HOSPITAL SHIP

Grey River Argus, 19 May 1943, Page 5

HOSPITAL SHIP

SINKING BY JAPS I RUTHLESS SUBMARINE ACTION Off Queensland Coast HEAVY LOSSES OF PERSONNEL. 'Aust, £ N.Z. Cable Assn.l <Rec. 7.30.) SYDNEY, May 18. The large Australian hospital ship "Centaur” has been torpedoed and sunk off the Queensland coast. Of the ship’s complement and medical staff of 363, only sixty-four were saved. The remainder, perished. The Japanese submarine which made the attack early last Friday morning was sighted by the survivors. The “Centaur,” which went down within three minutes of being torpedoed was brilliantly illuminated with red crosses, showing plainly. No wounded service personnl were aboard. The first announcement of the sinking was made in General MacArthur’s communique to-day. Under the heading “Australia” , the communique says:— “At 4/10 a.m. on May 14, an enemy submarine torpedoed and sank without warning, the Australian hospital ship “Centaur,” forty miles east of Brisbane, while enroute from Sydney to New Guinea. The vessel was travelling unescorted, was fully illuminated and marked with the red cross, and complying with all provisions of International law governing hospital ships in time of war. The weather was clear and visibility excellent. The vessel capsized and sank within three minutes of being hit. Of 363 members of the crew and medical staff and nurses on board, sixty-four were rescued. The remainder were lost. Survivors saw the enemy submarine which surfaced afteii the attack.” “The attack on the “Centaur” bore all marks of wantonness and deliberation,” declared Mr. Curtin in Canberra. "Th e d ee d will shock the conscience of the whole civilised world. It will demonstrate to all who have any lingering doubts of the unscrupulous and barbarous methods bv which the Japanese con- . duct their warfare. To the next of kin the Government and nation extend their heartfelt sympathy, which is deeped since these persons were engaged - in non-combatant duties, and were by all rules of warfare immune from attack.” Mr. Curtin explained that the “Centaur” was brightly illuminated in accordance with the Geneva Convention. In addition to the usual navigation lights she had illuminated red crosses on, each side of her hull, red crosses on each side of the funnels, and rows of brilliant lights along the side of the hull to illuminate the characteristic green band encircling the vessel. The use of the “Centaur” as a hospital ship, togeth er with full details was given to all Axis nations early this year. “In all the circumstances, the Government is bound tb regard the sinking as an inexcusable act, in violation of the Convention to which Japan is a party, and of all principles of common' humanity. An immediate strong protest in these terms is being addressed to the Japanese Government, and the country may feel confident that the Government will do its utmost to establish the rights ol the Red Cross and ensure that the war criminals responsible for this act are brought to justice.”

Details of Sinking SURVIVORS’ TERRIBLE ORDEALS.,

(Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 10.20.) SYDNEY, May 18. The sinking of the three thousand ton Australian hospital ship “Centaur” by a Japanese submarine, with the loss of 299 lives, is regarded as one of the war’s most shocking crimes. The survivors are unanimous that the enemv submarine could not have failed to identify the “Centaur” as a hospital ship. Many of those lost were taken bv sharks. fi’he survivors were not picked up until 2.15 p.m. on Saturday, thirtysix hours after the ship was torpedoed. They comprised one officer, one' nursing sister, thirty other medical personnel, a~nd thirty seamen. The casualties include thirteen medical. officers, the matron, eleven nurses, and the ship’s captain. The survivors, clinging to the wreckage and drifting in lifebuoys, were located by a plane which directed a rescue vessel to the scene. Many of them were completely naked, suffering terribly from sunburn and exposure. They told pathetic stories of the ordeal • through which they had passed. All the ship’s boats were smashed, either when the torpedo struck or by the sea as th e ship went down bv the head. Most of her personnel, who were forward at the time of the impact, perished The survivors are chiefly those who jumped overboard aft. Some were burned as fire raged through the ship when ,the fuel tanks exploded. Fortunately the oil on the surface! of th e water did not ignite. There was a swell, but no sea. However the waters were alive with sharks. The survivors tell how they were dragged under as the ship sank, corning to the surface to clutch at such flotsam as they could find- ; ie 7 spent two terrible days in alternating hail and hot sunshine. All of them were bruised and battered, ana many were burned and blinded by floating oil. . , A flying-boat, five aeroplanes, ana two ships failed to sight the stuvigors. who were finallv seen by an Australian plane which radioed their location" to a small Allied vessel. Most of those rescued are now m hospital undergoing treatment lor sunburn or such injuries as crushed limbs and broken rjbs received v,her they were hit by’ wreckage.

Deliberate Action BY JAPANESE SUBMARINE. SHIP A BLAZE OF LIGHTS. (Special to N.Z. Press Assn.) (Rec. 10.30.) SYDNEY, May 18. All say there was no room 101 doubt that the submarine which torpedoed the “Centaur” deliberately selected the hospital ship as a target. “We were lit up to glory fore and aft, and it is quite beyond the bounds of 'possibility that the Japanese could have made any mistake,, said Lieutenant-Colonel L. M. Outridge, the senior officer .among the pitiably few’ survivors.” He expressed ed regret at the loss of his medical colleagues, and of Matron Jewell, of Western Australia, and the eleven sisters, all of whom perished. “Their devotion to duty will not be forgotten,” he said, “nor will their murder be left unavenged.” On Friday night the submarine

thought to be the one responsible for the attack, surfaced near some of the survivors on .a raft to recharge her batteries during darkness. Most of those rescued were picked up from seven rafts, but others were merely holding on to planks and spars. Four men stood on the charthouse roof for thirty-six hours, while another clung all the time to a matchboard and shepherded two friends who had been sitting in lifebuoys since the hospital ship sank. Only one raft carried ,any provisions. It had two thousand milk tablets, seven pounds of prunes, two pounds of chocolate, a tin of raisins, and two gallons of water for rationing between thirty-one people. There was general thankfu’ln'ess that no patients were carried aboard the ship. “Cruelty and Savagery” MACARTHUR'S COM’MENT.

(Rec. 10.50) SYDNEY, May 18. In a statement on the sinking of 'the “Centaur,” General MacArthur said: “I cannot express the revulsion I feel at this unnecessary act ol cruelty. Its limitless savagery represents a continuation of a calculated attempt to create a sense of trepidation through the practice of horror, designed to shock the normal sensibilities.’ The brutal excesses of the Philippines campaign, the execution of our captured airmen, the barbarity of Papua are all part of a pattern. The enemy, does not understand—he apparently cannot understand—that our invincible strength is not so much of the body as it is ol the soul and rises with adversity. The Red Cross will not falter under this foul blow. Its light of mercy will but shine the brighter on our way to the inevitable victory.”

HEROIC NURSE. The heroine of the torpedoed ‘‘Centaur” was a nurse, Sister Eleanor Savage of Sydney, the sole woman survivor. After she was rescued it.was discovered tha't she bad fractured three ribs in addition to suffering burns and bruises, but did not utter a word of complaint to her fellow survivors on the raft, who were surprised to learn of the serious nature of her injuries. Nurse Savage, a pretty brunette was two years abroad with the A.I.F. She is a strong swimmer. She wa's taken on to the raft from the floating deck house, and had lost most of her clothes in the water. Others on the raft tell how she led them on her rosary beads in prayers for deliverance of the whole company. She earlier rescued a hoy who was badly burned. One man on the raft died, and was buried at sea. The senior medical officer, Lieut.-Colonel Outridge, gave another man on the raft a blood transfusion, and he is reported to be making satisfactory progress. “Sharks followed our raft the whole time, said the chief pantryman, Ronald Moate, of Victoria.” At one time there were eight big ones skimming the water around us. When a rescue vessel came, American seamen on the decks shot at sharks to keep them away, in case any of our chans fell into the sea while being taken aboard. Others dived into the water to help those who were too weak to climb ' aboard unaided. Moate said that he was with the captain on the boat deck when the “Centaur” sank. The captain went down with the ship. All hands spoke in the highest terms of calm and courage of me Torres Strait pilot, Captain R. M. Salt, who was taken aboard at Sydney. Despite bad burns and his sixty-seven years, he came stoically through lhe ordeal. “I have been at sea fifty years,” he said to-day in hospital, “and I will be back on ship again.” The captain was aboard the vessel sunk by! Japanese shellfire at. Milne Bay last year. Other survivors tell of the difficulty of staying awake on small rafts in shark infested waters. One man said he- fell overboard twice from sheer exhaustion, but each time was; dragged back to safety. The oil on the water did not deter the sharks, which swam right through it. Most of those rescued suffered terribly, from thirst. A lone survivor on a raft told how his companied lost his reason and dived into the sea, saying he was going to. look for something to drink. The man was not seen again. On the two rafts which contained water, the survivors limited to' two teaspoonfuls a day. Several rescued seamen had been in other torpedoed ships, but all declare that not even the latest and most ghastly experience will deter them from following their calling.