Shipwreck hunter combs archives for Centaur clues
- On 08/04/2009
- In World War Wrecks
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By Meg Purtell
A British shipwreck hunter says he wants to find answers for the loved ones of those killed when the World War II hospital ship the Centaur sank off the Queensland coast.
The Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off south-east Queensland in 1943, with the loss of 268 lives.
Martin Pash, 87, was on board the Centaur the night it went down. Of the 268 people who were killed, only 64 returned home, and Mr Pash is one of three survivors that are still alive.
"I was the last one out the quarters and I got sucked back into the ship's hull," he said.
"We tried to get the life boats away and couldn't get them away.
"I left and I said, 'grab something safe until the ship's gone under' and I left and went up to grab the rail on the side of the ship, and before I had a chance to do it, the suction took me down number one hatch.
Australia japan WW II treasure hunter Moreton Island
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