The Past is Prologue: Australian Hospital Ship Centaur (AHS 47)

An Historical Column by Captain Paul Creighton

                Centaur began as a commercial vessel designed to simultaneously carry passengers, livestock, and cargo. Laid down in November 1923, she was launched the following that year and took up an irregular passenger and cargo route between Fremantle in Western Australia, Java, and Singapore. Fully loaded, she could accomodate 72 passengers along with 450 cattle. Due to the extreme tides in her intended area of operation in Western Australia, she was designed with a reinforced, flat bottom hull to allow her to settle on the exposed mud flats that many of her harbors became at low tide. Although Centaur was powered by a diesel engine, she sported a single large smoke stack, a hold over design from coal-fired steam-powered vessels. Centaur continued her commercial service to the outbreak of World War Two in 1939, when she unwent a minor refit to add defensive weapons and counter-mine measures. After the refit, she returned to her pre-war route.

                After her career as a commercial vessel, Centaur was brought into service as a hospital ship to meet the anticipated needs of the coming hostilities. In early 1943, she was refitted as a hospital ship, with all weapons removed, but retained anti-mine equipment. She recieved the requisite hull markings to designate her as a hospital ship, including the proper hull number and inside and outside lighting to illuminate her markings. The necessary paperwork was filed with the International Red Cross, including her features such as her smoke stack and masts. The filing was promptly forwarded to all interested parties, including the Japanese.

                Centaur undertook a few test runs along the coast of Australia to determine her fitness as a vessel and to provide the necessary hospital service. She was equipped with an operating room, dental surgery, dispensary, and two full hospital wards with a capacity of over 250 beds along with berths for her 75 crew and 65 medical staff. After her test runs she sailed for Port Moresby, New Guinea with medical personnel and returned with wounded Allied personnel and a small number of wounded Japanese prisoners of war.
                Centaur arrived at Sydney on 8 May 1943 to take on supplies along with personnel. Centaur now had a number of Army personnel, 12 nurses, and the men and materiel from the 2/12th Field Ambulance, “2/12th Pioneers.” The 2/12th had earned its nickname during training in the Northern Territory. The 2/12th served the 23rd Brigade where they assisted with the construction of five army field hospitals as well as assisting sapper and pioneer assault units. The 2/12th caused some confusion during boarding as the crew was uncertain if the presence of their weapons and ammunition would violate the Hague Convention's definition of a non-combatant hospital ship. After a time, the ship's master was officially informed that the rifles and ammunition being brought on board were allowed under Article 8 of the Hague Convention as they allowed “for the maintenance of order and the defence of the wounded.”

                Centaur left Sydney on 12 May, bound for Cairn, Queensland and then on to Port Moresby. Just off the coast from Brisbane, around 4:10am local time on the morning of 14 May, Centaur was struck by a torpedo which wracked the ship and set fire to her fuel tanks. Centaur began to flood and she rolled to port before she began to sink bow first. Many on board were immediately killed by the concussion of the torpedo and the exploding fuel tank. Many more burned to death before the vessel sank in three minutes. Most of the personnel were asleep in their bunks when the vessel was struck and many did not make it to the upper decks before she went down. None of the ship's lifeboats were launched however two broke free along with several liferafts.

               Roughly 200 people managed to escape the sinking ship, but in the following hours the number of survivors dwindled. The combination of wounds from shrapnel and burns, along with the lack of lifeboats contributed to the loss of life. On the morning of 15 May, USS Mugford, an American destroyer left Brisbane escorting the freighter Sussex. Mugford spotted the first signs of the wreckage of Centaur at around 2pm. Mugford ordered Sussex to continue on to their destination while Mugford conducted rescue operations. Within a litte more than an hour, Mugford had brought the survivors on board. Mugford remained in the area until late into the evening, continuing to look for survivors. During the night and the following day, planes and boats searched the area but no other survivors were ever found. All told, of the 332 people on board Centaur, only 64 survived the ordeal to be rescued by Mugford, including only 14 of the 192 originally embarked from the 2/12th Field Ambulance.

                Among the survivors, one tale of heroism rose above the others, that of the one surviving nurse, Sister Ellen Savage. She aided the wounded during their 36 hours adrift. During that time she boosted morale and showed such great personal courage that she was awarded the George Medal.

                “Although suffering from severe injuries received a a result of the explosion, and subsequent immersion in the sea, she displayed great herosim during the period whilst she and some male member of the ship's staff were floating ona raft, to which they clung for some, thirty-four hour before being rescued by an American destroyer. 

               “She rendered conspicuous service whilst on the raft in attending to wounds and burns sustained by other survivors. 

               “Sister Savage's example of high courage and fortitude did much to maintain the morale of her companions during their ordeal.”

               The incident served to galvanize the war effort in Austalian. Unlike other attacks on merchant and troop ships, the attack of a hospital ship was seen as particularly barbaric. Some could not believe that the Japanese would resort to such treachery and rumors began to circulate that Centaur was carrying commandos and military supplies. No doubt, the incident with the 2/12th and their rifles fueled the rumor mill. In the end, the vast majority of Australians as well as the government, used the Centaur as a rallying cry. Images of the sinking Centaur were used on posters to encourage Australians to increase war production, buy war bonds, and enlist in the armed forces.

                Because the ship was so clearly marked and was running with lights during hours of darkness, the Australian Department of Defense removed the markings and lights from another hospital ship, AHS Manuda. She was even armed and run under escort while blacked out. Eventually, the changes were undone, at a cost of over £12,000 and more than three months. Policy changed also, preventing some personnel from boarding, including repatriation teams. Ambulance drivers were transferred from the regular Army to the Medical Corps before boarding, although their unloaded weapons and ammunition were still permitted on board.

               The attacker, at the time, was unknown. Based on reports that later surfaced, we know that three

different Japanese submarines were in the area at the time. According to the official Japanese history, I-177 reported sinking a ship in the area at the time when Centaur was sunk. In command of I-177 at that time was Lieutenant Commander Hajime Nakagawa. There is no mention of the sinking of a hospital ship in any report made by the submarine's crew and a subsequent commanding officer of the same submarine is on public record stating that he believes the crew did not know they had attacked a hospital ship. Nakagawa was later tried and convicted to four years in prison as a Class B war criminal for ordering the shooting of civilian survivors of British merchant vessels sunk by his submarine.

                No one was ever tried for the war crime of sinking Centaur, partially because the record was so sparse and the determination that I-177 was most likely responsible came rather late. Additionally, there is no evidence that Nakagawa determined that his target enjoyed protected status as a hospital ship. The ship was running with all lights on except the two bow lights, but the full moon may have washed out the effects of the exterior lights at the standard attack range of 1500m. Many naval officers were not able to correctly identify vessels from their markings and profiles in those exact conditions. If Nakagawa knew Centaur was a hospital ship, it seems almost certain that he did not inform his crew.
                The loss of Centaur was not crucial to the war effort. She was a smaller type of hospital ship and could be relatively easily replaced. The loss of life, while a high percentage of those on board, was still relatively light in absolute numbers. The Allied response was actually the most damaging result of this incident, with wasted time and resources on the modifications and then back again of AHS Manuda. The Centaur did serve as an effective rallying cry for Australians and is best remembered as such.