THE CENTAUR AND THE SYDNEY
Posted: Mon May 11, 2020 11:58 am
This coming Thursday 14 May marks the 77th anniversary of the sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur by Japanese submarine I 177. The location of the wreck was not discovered until Decempber 2009, 30 nautical miles east of Moreton Island. Similarly, HMAS Sydney was sunk in 1941 by a German raider off the WA coast and its wreckage was found only shortly before that of Centaur. This poem tells the story of both ships.
The Centaur and the Sydney
(c) Jeff Thorpe 2014
At last there is some closure, the mystery has been solved
with the Centaur’s final resting place located.
The search created headlines, much technology involved,
discovery perhaps not contemplated.
Yet, knowing where the ship does lie is little consolation
for 268 who lost their lives the morn
of May 14 in ’43 when outrage swept our nation,
Centaur torpedoed just before the dawn.
The uninformed may shrug and say this was an act of war
where ships of all combatants are fair game.
However, Centaur’s sinking saw much to answer for,
it a floating hospital, unarmed and surely tame.
All lights ablaze and red cross marks meant little to the sub
that sank the Centaur with no trace of pity.
A cruel and bitter episode remembrance cannot scrub,
though war is never ever seen as pretty.
I 177 sent Centaur to the ocean floor,
confirmation not revealed until years later.
Poetic justice came to pass though in 1944,
sub sunk, with all crew judged by their creator.
There is a touch of irony that’s seen in Centaur’s history,
to link with HMAS Sydney’s sinking,
location of both ships a long held ocean mystery,
a likeness there to set some minds a thinking.
Sydney was sunk in ’41 by Kormoron a German raider,
Kormoron too, did not survive the battle.
All Sydney’s hands were lost but, not so the invader,
survivors rounded up like wayward cattle.
Of many ships that saved the German sailors from their fate
the Centaur’s rescue role played no small part.
It’s poignant then that Centaur soon would match Sydney’s state,
sunk but, nowhere placed on any chart.
As mentioned, new technology has found Centaur’s grave
and formerly, Sydney’s and Kormoron’s too.
Wreaths put in place to float with motion of each wave,
respecting those who did not make it through.
While there’s satisfaction at least the wrecks were found,
the wounds now decades later are still sore,
even now the whole world over, conflicts still abound,
we’ve yet to learn futility of war.
The Centaur and the Sydney
(c) Jeff Thorpe 2014
At last there is some closure, the mystery has been solved
with the Centaur’s final resting place located.
The search created headlines, much technology involved,
discovery perhaps not contemplated.
Yet, knowing where the ship does lie is little consolation
for 268 who lost their lives the morn
of May 14 in ’43 when outrage swept our nation,
Centaur torpedoed just before the dawn.
The uninformed may shrug and say this was an act of war
where ships of all combatants are fair game.
However, Centaur’s sinking saw much to answer for,
it a floating hospital, unarmed and surely tame.
All lights ablaze and red cross marks meant little to the sub
that sank the Centaur with no trace of pity.
A cruel and bitter episode remembrance cannot scrub,
though war is never ever seen as pretty.
I 177 sent Centaur to the ocean floor,
confirmation not revealed until years later.
Poetic justice came to pass though in 1944,
sub sunk, with all crew judged by their creator.
There is a touch of irony that’s seen in Centaur’s history,
to link with HMAS Sydney’s sinking,
location of both ships a long held ocean mystery,
a likeness there to set some minds a thinking.
Sydney was sunk in ’41 by Kormoron a German raider,
Kormoron too, did not survive the battle.
All Sydney’s hands were lost but, not so the invader,
survivors rounded up like wayward cattle.
Of many ships that saved the German sailors from their fate
the Centaur’s rescue role played no small part.
It’s poignant then that Centaur soon would match Sydney’s state,
sunk but, nowhere placed on any chart.
As mentioned, new technology has found Centaur’s grave
and formerly, Sydney’s and Kormoron’s too.
Wreaths put in place to float with motion of each wave,
respecting those who did not make it through.
While there’s satisfaction at least the wrecks were found,
the wounds now decades later are still sore,
even now the whole world over, conflicts still abound,
we’ve yet to learn futility of war.