AHS Centaur 1943

Protected by the Geneva Convention

AHS Centaur was registered with the Red Cross in Switzerland. Her allies and enemies were notified of her existence and she was under the protection of the Geneva Convention. She was steaming north east of Stradbroke Island, Queensland, to give aid to injured service personnel in New Guinea and on her second mission.

Sunk by a Japanese submarine in three minutes

AHS Centaur was torpedoed amidships at 4am on 14th May 1943. She sank in three minutes with no time to transmit a distress signal. 268 died including 11 of the 12 nurses on board. 36 hours later the 64 survivors were found and rescued by the US destroyer USS Mugford. 

Wreck found in 2009

Her wreck was found by shipwreck hunter David Mearns and his team on the 20th December, 2009. She was less than one nautical mile from where her navigator, Gordon Rippon, judged her coordinates at the time of the sinking.

AHS Centaur Survivors Tell Their Stories

Movie Newsreels in WWII

In 1943 visual news stories were  presented as movie newsreels. This was the only way to visually update the population about what was happening during WWII. News stories were otherwise disseminated by radio. A MovieTone newsreel was made after news of the Centaur tragedy was known, when survivors were brought into Brisbane General Hospital.

Survivors of the Centaur tragedy

These are clips from the MovieTone newsreel from 1943. See the full version of the newsreel here.