AHS Centaur

AHS Centaur following her conversion to a hospital ship. The Red Cross designation "47" can be seen on the bow.
History
United Kingdom
Name	Centaur
Namesake	The Greek mythological creature
Owner	Ocean Steamship Company
Operator	Alfred Holt & Co Ltd (Blue Funnel Line)
Ordered	1923
Builder	Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Greenock
Laid down	16 November 1923
Launched	5 June 1924
Completed	29 August 1924
Homeport	Liverpool, England (registered) Fremantle, Western Australia (actual)
Identification	United Kingdom Official Number 147275
Fate	Transferred to Australia
General characteristics as merchant vessel
Tonnage	3,222 GRT
Length	96 m (315 ft)
Beam	14.7 m (48 ft)
Draught	6.1 m (20 ft)
Propulsion	double screw; 4-stroke, 6-cylinder Burmeister and Wain diesel oil engine providing 1,400 bhp (1,000 kW)
Speed	20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Capacity	72 passengers (50 first class, 22 second class) 450 cattle Cargo in four holds
Crew	39 officers, 29 ratings
Armament	Installed in 1939: 1 × 4-inch (100 mm) Mark IX naval gun, 2 × .303 Vickers machine guns, 2 × paravanes, degaussing equipment
Australia
Name	Centaur
Operator	2nd Australian Imperial Force
Acquired	4 January 1943
Reclassified	Hospital ship
Homeport	Sydney, New South Wales
Identification	Red Cross Ship 47
Fate	Torpedoed on 14 May 1943 by Japanese submarine I-177
General characteristics as hospital ship
Capacity	252 bed-patients
Crew	75 crew, 65 permanent Army medical staff
Armament	All weapons removed, degaussing equipment remained

Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur^[a] was a hospital ship which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on 14 May 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 died, including 63 of the 65 army personnel.

The Scottish-built vessel was launched in 1924 as a combination passenger liner and refrigerated cargo ship and operated a trade route between Western Australia and Singapore via the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), carrying passengers, cargo, and livestock. At the start of World War II, Centaur (like all British Merchant Navy vessels) was placed under British Admiralty control, but after being fitted with defensive equipment, was allowed to continue normal operations. In November 1941, the ship rescued German survivors of the engagement between Kormoran and HMAS Sydney. Centaur was relocated to Australia's east coast in October 1942, and used to transport materiel to New Guinea.

In January 1943, Centaur was handed over to the Australian military for conversion to a hospital ship, as her small size made her suitable for operating in Maritime Southeast Asia. The refit (including installation of medical facilities and repainting with Red Cross markings) was completed in March, and the ship undertook a trial voyage: transporting wounded from Townsville to Brisbane, then from Port Moresby to Brisbane. After replenishing in Sydney, Centaur embarked the 2/12th Field Ambulance for transport to New Guinea, and sailed on 12 May. Before dawn on 14 May 1943, during her second voyage, Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off Moreton Island, Queensland. The majority of the 332 aboard died in the attack; the 64 survivors were discovered 36 hours later.^[4] The incident resulted in public outrage as attacking a hospital ship is considered a war crime under the 1907 Hague Convention. Protests were made by the Australian and British governments to Japan and efforts were made to discover the people responsible so they could be tried at a war crimes tribunal. In the 1970s the probable identity of the attacking submarine, I-177, became public.

The reason for the attack is unknown; there are theories that Centaur was in breach of the international conventions that should have protected her, that I-177's commander was unaware that Centaur was a hospital ship, or that the submarine commander, Hajime Nakagawa, knowingly attacked a protected vessel. The wreck of Centaur was found on 20 December 2009; a claimed discovery in 1995 has been proven to be a different shipwreck.

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