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John Oxley Library

Discovery of the Centaur

By JOL Admin | 4 January 2010

The John Oxley Library holds a significant amount of material concerning the hospital ship Centaur, the wreck of which was recently located off Moreton Island.  The vessel, despite being clearly marked as a hospital ship, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine on the 14 May 1943, sparking national outrage.  Of the 332 persons on board 268 lost their lives, including eleven nurses. 

A large medical boat from World war 2

  Australian hospital ship Centaur, John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Image number 17137

  

Material held in the John Oxley Library includes a newspaper clippings file, photographs, manuscript collections and various published works.   The following items may be found in the John Oxley Library collection:

Mulligan, Christopher S., Australian hospital ship Centaur: the myth of immunity, Hendra, Qld: Nairana Publications, 1993.  Call No: J 359.3264 MIL

Smith, Alan, Centaur Commemoration Committee: from beginning to end: pictorial history, Bardon, Qld: Centaur Commemoration Committee, 1993.  Call No: P 359.3264 SMI

Goodman, Rupert, Hospital Ships, Brisbane: Boolarong, 1992.  Call No: Q359.3264 GOO

Smith, A.E., Three minutes of time: the torpedoing of the Australian hospital ship 'Centaur', Tweed Heads: Lower Tweed River Historical Society, c1991. Call No: P 359.3264 SMI

Walk of remembrance: Centaur Memorial, Point Danger - Coolangatta, Queensland Australia, Tweed Heads: Tweed Heads and Dictrict Historical Society Inc., 2001.  Call No: P994.05 WAL

Centaur (videorecording): death of a hospital ship, Warwick, Qld: Greenapple Media Production, 1993.  Call No: HVC 359.3264 CEN

Please note that this material is held in our repository so if you would like to see any of it let us know beforehand (ph: 38407880) so that we can have it retrieved for you.

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