AHS Centaur

Memorial Service

A memorial service was held on the 2nd March 2010, to remember the AHS Centaur and her crew at St. John's Cathedral, Brisbane. Messages of remembrance were read by Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce AC Governor-General of Australia, Her Excellency Ms Penelope Wensley AO, Governor of Queensland, The Honourable Kevin Rudd MP, Prime Minister of Australia and Mr Martin Lesley Pash, AHS Centaur survivor. The Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie laid a wreath at the service to mark his respects to the fallen.

More than 700 relatives and well wishers were present at the service. A large screen enabled the public to view the service from outside the cathedral.

The service concluded with an Army bugler playing the Last Post followed by a minutes silence.

A further ceremony proposed to be conducted at sea for the Centaur Relatives is still yet to be scheduled. The Australian Army along with the Queensland Government would like to invite relatives to continue to register their interest for information on further events by contacting 1800 019 955

Image of chior singing at AHS Memorial Service

To register for information on the AHS Centaur Memorial Service Call 1800 019 955. Due to circumstances beyond our control the AHS Centaur Memorial registration form experienced technical problems resulting in information not being collected. If you have submitted your interest via the online form please call 1800 019 955 to ensure you will receive information.

Black and White image of AHS Centaur On the morning of 14 May 1943, the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur (AHS Centaur) was sunk by a Japanese submarine east north east off the coast of Brisbane.

The remains of the ship were found by search teams on Sunday 20 December 2009. The project to find the remains was funded jointly by the Federal and Queensland Governments and with assistance from the Department of Defence.

History of the AHS Centaur

Built at Scotland's Greenock Shipyard in 1924, the 3222 ton Australian Hospital Ship Centaur (AHS 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.

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.

Recommended webiste: AHS Centaur Association