The Centaur, 2/3rd Australian Hospital Ship, was a motor passenger ship converted in early 1943 for use as a hospital ship. In November 1941 it had rescued survivors of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran after it had sunk and been sunk by HMAS Sydney.
On 12, May 1943 the Centaur sailed unescorted from Sydney at 0945 hours carrying her crew and normal staff as well as stores and equipment of the 2/12th Field Ambulance but no patients. It was sunk without warning by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine on 14 May 1943 at approximately 0400 hours, its position being approximately 27’17’ S, 153°58′ E about 50 miles east north-east of Brisbane.
Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived. These survivors spent 35 hours on rafts before being rescued. Sister Ellen Savage, the only one of twelve nursing sisters on board to survive, though injured herself, gave great help to the other survivors and was awarded the George Medal for this work.
World War II Stories from Brisbane’s South West
The sinking of Centaur sent shockwaves through wartime Brisbane, then a major centre of Allied command, logistics and medical support in the South West Pacific. Camp Columbia at Wacol was at that time a United States Army camp, while military hospitals and other facilities across south-east Queensland supported operations in Australia and New Guinea.
Centaur also had a significant Dutch–Australian connection. All twelve Australian Army Nursing Service nurses aboard Centaur had previously served on the Netherlands hospital ship Oranje. Twenty-eight Australian personnel associated with Oranje subsequently served aboard Centaur; only ten survived its sinking. Among the survivors was Sister Ellen Savage, the only one of Centaur’s twelve nurses to survive.
This connection between the two hospital ships, and the Australian personnel who served aboard both, is explored in the Dutch Australian Cultural Centre article From Oranje to Centaur: Australian medical personnel and the tragedy of 14 May 1943..