ANZAC EVE 2009 COMMEMORATION

Candlelit vigil for SS Admella

2009-08-14T20:32:00.001-07:00

The Navigator memorial sculptor Karen Genoff, Merchant Navy Priest Ray Prettejohn, Port Adelaide Chaplain Robin Trebilcock and Keith Ridgeway, Merchant Navy Association spoke at the 5.30 am commemoration of the departure of SS Admella from Port Adelaide 150 years ago.

Descendants of cabin boy George Ward, who survived the Admella tragedy, and of rescuers the Portland lifeboat captain James Fawthrop and lighthouse keeper Captain Benjamin Germein, were among the crowd at Port Adelaide commemorations to mark the departure of the vessel on her last fateful voyage on August 5, 1859.

At precisely 5.30 am a ship’s bell was rung, candles were lit and a tot of rum was served to more than 30 souls at the SS Admella memorial ‘The Navigator’ at the Queens Wharf end of Timpson Street.

Keith Ridgeway rang the ship’s bell at 5.30 am as a Channel 7 cameraman recorded the 150th anniversary of the Admella tragedy.

Our photos by Cheryll Goodridge.

Admella tragedy rivals Titanic sinking

2009-07-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

SCULPTURE MARKS THE LAST VOYAGE OF SS ADMELLA

The historic move of the major memorial to the vessel SS Admella from St Vincent Street to the Queens Wharf end of Timpson Street Port Adelaide has been completed on schedule for special commemorations on Wednesday, August 5.

With its large ship’s wheel, longitude and latitude, compass points and a new black granite block, The Navigator will be unveiled at a candle light vigil at 5.30 am marking the time SS Admella departed from Port Adelaide on her ill fated voyage 150 years ago.

The Admella was last seen at Semaphore, where she picked up three more passenger and one fireman making a total of 84 passengers and twenty nine crew, who were about to face a tragedy that rivalled the drama of the sinking of the Titanic.

Over the next 8 days, 89 people lost their lives, but miraculously 24 survived, most of them hanging onto the wreck in raging winter seas all that time.

At 11 am on August 5, The Navigator, sculptor Karen Genoff’s brilliant depiction of the tragic sinking of the SS Admella at Carpenter Rocks, will be commemorated.

Many of Port Adelaide and Semaphore’s maritime families will be among a large crowd expected to attend the commemoration.

This major South Australian history project follows an enormous amount of dedicated work by Karen Genoff, the Land Management Corporation (LMC), City of Port Adelaide Enfield and contractors Seacon and Tillets.

Karen has a diverse and widely acclaimed body of public art work across Australia.

The moving of The Navigator to Timpson Street was funded and project managed by LMC, after a meeting with the Port Seafarers Memorials Committee, founded by Mayor Gary Johanson.

Members of the committee include Keith Ridgeway, Rex Munn, Pat Perry, Kevin Jones, John Ford and Keith Shegog.

The refurbishment and moving of the major sculpture has only been made possible through the generosity and hard work of LMC and its project managers.

The commemoration is an opportunity for those involved in the Admella 150 Festival, which starts on August 6, to come to Port Adelaide to mark the start of the last voyage for SS Admella.

The SS Admella 150 Festival is being staged by the District Council of Grant, which includes Carpenter Rocks and Port MacDonnell, the Glenelg Shire Council, which includes the City of Portland in Victoria, the City of Mount Gambier, the Wattle Range Council, and the District Council of Robe.

The SS Admella was a 55.6 metres steam ship of 209 tons (212 tonnes) also fitted with three masts and sails. Her length was 55.6 metres.

The name Admella comes from the route it always sailed: Adelaide Melbourne Launcestan.

For the full story of the SS Admella tragedy, described in the Australian Press at the time as a national calamity, go to:

http://www.jaunay.com/admella.html

Our photos show:

A 50 ton crane, dwarfing the masts of the 90 year old ketch Failie, lowers the two and a half ton granite block into position.

Failie was on station at the entrance to Sydney harbour on the night of May 31, 1942, the evening three Japanese midget subs planned to attack shipping under cover of darkness.

In the opening moments of the strike, Falie grazed one of the submarines lurking under the surface off South Head and reported the contact to Command.

Failie will remain located at Queens Wharf as a fitting backdrop to The Navigator.

Sculptor Karen Genoff being interviewed by Ron Kandlelaars for Channel Nine's "Postcards" to be shown on August 9.

66th Anniversary of sinking of Centaur

2009-05-08T20:10:00.001-07:00

This week marks the 66th anniversary of one of Australia's darkest moments in World War II.

Two hundred and sixty eight people died when the hospital ship Centaur was sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Stradbroke Island near Brisbane, in what was denounced as a despicable war crime.

Following the finding of HMAS Sydney, 12 months ago a story on ABC’s The 7.30 Report urged the Federal Government to begin a new search for the Centaur.

Victims' families said the time had come to put the Centaur's ghost to rest and find the wreckage of the vessel.

And the shipwreck hunter who discovered HMAS Sydney said he would love the challenge.

Now, with funding from the Federal and Queensland Governments, he is about to face that challenge.

"I think it's like the HMAS Sydney, a loss that has touched people and maybe scarred people for generations," David Mearns said.

In the early hours of Friday May 14,1943, the Centaur was steaming en route to Port Moresby to pick up casualties.

But lurking nearby off the coast of southern Queensland was Japanese submarine I177, which fired a torpedo.

It took only three minutes for the hospital ship to slip beneath the surface, taking 268 souls with it.

Sixty-three men and a nursing sister spent the next 35 hours drifting on rafts before being rescued.

It was Australia's greatest wartime disaster in the Pacific, a tragedy condemned by then Prime Minister John Curtin as a deliberate and blasphemous war crime.

"It's unspeakable, because the ship was lit up to glory.

“It was a hospital ship, it was accredited. The Japanese Government had recognized her immunity," maritime historian Captain John Foley said.

Sir Keith Jones could have been one of those on board the Centaur.

At 97 with a distinguished medical career behind him, Sir Keith and his brother Gordon were in the Army Medical Corps during World War II.

Posted to Cairns, then medical officer Jones was offered a berth alongside his brother on board the Centaur as it was about to set off from Sydney.

"I thought it over and said no, I'd prefer not to, I don't think brothers should be together in the same unit, and so he went off on the ship and I went up by train," he said.

"Halfway up the Queensland coast, a rumour went around the train that a hospital ship had been sunk."

Ted Leask's family suffered more losses on the Centaur than any other. His father and his three brothers were members of the second 12th Field Ambulance unit.

While his three uncles boarded the Centaur and perished, his father escaped.

"Yeah, it was Mum's ill health, actually [that saved him]," he said.

"Mum was six months pregnant with my eldest brother. So Dad's brothers implored the colonel of the unit to have Dad sent to Sydney on compassionate leave. That separated the brothers."

Captain Bernie Hindmarsh

Jan Thomas has never left the memory of her father Captain Bernie Hindmarsh fade. She set up the Centaur Association so other family members could tell their story.

"My father was one of the three doctors on the ship's medical staff who all lost their lives. I was six when it happened, and I remembered that I bellowed like a bull and I ran away," she said.

"It's important to know where their loved ones lie. But the Centaur also needs to be found for her own protection.

"She lies in fishing lanes off the most densely populated coastline in Australia.

"There was no need in the past. They were safe in Davey Jones's locker. That's not the case any more."

The Centaur Association is in touch with Mr Mearns about launching an expedition.

Two months ago Mr Mearns solved Australia's greatest maritime mystery, finding HMAS Sydney and the German raider Kormoran.

Both ships went to the bottom after a savage battle 66 years ago off the Western Australian coast.

The shipwreck hunter, who also discovered British battleship HMS Hood and the German battleship Bismarck, is churning through archives in the search for the Centaur.

"We know that the second officer on board, also reported the position as well. So on the face of it, it does look like there is enough information to be used to mount the search," he said.

Captain Foley says he thinks the Centaur is lying in about 1,800 metres of water - half the depth at which HMAS Sydney was found.

He has tracked the ship's last known location based on interviews with the navigator.

But he understands there are some who think the Centaur should be allowed to rest in peace.

"In the Centaur Association, there are people who have said we'd rather it was just left alone, but if they can at least find the wreck and identify exactly where she is, then it can be given a measure of protection that it doesn't have at the moment," he said.

It cost $4.5 million to find HMAS Sydney and the Kormoran, but David Mearns believes it shouldn't cost quite that much to locate the Centaur.

But he has a warning for those who believe that finding the hospital ship will be easy.

"Anybody who says I guarantee it will be found is either a liar or a fool - and I'm neither of those," he said.

Adapted from a piece by Mark Willacy for The 7.30 Report in May 2008

Lost three uncles

Alice Springs local Alex Leask, who lost three uncles, on the Centaur has grown up with the story as part of his family folklore.

Not long before the fateful bright and calm night in May Alex's father was working on the Centaur only to return home to look after his pregnant wife. At this stage Alex's uncles weren't working on the Centaur.

"My mother was pregnant with me at the time. She was ill and Dad's brothers, Harold, Alexander and Henry implored for dad to go home and look after my mother on compassionate leave.

"Dad didn't know that they were on the ship...the attack broke the Geneva connection about targeting hospital ships," said Alex.

“The effects of the sinking of the Centaur which went down in three minutes have continued to this day.

"The effect was huge on my parents, they could never talk about it, none of dad's brothers were married and they used to treat mum as a princess, the grief was overwhelming."

"The tragedy meant it was the end of the family on Dad's side."

www.abc.net.au/local/stories

Photographs:
Alex Leask lost three uncles when the hospital ship Centaur was sunk in World War Two. (ABC Local Radio: Nicole Lee)

Alex Leask's mother, father and uncles before the sinking of the Centaur. (ABC Local Radio: Nicole Lee)

Rare footage of Centaur

2009-05-04T17:01:00.001-07:00

See rare footage of the Australian Hospital Ship Centaur, rescuing the survivors of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran after it had sunk and been sunk by HMAS Sydney.

http://www.hmassydney.com/kormoranrescue.html

Brisbane Courier Mail coverage

2009-04-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

Courier Mail photo and story on Centaur model in a bottle at: http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,25404662-3102,00.html

Brave souls on stormy ANZc Eve

2009-04-25T13:30:00.001-07:00

About 400 brave souls ventured out on a wet and windy night for ANZAC Light on the Water 2009 which paid tribute to the 268 Australians who were lost when the hospital ship Centaur was torpedoed off the Queensland coast in May 1943.

Strong winds prevented the lighting of candles in the 3000 cardboard replica lifeboats made by local Primary School students.

However, North Haven Lifesaving Club volunteers came to the rescue and valiantly managed to light some of the candles in the 268 lifeboats that bore the name of each of the victims of the wartime tragedy.

The small group of spectators were entertained by a smaller Bay Big Band, a larger than life Steve Foster, a lone piper and the hugely impressive Royal Australian Navy Guard and Ceremonial Unit.

Port Kids for Anzac Patrons Jack Buckskin, 22, welcomed everyone to the land of his Kaurna people and Paralympian Jay Dohnt, 19, spoke about the role of young people in the future commemoration of Australia's military forces, merchant navy and civilian support groups in many conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

"I encourage all young people to become more involved in ANZAC day events during this and future commemorations, many of the soldiers who fought to create this fantastic legacy of mate ship and patriotism were as young as 16, boys who changed the dates of their birth certificates for an opportunity to represent and protect this country.

"A sense of morality and pride that I believe still exists within Australian youth today.

"ANZAC day is an opportunity to enforce that very sense of pride we have simply by being an Australian.

"A sense of pride that steams back to the attitudes and achievements of the Anzacs, a sense of pride which optimizes Australia and Australians.

"Tonight’s ceremony is the first step for John Williams, Jack Buckskin and I in establishing “Port Kids for ANZAC” a group which is dedicated to reminding SA’s youth about the importance of the Anzac’s and ANZAC day.

"Together with Jack and John I hope to be able to recruit more young people from schools all over SA and fulfil the saying “lest we forget”.

Other speakers included South Australian Treasurer, Kevin Foley, local Federal Labor MP Mark Butler, Port Adelaide Mayor, Gary Johanson, and Rev Ali Wurm.

Because organisers were unable to light many candles, local community and visitors at the event took home most of the 3000 lifeboats and promised to return them for launching when David Mearns of Blue Water Discoveries and the Federal and Queensland Government Search Team locates the wreck of the Centaur later this year.

The organisers of ANZAC of Light on the Water thank all of those volunteers who worked tirelessly on the 2009 event.

Our photos show:

The incredible Centaur in a bottle, a priceless memento, which is actually made from some wreckage washed up on Bribie Island the morning after the hospital ship was sunk. Paul Minards drove to Port Adelaide to show it to everyone at the event, because it was his father, a Coast-watcher on Bribie Island in May 1943, who found the wreckage and then made the ship in the bottle. Paul believes it should be in the National War Memorial in Canberra and it is possible that David Mearns might take it out with him on the search for Centaur.

Photos: Jack Buckskin in Network Ten's Adelaide studios make up.

Jack, who is a dancer and teacher, is also highly skilled in traditional Indigenous body make up himself.

The three Js: Jay, Jack and John with the camera crew after a national interview with David and Kim for 9 AM.

Brave Lifesaver volunteers make every effort to keep the flame burning.

Proud merchant seamen Keith Ridgeway hangs the Red Ensign and Aussie flag.

Veterans widows watch the the RAN Guard and Ceremonial Unit.

Keith Ridgeway, one of the hardest working volunteers with RAN South Australia Commanding Officer, Craig Pritchard, local Federal MP Mark Butler, Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor, Gary Johanson, and lone piper Don Macaulay.

More boats with names

Premier Bligh accepts Centaur painting

2009-04-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh has expressed her gratitude for the gift of the new painting by John Ford F.A.S.M.A. of the Australian hospital ship Centaur to the State of Queensland from the organisers of ANZAC Light on the Water 2009, Semaphore Port Adelaide RSL.

Anthony Crack, Acting Executive Director, State Affairs Department of the Premier and Cabinet and Chairman of the Centaur Project Steering Committee accepts a special limited edition print on her behalf from Tony Williams of Port Adelaide.

Anthony also accepted safekeeping of a second print for David Mearns of Blue Water Discoveries, who will begin the search for the Centaur soon.

Tony presents a third print to Caloundra RSL President, Barry Johnson OAM.

Caloundra RSL has kept the flame alive for everyone aboard the Centaur on her final ill-fated voyage in May 1943 and the families left behind.

The original painting will be on display at ANZAC Light on the Water 2009 when 3000 candle-lit cardboard replica lifeboats will be launched on the Port River as a tribute to the 268 Australians who lost their lives when the Centaur was torpedoed and sunk off the Queensland coast.

ANZAC Light on the Water at Port Adelaide begins at 6.30 pm on April 24.

Port Kids for ANZAC

2009-04-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

On ANZAC Eve Friday, April 24, a fleet of 3000 replica cardboard lifeboats will be launched on the Port River from 6.30 pm in a special Commemoration for the hospital ship Centaur which was sunk in 1943 with the loss of 268 Australians.

To mark the loss of 179 ambulancemen and 11 nurses, ambulance drivers and nurses in uniform will be among the 5000 people expected at the event, which from this year will gradually be organised and staged by school students, under guidance from Semaphore Port Adelaide RSL.

The names of all those lost on the Centaur, including 45 merchant navy crew, will be on the sides of 268 of the candle-lit lifeboats.

One of the patrons of Port Kids for ANZAC will be Australian Paralympian Jay Dohnt who won a swimming bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics,along with Federal MP Mark Butler and Port Adelaide Mayor Gary Johanson.

Jay will be visiting Adelaide schools to recruit students who are willing to join the Port Kids For ANZAC team to take over ANZAC events from older volunteers.

Above is a new painting of the Centaur by renowned maritime artist John Ford F.A.S.M.A. to mark the Commemoration and the start of the search
for the wreck of Centaur off the Queensland coast.

Framed prints of the new painting are being presented to Prime Minister Rudd, Veterans Affairs Minister, Alan Griffin, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh and "shipwreck detective" David Mearns who will take it with him on the official search vessel when the Centaur search begins later this year.

David said: "Thank you, the painting is beautiful. I would be proud to take it with us.

"I did an interview with ABC radio today and mentioned the ANZAC Eve event and how this is being used to teach school children about Australia's war time history."

A copy of the painting is also being presented to the Caloundra RSL who have kept the flame alive for Centaur over many years.

New painting of hospital ship Centaur

2009-03-21T20:44:00.000-07:00

A new painting of the Australian Hospital ship Centaur, commissioned for Port Adelaide's 2009 ANZAC Light on the Water commemoration, has been completed by renowned Birkenhead maritime artist, John Ford (F.A.S.M.A.).

3000 candle-lit lifeboats are being made by local school students to commemorate the 11 nurses, 33 Army Medical Corps, 179 Field Ambulancemen and 45 Merchant Navy Crw lost with the Centaur off the Queensland coast in May 1943.

To raise funds for the spectacular Port River ANZAC commemoration on April 24, this brilliant painting is being framed and will be the prize in a raffle to be conducted among the 400 people who attend the 1940s Dance Party fundraiser at the Maritime Workers Hall on Saturday April 4.

Local residents will wear 1940s fashions and hairstyles as they dance to the Bay Big Band and are entertained by singers Marlene Richards, Terry Brooker, Wally Carr, Jenny Loftes and the Not The Andrews Sisters.

Some tickets are still available for this memorable event at $25 per head (concession $20) from Port Mall Newsagency in Port Adelaide or by by phone (08) 8447 2961 or by email at contact@portmallnewsagency.com.au

The staging of the 1940s Dance Party and other events will ensure that public attention is drawn to the historic Waterside Workers Hall at 11 Nile Street, which is one of the few magnificent halls of its type in Australia and should be restored to all its glory.

An enormous chapter of Port Adelaide history has been enacted in and around this building.

1940s Dance Party Fundraiser

2009-03-06T19:08:00.000-08:00

Semaphore Port Adelaide RSL is staging a 1940s Dance Party at the Waterside Workers Hall in Nile Street Port Adelaide on Saturday April 4 and it will be a memorable night.

A touch of nostalgia for the older generation, but also a current dance rage around Adelaide, 1940s dancing and hairstyles are back in fashion.

Entertainment will include the Bay Big Band and singers Marlene Richards, Terry Brooker, Wally Carr, Jenny Loftes and the Not The Andrews Sisters.

Young and old will be wearing 1940s fashions and and some locals are donning their old World War Two uniforms.

The 1940s Dance Party, which will run from 8 pm till 11 pm, is a fundraiser for ANZAC Light on the Water 2009.

Those attending the 1940s Dance Party on April 4 will be asked to bring a 1940s Supper Plate and a bar will be open with beer, wine and soft drinks.

Tickets are on sale at Port Mall Newsagency in Port Mall, St Vincent Street entrance, with all proceeds going towards the staging of ANZAC Light on the Water on April 24 at 6.30 pm at Queens Wharf Port Adelaide.

ANZAC Light on the Water this year will be a special tribute to the 11 nurses, 33 Army Medical Corps,

45 merchant seamen and 179 Field Ambulance-men who were lost when the Australian hospital ship Centaur was sunk off the Queensland coast in May 1943.

Many Adelaide nurses and ambulancemen are expected to pay tribute to their colleagues at ANZAC Light on the Water.

Significantly, 2009 is the 70th Anniversary of the start of World War Two and the year of Women at War and the Federal and Queensland Governments are currently preparing to conduct a search to find the wreck of the Centaur.

Ticket sales by phone on 8447 2961 and email at contact@portmallnewsagency.com.au

Awards for ANZAC Light on the Water

2009-01-29T13:44:00.001-08:00

The biggest round of applause at the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Australia Day Awards went to the Young Citizen of the Year Jay Dohnt, 19, Ferryden Park swimming champion, who won the Bronze Medal in the 400m freestyle final as a Paralympian in the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

According to Jay, who has also won a Pride of Australia Courage Award, there is no such word as ‘can’t’.

Despite losing both legs below the knees and four fingers on his right hand to meningococcal disease two years ago, he has plunged head first into his future.

After surviving the deadly disease he decided to draw up a list of goals – starting with scuba diving.

Now Jay has his scuba diving ticket and regularly competes with the Parks Swimming Club and in 12 months Jay won six gold medals, one silver and received an encouragement award with the Club.

It was a humbling experience for me to be in the company of such a hero and a reminder of the courage and tenacity of others who were nominated for Australia Day Awards.

I was honoured to be awarded the City of Port Adelaide Enfield Australia Day 2009 Citizen of the Year Award for community work for Semaphore, Semaphore Street Fair and Port Adelaide events and projects including ANZAC Light on the Water and Merchant Navy Day.

And for the Merchant Navy Association SA to receive the City of Port Adelaide 2009 Community Event of the Year Award for ANZAC Light on the Water and Merchant Navy Day.

Federal and State politicians, Councillors, Council Executives and other VIPs were at the Awards Ceremony at Sunnybrae Function Centre, along with families and individuals from families and individuals from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and UK who were awarded Australian Citizenship in a special ceremony conducted by the Mayor and Council CEO Harry Wierda.

Local Federal Member Mark Butler MP gave a special address in which he welcomed all of the new citizens and congratulated those who received the Australia Day Awards.

Our photos show: Jay Dohnt, Merchant Navy Association Secretary Keith Ridgeway with local MP Mark Butler and myself and Harry Weirda, Mayor Gary Johanson and Mark.

Community Event of the Year

2009-01-24T22:10:00.000-08:00

ANZAC Light on the Water has been awarded the City of Port Adelaide Australia Day 2009 Community Event of the Year Award.

The framed Award Certificate will go on permanent display in the Seafarers Centre in Port Adelaide.

Federal and State politicians, Councillors, Council Executives and other VIPs were at the Awards Ceremony at Sunnybrae Function Centre, along with families and individuals from Africa, Asia, the Middle East and UK
who were awarded Australian Citizenship in a special ceremony conducted by the Mayor Gary Johanson and Council CEO Harry Wierda.

Local Federal Member Mark Butler MP gave a special address in which he welcomed all of the new citizens and congratulated those who received the Australia Day Awards.

World commemorates start of World War Two

2009-01-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

This year, as the world commemorates the 70th Anniversary of the start of World War Two, people around Around Australia will focus on two significant events in Port Adelaide.

On ANZAC Eve, Friday April 24, the third Light on the Water on the Port River will commemorate the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur in a year when Veterans Affairs marks the World War Two 70th Anniversary with a major focus on the role of women at war.

Eleven Australian Army nurses were among the 268 Australians who perished when the Centaur was struck by a deadly Japanese torpedo off the coast of Queensland on May 12, 1943.

Australian Merchant Navy crew, medical staff and men of the 2/12th Field Ambulance and 44 others made up the rest of those killed.

See video including interview with Sister Ellen Savage who survived the sinking of the hospital ship Centaur.

http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/waratsea/

Merchant Navy Day March on same day

Australia's second Merchant Navy Day march in Port Adelaide on September 3 will be on the very day that World War Two started and a large number of veterans are expected to march.

The first casualty of World War Two was the British merchant vessel Athenia on September 3.

German U-boat Commander, Oberleutnant Fritz-Julius Lemp sighted the ship 250 miles off the coast of Ireland.

He maintained radio silence to achieve surprise and surprise is what happened because the British had just declared war that day of September 3, 1939.

Just under 12 hours later, Lemp ordered his men to fire on the ship and four torpedoes crashed into the side of the unarmed passenger ship.

The ship exploded immediately killing all but 112 people.

Lemp later claimed that the sinking of the Athenia was an accident, and that he didn't know it was unarmed and believed it was an armed merchant ship.

German command told Lemp to forget about it, and destroy all evidence he had of the sinking including diaries, papers, and any other article mentioning the sinking.

The Germans were then going to blame Winston Churchill for the sinking of the ship by stating that Churchill had ordered the ship to sink to get the U.S. into the war.

The U.S. and British of course did not believe this story.

Story of Athenia sinking:

http://library.thinkquest.org/26742/batat.html
Battle of the Atlantic

ANZAC Eve 2009 Commemoration of Centaur

2008-10-05T21:15:00.000-07:00

David Mearns who found HMAS Sydney is keen to find the wreck of the Australian hospital ship Centaur before ANZAC Eve 2009.

David told us that he would like to find the Centaur before Port Adelaide’s major ANZAC event Light on the Water on April 24 commemorates her sinking.

Adelaide school students will make 3000 cardboard candle-lit lifeboats that will float on the Port River to honour those where lost when the Centaur was torpedoed and sunk off Queensland in 1943.

In an interview with Sydney Morning Herald writer Jonathan Dart, David said the task was feasible so long as there was funding.

David Mearns, the world-renowned shipwreck hunter said he has conducted preliminary research on the Centaur and said it would be easier to find than the Sydney and the Kormoran.

He said the only barriers to finding the Centaur were a lack of money and political will.

"On the basis of what I've seen of her, I believe she's findable," he said.

"The information, even at this preliminary stage, is better than what I had to deal with in locating … Kormoran and Sydney.

"I think the water depth isn't a barrier; I don't think there are any environmental problems.

But how it's organised, who funds it - those are all big questions."

Nurses also lost their lives

In the hall of memory at the Australian War Memorial, the large mosaic commemorating the Australian service women of World War II includes the figure of a Greek mythological beast sinking into the sea.

Some say it is the Centaur.

It is the only reference in the hall to a specific event in any of the wars in which Australians have fought.

It reminds us that, like soldiers, sailors, airmen and merchant seamen, in war Australian nurses also lost their lives.

This ship symbolises the courage of Australian women in war and reminds us of all Australians who served in war and have no graves but the sea.

Sister Ellen Savage was asleep in her bunk when the Centaur collapsed around her:

Merle Morton and myself were awakened by two terrific explosions and practically thrown out of bed.

I registered mentally that it was a torpedo explosion.

In that instant the ship was in flames ... we ran into Colonel Manson, our commanding officer, in full dress even to his cap and 'Mae West' life jacket, who kindly said 'That's right girlies, jump for it now.'

The first words I spoke was to say 'Will I have time to go back for my great-coat?' as we were only in our pyjamas.

He said 'No' and with that climbed the deck and jumped and I followed, the ship was commencing to go down. It all happened in three minutes.

The suction of the sinking Centaur dragged Sister Savage down into a whirlpool of moving metal and wood.

Here her ribs, nose and palate were broken, her eardrums perforated and she sustained multiple bruises. Then she was propelled to the surface in the middle of an oil slick.

Sister Savage found her way to a raft that was part of the Centaur's wheelhouse.

During the 36 hours on this makeshift raft, Sister Savage gave whatever medical care she could to survivors despite being badly injured herself.

Sister Savage was the only nurse to survive. For her courage and inspiring behaviour during this period Sister Savage was awarded the George Medal.

The 332 people aboard the Centaur's last voyage had ranged in age from 15 to 67.

Most were Australian, with some English, Scots, and individuals from Sweden, Iceland, Finland, Norway and Canada.

Among those aboard were at least eight sets of brothers, including one set of three, and all perished.

There were also the usual stories of good luck and bad luck.

People who should have been aboard but were not, and others who were not supposed to be on board that fateful voyage but joined the ship at the last minute.

When the last survivor had been rescued from the water and the final tally was done, there were only 64 people of the original 332 alive.

Group
Dead Saved Total
Merchant crew (civilian sailors who signed on for six months at a time)
45 30 75
Ship's medical staff (Members of the Australian Army, males in the Medical Corps, females in the Nursing Service)
44 20 64
2/12th Field Ambulance
138 11 149
Attached Australian Army Service Corps
41 3 44

Why did the crew and the medical staff have the lowest rate of deaths?

Largely it was because of the grim geography of death.

The crew knew the ship well, and were quartered at the front and rear ends and below decks.

Some were on duty, or had only recently come off duty and were not fully asleep.

The medical staffs were also either forward or aft, and on the lower decks.

The Field Ambulance and attached Service Corps soldiers were mainly in the middle hospital ward area, right where the torpedo hit.

Story and photos the Centaur and Sister Ellen Savage in a hospital bed ashore from the Australian War Memorial
www.awm.gov.au/

Freedom of the city of Port Adelaide

2008-09-12T23:58:00.000-07:00

On Australia's first ever Merchant Navy Day on September 3, Port Adelaide become the first port in the world to grant the Freedom of the City to the Merchant Navy.

The South Australian Governor, Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce AC CSC RANR and Mrs Liz Scarce were special guests at the ceremony.

Port Adelaide's unique ceremony took place after a Community March and Commemoration to celebrate Merchant Navy Day.

The event came out of the Rudd Labour Government's electoral promise to give long overdue recognition to the Merchant Navy's vital role in the very existence of Australia by proclaiming September 3 as annual national Merchant Navy Day.

The Port Adelaide event was strongly supported by the Federal Minister for Veterans Affairs, Alan Griffin MP, and local MHR, Mark Butler, MP.

In peacetime all of Australia's vital needs from oil imports to commodities exports are transported by the Merchant Navy and in wartime its troops and military supplies.

The first man killed in World War One was a merchant seaman from the crew of a brigantine and in World War Two merchant seamen were the first and last men killed.

Merchant Navy and Maritime Union of Australia veterans and other serving and former merchant seamen and waterside workers marched with RSL veterans and the Merchant Navy Association, Vindicatrix Association, South Australian Maritime Museum, National Trust and Mt Gambier residents linked with the Admella 150 Festival.

The march along Queens Wharf on the Port River finished at The Navigator memorial which tells the story of South Australia's worst ever shipwreck, the sinking of the SS Admella 149 years ago.

Spectators included teachers and students from local schools and many local families with a seafaring history.

South Australia's new Minister For Veterans Affairs, Michael Atkinson, City of Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor, Gary Johanson, and International Transport Federation Director, Dean Summers,representing the Maritime Union of Australia, addressed the marchers, followed by a short service by new Port Chaplain, Robin Trebilcock.

One of Australia's best piper Don Macauley played Abide With Me.

The world renowned SA Pipes and Drums band led the march with a contingent from RAN Headquarters South Australia paying tribute to its sister service.

September 3 was also Battle for Australia Day in which the RAN and Merchant Navy played a vital role throughout the Pacific and military veterans also took part in the Port Adelaide march.

At 4 pm the Mayor of the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Gary Johanson, presented a large symbolic key and charter to former merchant seaman and Maritime Museum volunteer Keith Ridgeway and the crew of the veteran tug Yelta at a Civic Centre reception attended by 60 guests.

The key and the charter will go on display in the Port Adelaide Seafarers Centre and become part of the port's rich maritime history.

Seafaring family from a century ago

2008-08-30T22:54:00.001-07:00

When City of Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor Gary Johannson decided to grant Freedom of the City to the Merchant Navy on September 3, he recalled his grandfather Fredrick Johannson and his aunt Adelaide Johannson.

Frederick was a merchant seaman who joined the Belfast registered vessel Carmmoney in Gothenberg, signed off in Port Lincoln in 1909 and settled in South Australia.

Adelaide Johansson signed on as a Stewardess at Port Victoria in the merchant vessel SS Viking just after World War Two.

She became a Cape Horner on the Viking, which was the last windjammer to leave Australia.

Frederick and Adelaide would have been impressed if they had known that Port Adelaide would become the first port in the world to grant the Merchant Navy this honour on Australia’s first ever Merchant Navy Day.

Australia's first annual Merchant Navy Day will be celebrated with a commemorative
march and the Freedom of the City ceremony on September 3.

Minister's Merchant Navy Day Message

2008-08-23T23:14:00.000-07:00

A MESSAGE FROM THE MINISTER FOR VETERANS AFFAIRS FOR MERCHANT NAVY DAY 3 SEPTEMBER 2008

The service and sacrifice of Australia’s merchant mariners during wartime has been formally recognised with the Proclamation by the Governor-General, Major General Michael Jeffrey AC CVO MC (Retired), that 3 September each year will be a day of national observance known as Merchant Navy Day.

From this year, Merchant Navy Day will be an occasion to give merchant mariners the prominence in Australia’s wartime history they deserve.

The role of Australian’s merchant mariners was vital and often dangerous, evacuating civilians from threatened areas and transporting supplies and personnel to and between areas of conflict.

Thousands of Australian merchant mariners have served during wartime on Australian, Commonwealth and Allied ships. Australian and Commonwealth memorials commemorate 435 Australians who lost their lives serving in the Merchant Navy.

It is important that Australians preserve the memory and history of all our service personnel.

Merchant Navy Day will serve to remind current and future generations that we owe an enormous debt to the merchant mariners whose service helped to secure the freedoms we now enjoy.

As Australia marks the first observance of Merchant Navy Day, all merchant mariners should be proud of their contribution to our nation.

Alan Griffin

Our photos show: Construction work on Stage Two of Newport Quays. See more at:
www.newportquays.com.au/

Merchant Navy Day flags, sponsored by the multi million dollar Port Riverfront residential development Newport Quays, flying on 28 flagpoles in Port Adelaide.

Minister Griffin and popular local MP Mark Butler who played an important role in the organising of of the first ever Merchant Navy Day March in Port Adelaide at 11 am on Wednesday September 3.

SS Admella and Merchant Navy Day

2008-08-04T00:15:00.000-07:00

One of the worst shipwrecks ever in South Australian waters will be a central theme of Australia’s first ever Merchant Navy Day in Port Adelaide.

The Merchant Navy Day March along Queens wharf will finish at The Navigator Memorial, which commemorates the tragic loss of the SS Admella 149 years ago.

New Port Chaplain Robin Trebilcock will conduct a short service there and our photo
shows Keith Ridgeway from the South Australian Maritime Museum with a restorer getting
the memorial ready for September 3.

Participating in the march that will begin near Birkenhead Bridge at 11 am on September 3 will be some of the 160 people representing 44 different survivors, victims and rescuers.

All 160 are involved in "Admella 150 Festival " which will be held from Thursday August 6 to Sunday August 16, 2009.

The Navigator memorial in St Vincent Street, Port Adelaide tells the story of her destruction on Carpenter Rocks, 20 miles west of Cape Northumberland, South Australia on August 6, 1859.

The Land Management Corporation is selecting a new waterfront site for the memorial as the building behind it is being developed.

It is hoped that the move can co-incide with the the August 2009 "Admella 150 Festival".

The SS Admella was a steam ship of 209 tons (212 tonnes) also fitted with three masts and sails. Her length was 55.6 metres. She left Port Adelaide at 5.30am on Friday August 5, 1859 bound for Melbourne.

Early the following morning she ran onto Carpenter Rocks that lie a few kilometres offshore of South Australia, almost due South of the current town of Millicent.

Over the next 8 days, 89 people lost their lives but miraculously, about 24 survived, most of them hanging onto the wreck in raging winter seas for that 8-day period. There was little food and virtually no water and many acts of heroism. Learn more about the Admella story.

Many ships were wrecked along this part of the Australian coast, both before and after the wreck of the Admella, but this wreck is arguably the most famous.

It is this fame that has brought together the local Councils of the areas most impacted by the wreck, to create a series of events to mark the 150th anniversary in 2009.

Those Councils are the District Council of Grant, which includes Carpenter Rocks and Port MacDonnell, the Glenelg Shire Council, which includes the City of Portland in Victoria, the City of Mount Gambier, the Wattle Range Council, and the Robe District Council.

For more information: http://www.admella.org.au/

Minister launches Merchant Navy Day

2008-07-05T00:25:00.001-07:00

Federal Minister for Veterans Affairs, the Hon Alan Griffin MP made a special visit to Port Adelaide at 4 pm on Friday July 4 to unveil a four metres by two metres Merchant Navy Day banner on the Lighthouse in Black Diamond Square.

Minister Griffin officially announced September 3 as Merchant Navy Day to honour an election promise by the Rudd Government.

Merchant seamen had petitioned Government for more than three years and the Governor General Governor-General, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC
finally signed the official declaration two days before the Minister’s visit.

Minister Griffin revealed that he came from a merchant navy family so he had a special link with Australian seamen.

He spoke about the vital role of the merchant navy in both wartime and peace and in particular in defending Australia in World War Two.

The banner promotes the Port Adelaide Community Commemorative March to celebrateAustralia’s first ever annual Merchant Navy Day March scheduled for September 3.

A team of local veteran merchant seamen, the Semaphore Port Adelaide RSL and the Seafarers Memorial Committee has been organizing the Port march.

South Australia’s Deputy Premier and Treasurer, Kevin Foley, Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor, Gary Johanson, Commander Craig Pritchard RAN MHR Mark Butler MP, former MHR Rod Sawford, Ian Kelly Deputy Commissioner SA Department of Veterans Affairs, Veterans Affairs SA staff, MUA Chief Jamie Newlyn and a group of merchant navy veterans greeted the Minister.

After the Minister unveiled the banner, Kevin Jones, Director of the South Australian Maritime Museum hosted drinks aboard the veteran tug Yelta.

The Port Adelaide March has taken on another dimension with the recent declaration of an annual Battle for Australia Day on the first Wednesday in September, which this year coincides with Merchant Navy Day.

The MUA is a major participant in Merchant Navy Day and we all recall that 60 wharfies and seafarers were killed on the Fort Hill wharf in a single bombing raid in Darwin harbour and that Port Adelaide would eventually have been on the hit list.

The march will start at Fishermen’s Wharf Markets at 11 am on September 3 and go along the wharf to the back of the old Ports Building.

Serving and former merchant seamen, their families, the Maritime Union of Australia and other maritime groups will walk behind a Royal Australian Navy contingent.

The march will conclude with a special commemoration at the superb Navigator memorial to Lost Seafarers by local sculptor Karen Genoff.

New Port Adelaide Chaplain Rev Roger Trebilcock will conduct a short service and a light lunch will be served.

This sculpture is to be incorporated in a new waterfront Seafarers Memorial for Port Adelaide.

Karen Genoff is working with the Land Management Corporation in the projected removal, transport and placement of this sculpture at a waterfront site to be selected.

Port Adelaide MHR Mark Butler MP has been working on the memorial project with a Port Adelaide Seafarers Memorial Community Committee.

The Committee includes representatives from the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Semaphore Port Adelaide RSL, Merchant Navy Association SA, Vindicatrix Association SA, the Land Management Corporation, the Port Centre Co-ordination Group, the South Australian Maritime Museum, Maritime Union of Australia, Port Adelaide Visitor Information Centre, National Trust Port Adelaide and Port Adelaide Historical Society.

Our photos show:

Left to right: Kevin Jones, Director of the South Australian Maritime Museum, Jamie Newlyn, Maritime Union of Australia, Rod Sawford, former MHR Port Adelaide, Kevin Foley, Deputy Premier and Treasurer and member for Port Adelaide, Alan Griffin MP, Minister for Veterans Affairs, Gary Johanson, Mayor of Port Adelaide and Mark Butler MP, MHR for Port Adelaide.

Minister Griffin relaxes with other guests aboard the veteran steam tug Yelta on the Port River with the bridges in the background. Port River dolphins also paid a visit to starboard side of the Yelta to the delight of those on board.

Minister's National Announcement on:
http://www.alp.org.au/media/0708/msva040.php

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Merchant Navy Day in Port Adelaide

2008-06-09T21:54:00.000-07:00

With its rich maritime history, it is fitting that Port Adelaide will celebrate Australia’s first national Merchant Navy Day on Wednesday September 3 in nautical style.

All local families with links to the sea are being invited to join the Merchant Navy March leaving the Seafarers Centre at 11 am that day to commemorate all seafarers who have served in war and peace.

The march will go through Black Diamond Square and along the wharf to the old Ports Building.

Serving and former merchant seamen, their families and representatives from other maritime groups including the Maritime Union of Australia will head the March.

The march will conclude with a special commemoration at the superb Navigator memorial to Lost Seafarers by local sculptor Karen Genoff.

Karen has many fine works of art in public locations around Australia.

In granite, lyten steel, breakwater rocks and timber, the Navigator memorial stands outside the old Ports building.

It was unveiled in 1992 for the SA Department of Marine and Harbours Port Adelaide.

This sculpture is to be incorporated in a new waterfront Seafarers Memorial for Port Adelaide.

Karen Genoff is working with the Land Management Corporation in the removal, transport and placement of this sculpture at a waterfront site to be selected.

Our photos show:

Karen with the Land Management Corporation’s Phil Jones discussing plans for the September 3 commemoration outside the old Ports building.

The plaque that tells the story behind the sculpture

Popular new Port Adelaide MHR Mark Butler MP (left) has been working on the memorial project with a Port Adelaide Seafarers Memorial Community Committee. As the Federal Minister for Veterans Affairs, the Hon Alan Griffin MP (right), has said, the unsung stories of Australian and Allied merchant mariners, particularly during World War II, are a unique part of Australia’s wartime and maritime heritage.

It includes representatives from the City of Port Adelaide Enfield, Merchant Navy Association SA, Vindicatrix Association SA, the Port Centre Co-ordination Group, the South Australian Maritime Museum, Maritime Union of Australia, Port Adelaide Visitor Information Centre, National Trust Port Adelaide and Port Adelaide Historical Society.

The declaration of Merchant Navy Day by the Governor General is Australia’s contribution to an international campaign.

The United Kingdom and Canada also commemorate Merchant Navy Day on September 3.

Merchant Navy Day provides due recognition of the service of the merchant navy in securing the Australian homeland and our region in times of war and emergency.

Extracts below from the Australian Merchant Navy website.

Australia has used merchant ships to despatch its colonial or national armed forces personnel to war-fighting or peacekeeping operations since 1885, when a New South Wales contingent went to the Sudan.

Forces from several colonies were transported to the Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902.

Post-Federation Australian forces deployed to the Boxer Rebellion 1900-1901 and to the First World War (“The Great War”) 1914-1918.

By far, Australia’s largest commitment of armed forces was to the Second World War 1939-1945, one in which, besides other menaces, the Japanese threat to Australia itself was very real.

It was in the “Battle for Australia” period of the Second World War that the nation’s merchant mariners collectively served their most extensive and dramatic role.

It was a role involving great heroism and sacrifice, to date largely unrecorded, unrecognised and unsung.

Merchant Seamen were not provided with uniforms, leave (paid or otherwise), medical or pension benefits.

They “signed on” to a ship voyage-by-voyage, their employment lasting until return to home port, this possibly being a year or so later.

All remuneration ceased when the seaman’s ship was sunk, with survivors being classified “Destitute British Subjects” (“D.B.S.”) and placed in the care of a wartime charitable institution.

Following numerous sinkings off the Australian coast during 1942, the Regulations were changed to allow for a seaman’s pay to continue until return to home port.