Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Young Anglers the Last to See the Centaur

From the Dec. 23, 2009 Chronicle (Australia). This was back when a search was on to locate the wreck of the AHS Centaur, a hospital ship sunk by a Japanese submarine. I have done many entries about this vessel. Surprisingly, very little was printed in the United States about it.

On May 14, 1943, Kevin Watkins, now 76, was fishing off South Stradbroke Island with his brother and father when he saw the distant light of the Centaur.

"We saw a boat going north towards Brisbane and it was all lit up. We made remarks at the time because it was war-time and the ships should usually be blacked. So we figured it must have been a neutral or a hospital ship."

They later noted a bright flash over the water.

The next day they found a crate of oranges washed up on the shore and now feel sure it was from the Centaur. They ate it all.

A Sad Story of a War Tragedy. --Cooter

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