost on their mission of
mercy, as just one example of the tradition of service and sacrifice which continues to the present
day.
More information can be found on the Australian War Memorial website here:
https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/the-sinking-of-the-centaur
Support for families and descendants of those aboard Centaur: https://centaur.org.au/
Liked for remembrance.
Centaur was totally bad. Memorial on Caloundra Headland, where i work.I watched story recently on war horse Sandy, out of 180 thousand sent to war, he alone came back to Oz, worth watching. Many battles will be re fought at the bar tomorrow. Lest We Forget.
We will be at Redcliffe tomorrow from 5am for Anzac Service then breakfast at Belvedere.
Lest we forget they sacrificed so we can live the way we do 🙏
Safety Bay WA for me, Ex RAAF
Lest We Forget
Lest We Forget
Lest we forget :salute:
Got my poppy on.
Lest we forget.
Redcliffe dawn service 🙏
More pics.
Many many people it was a great atmosphere 👍😎
I must have been near you there and didn't see you - odd in such a small crowd :stir:
Twas a great turn out as always eh.