| Accession Number | 014898 |
|---|---|
| Collection type | Photograph |
| Object type | Black & white, Landscape |
| Physical description | Black & white, Landscape |
| Maker |
Unknown Australian Official Photographer |
| Place made | Australia: New South Wales, Sydney, Australia: New South Wales, Sydney |
| Date made | c May 1943 |
| Conflict |
Second World War, 1939-1945 |
| Copyright |
Item copyright: Copyright expired - public domain
|
MV Centaur, a motor passenger ship of 3223 tons owned by the Ocean Steamship Company Ltd and ...
Description
MV Centaur, a motor passenger ship of 3223 tons owned by the Ocean Steamship Company Ltd and registered at Liverpool, England, was made available by the Ministry of War Transport for conversion to a hospital ship in January 1943, for use in the New Guinea area. At approximately 4 am on Friday 14 May 1943, during a voyage northwards, Centaur was off Brisbane with Point Lookout, on Stradbroke Island, bearing W.S.W distant twenty four miles when she was struck without warning by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine. She sank quickly with a loss of 268 lives. The following day, 15 May 1943, the American destroyer USS Mugford located and rescued sixty three men and one woman (Sister Savage, an Army nurse) survivors before taking them to Brisbane.