Jan. 13, 2010 Gold Coast.
The Centaur Plaque dedication took place at 12:45 pm, Jan. 12th, about 7 hours after the Remora 3 submarine robot had laid it on the bow of the ship in what could be the last-ever dive on the vessel. The plaque has the names of the crew and messages from family encrypted on a CD embedded in it.
Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett (one-time front man for the rock group Midnight Oil) approved a special permit to allow the dive, otherwise, it would have been prohibited under the Historic Shipwreck Act of 1976.
From what was seen, there can be no doubt that the Japanese submarine commander knew that he was firing at a hospital ship. Of the 332 aboard the Centaur, only ten would need to be awake, so the rest were probably asleep when the torpedo struck. Everyone forward was probably killed instantly. Those that got off were showered with burning drops of oil.
The ceremony consisted of a prayer, a moment of silence and a memorial wreath, weighted-down to sink, was placed in the water.
A memorial for relatives and survivors is planned.
A Final Visit. --Cooter
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