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WET & HOT NEWS ! > World War Wrecks
Search and discoveries of War wrecks, Story tales...End of long hunt for Centaur
The 01 Mar. 2010 at 04:52World War WrecksBy Tuck Thompson - CourierMail.com.au
Australia's top political and military officials will lead the public in a national service of remembrance today for the 332 victims and survivors of the sinking of the AHS Centaur.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Premier Anna Bligh, Governor-General Quentin Bryce, Chief of Army Ken Gillespie and Chief of Navy Russell Crane are among those expected to attend the service at St John's Cathedral on Ann St in Brisbane's CBD on Tuesday, March 2, at 11am.
The wreck of the hospital ship, torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in May 1943, was found before Christmas about 50km east of Moreton Island.
The discovery and marking of the war grave has brought closure for hundreds of Centaur family members around Australia, many of whom will attend the service. Centaur survivor Martin Pash of Melbourne, 87, will be among the speakers.
Centaur Primary School pupils will read the names of 268 men and women non-combatants lost on the hospital ship.
Following a campaign by The Courier-Mail in August 2008, the Commonwealth and Queensland governments jointly agreed to a $4 million search. Family members had spent more than a decade lobbying for a search without success, as some within government feared a rift with Japan.SS Mendi's stories told almost 100 years after sinking
The 28 Feb. 2010 at 06:57World War Wrecks
From BBC
Many in the UK have never heard of SS Mendi, yet in South Africa's Easten Cape Province she is as famous as RMS Titanic.
In February 1917, she was lost off the south coast of the Isle of Wight with, 600 troops on board. Sinking 9 miles (14.4 km) off St Catherine's point, it is a story that is still virtually unknown in the UK.
Diver Martin Woodward was the first person to find and identify the wreck of SS Mendi in 1974. It was not until later he discovered the tragic story behind the artefacts that he brought to the surface.
Martin, owner of The Shipwreck and Maritime Museum in the Isle of Wight said: "The ship was coming up through the Channel destined for Le Havre."
As part of the British Empire, South Africa was automatically at war with Germany. Thousands of men were recruited as labourers, to dig trenches more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km) away from their homes.
The 4,000 ton Mendi was hit in fog by The Darro, almost three times the size of the troopship, and sank in 20 minutes. Martin explained: "A lot of people who were in the holds were drowned instantly."Date set for Centaur service
The 04 Feb. 2010 at 12:24World War Wrecks
By Mark Furler - Sunshine Coast Daily
Premier Anna Bligh has announced the date for the first of two major commemorations following the discovery of the AHS Centaur.
"A National Service of Thanksgiving and Remembrance will be held at St John's Cathedral Ann Street Brisbane on 2 March 2010 at 11 AM," the Premier said in a statement released this morning.
"The Order of Service for the ceremony is being prepared in consultation with key stakeholders but we wanted to give survivors and relatives of survivors time to make the arrangements they need to be there.
"A further ceremony proposed to be conducted at sea for Centaur relatives is yet to be scheduled and the details are being worked through with the commemoration taskforce."
A telephone number has been established by the Australian Army for people to register an interest in the commemorative proceedings :
Phone: 1800 019 955
Alternatively it is also possible to register an interest in the commemorative proceedings via the following internet link:
http://www.army.gov.au/AHS_Centaur.asp
In January, a memorial plaque was positioned by the expedition crew on the foredeck of the wreck of the Centaur honours those who lost their lives.WWII tank retrieved from the mud
The 21 Jan. 2010 at 13:58World War Wrecks
WW II Russian tank with German markings uncovered after 62 years. WW II Buffs will find this interesting. Even after 62 years (and a little tinkering), they were able to fire up the diesel engine!
A Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer pulled the abandoned tank from its tomb under the boggy bank of a lake near Johvi, Estonia . The Soviet-built T34/76A tank had been resting at the bottom of the lake for 56 years. According to its specifications, it's a 27-ton machine with a top speed of 53km/hr.
From February to September 1944, heavy battles were fought in the narrow, 50 km-wide, Narva front in the northeastern part of Estonia . Over 100,000 men were killed and 300,000 men were wounded there. During battles in the summer of 1944, the tank was captured from the Soviet army and used by the German army. (This is the reason that there are German markings painted on the tank's exterior.) On 19th September, 1944, German troops began an organized retreat along the Narva front. It is suspected that the tank was then purposefully driven into the lake to conceal it when its captors left the area.
At that time, a local boy walking by the lake, Kurtna Matasjarv, noticed tank tracks leading into the lake but not coming out anywhere. For two month s he saw air bubbles emerging from the lake. This gave him reason to believe that there must be an armored vehicle at the lake's bottom. A few years ago, he told the story to the leader of the local war history club 'Otsing'. Together with other club members, Mr. Igor Shedunov initiated diving expeditions to the bottom of the lake about a year ago. At the depth of 7 meters they discovered the tank resting under a 3 meter layer of peat.
Enthusiasts from the club, under Mr Shedunov's leadership, decided to pull the tank out. In September of 2000 they turned to Mr. Aleksander Borovkovthe, manager of the Narva open pit company AS Eesti Polevkivi, to rent the company's Komatsu D375A-2 bulldozer. (Currently used at the pit, the Komatsu dozer was manufactured in 1995, and has recorded 19,000 operating hours without major repairs.)
The pulling operation began at 09:00 and was concluded at 15:00, with several technical breaks. The weight of the tank, combined with the travel incline, made for a pulling operation that required significant muscle. The D375A-2 handled the operation with power and style. The weight of the fully-armed tank was around 30 tons, so the active force required to retrieve it was similar. A main requirement for the 68-ton dozer was to have enough weight to prevent slippage while moving up the hill.
After the tank surfaced, it turned out t o be a 'trophy tank' that had been captured by the German army in the course of the battle at Sinimaed (Blue Hills) about six weeks before it was sunk in the lake. Altogether, 116 shells were found on board. Remarkably, the tank was in good condition, with NO RUST, and all systems (except the engine) in working condition. This is a very rare machine, especially considering that it fought both on the Russian and the German sides. Plans are underway to fully restore the tank. It will be displayed at a war history museum in the Gorodenko village on the left bank of the River Narv.
Memorial plaque placed on Centaur
The 11 Jan. 2010 at 16:01World War WrecksBy Andrew fraser From -The Australian
A brass memorial plate was placed on the AHS Centaur early today, despite the ship being classified as a war grave, after a special permit was granted in record time to override the Historic Shipwrecks Act.
The state of the ocean floor has led to some problems with laying a memorial to the hospital ship, which has been two kilometres beneath the waves for more than 66 years after being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine during World War II.
The brass plate was blessed at a service in Sydney three weeks ago attended by members of the Centaur Association, and originally the intent was to place the plate on the ocean floor beside the wreck.
But when ship hunter David Mearns, who located the Centaur earlier this month, lowered an identical plate to the ocean floor it promptly sank into the mud.
On Sunday night the Queensland government urgently contacted its federal counterpart to see if the plate could be placed on the ship itself.Government rescues Centaur memorial bid
The 11 Jan. 2010 at 08:44World War Wrecks
By Christine Kellett - brisbanetimes.com.au
The Federal Government has given special permission to survivors and relatives of the 1943 Centaur naval disaster to fix a memorial plaque on the shipwreck after mud spoiled plans for a legal commemoration.
The 66-year-old shipwreck, which remained a mystery until last month when it was found two kilometers below the surface in waters off Moreton Island, is protected as a war grave under the Commonwealth Historic Shipwrecks Act, meaning it cannot be touched or tampered with.
A trial to place a bronze plaque beside the wreck to commemorate the 268 lives lost to the tragedy failed when it sunk in deep mud on the sea bed.Ian Hudson, of the 2/3 AHS Centaur Association, told brisbanetimes.com.au the Commonwealth had this afternoon granted special dispensation to the group to fix a plaque to the wreck itself.
Sunk Australia WWII hospital ship Centaur: first images
The 10 Jan. 2010 at 18:17World War Wrecks
From BBC News
An Australian World War II hospital ship, the Centaur, has been seen for the first time since it sank more than 60 years ago with a loss of 268 lives.
Images of the wreck, more than 2km (1.3 miles) below the sea, were captured by a remote-controlled underwater camera.
The ship's location was discovered last month following a hi-tech search.
Australia says the ship, which went down in May 1943, was torpedoed by the Japanese. Japan says the circumstances surrounding its sinking are unclear.
The search team found the ship on 20 December off the Queensland coast, about 30 miles due east of the southern tip of Moreton Island.
Favourable conditions allowed the crew to send down a camera on a remotely-operated submersible vehicle over the weekend. Further dives are planned.Glitches delay second Centaur mission
The 10 Jan. 2010 at 10:22World War WrecksBy David Barbeler
The Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur has been positively identified with high definition video footage more than 2,000 metres below the sea surface.
Shipwreck hunters took the first ever underwater footage of the Centaur, sunk by a Japanese torpedo in 1943, at 2.50am (AEDT) on Sunday during a six hour mission to the wreck.
World renowned shipwreck hunter David Mearns found the Centaur wreck on December 20 last year, 48km east of the southern tip of Moreton Island at a depth of 2,059 metres.
Also tasked with filming the Centaur, Mr Mearns - alongside a crew of 33 and a submarine robot named Remora 3 - positively identified the ship's Red Cross, a distinctive star on the bow, and a corroded identification number 47.
Several other features of the ship were also identified including the mast, anchor and guard rails.Karen Schuler hopes Centaur may reveal truth of lost uncle
The 07 Jan. 2010 at 22:15World War Wrecks
By Tuck Thompson - CourierMail.com.au
The discovery of torpedoed hospital ship Centaur off Brisbane last month may have solved a longtime family mystery.
Sydney resident Karen Schuler said her uncle, John Frederick Schuler of Victoria, vanished during World War II, leaving behind a wife and two sons.
The deep-sea sonar discovery of the Centaur led Ms Schuler to online military archives showing a handwritten "Schuler" in the margin of the list of nearly 270 victims of the Japanese submarine attack.
"I really had been flying in the dark. All I had were family stories," she said. "I rang my sister at four in the morning I was so excited.."
The second phase of the AHS Centaur search begins today as the search vessel Seahorse Spirit returns to the shipwreck site to identify Centaur using a submersible video camera.
It will spend four or five days recording the wreck at 2000m and placing a memorial plaque from Centaur Association families.
John Schuler, who would have been about 25 at the time of the sinking, joined the Citizen Military Forces just before the war. Another military record showed he was given active service but did not show his unit.Undersea robot to show Centaur shipwreck
The 06 Jan. 2010 at 09:18World War Wrecks
By Tuck Thompson - Couriermail.com.au
A submersible robot with crab-like arms has arrived in Brisbane to shed light on the wreck of the Centaur, discovered about 50km off Moreton Island.
The joystick-controlled camera will circle the Centaur and its debris field later this week at a depth of 2000m, transmitting the first images of the hospital ship since it was sunk by a Japanese submarine in 1943.
Then, using manipulative arms, it will place a commemorative plaque honouring the 268 non-combatants killed in Queensland's worst maritime disaster. It will feature personal messages in a CD from family members.
Search director David L. Mearns said he feared the badly damaged Centaur was resting on its side.
A large debris field was not expected, despite Centaur having a torpedo hole large enough to have sunk it in three minutes.
Swift currents at the wreck site will pose a challenge to the search crew, who will be lowering the Remora submersible using up to 7000m of steel cable.