The Australian Hospital Ship Centaur was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland, Australia, on 14 May 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 were killed.  The exact position of the sunken ship was unknown until December of last year when the ship wreck was positively identified.  On Friday, an at-sea memorial service was held aboard the HMAS Manoora over the site of the sunken ship.

After 67 years, ‘cloud of sorrow’ is finally lifted

Tom Bracken says there are two days in his life he’ll never forget.

One is the day when, at age 10, he was told two of his brothers were missing presumed drowned after the Centaur hospital ship was torpedoed off the Queensland coast during World War II.

And yesterday, for the first time in 67 years, he and his family could pay a proper farewell to Paul and John Bracken by joining an at-sea memorial service at the exact location where the hospital ship lay more than 2000 metres beneath.