Million-dollar search for the Centaur

It was an Australian wartime disaster of incredible loss, and so close to home.

The sinking of the Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur off Brisbane was in fact one of the nation's worst maritime disasters.

A total of 268 non-combatants died when Centaur was torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-177 in May 1943.

After 36 hours clinging to wreckage, 64 people were rescued.

The Centaur has never been found.

But a group of scientists and explorers, armed with millions of dollars worth of equipment, are making preparations to search an area more than 59km wide, 30km east of Moreton Island.

The ship is believed to be in up to 4000m of water on rough, sloping terrain.

Leading the charge will be the Seahorse Spirit, a 72m multi-purpose vessel normally hired for training by the navy.

UK-based shipwreck hunter David L Mearns, the man who notably found HMAS Sydney II, will lead the search effort, which is being funded by the federal and Queensland governments.

Mr Mearns is from British-based Blue Water Recoveries, which also set a world record for the deepest shipwreck when it found the Rio Grande, a German blockade runner sunk in World War II, at a depth of 5.76km.

He says he has narrowed down two possible search locations east-northeast of Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island.

"This is going to be a very challenging search," Mr Mearns said.

"The seabed is very rough, steep and rocky and on top of that we have Australia's most persistent and strongest oceanic current to deal with.

"We have located wrecks in deeper water, in rocky areas and in high currents, so it's not impossible."

His research has involved interviews with survivors and experts, a search for the Japanese submarine's log books and intensive research of Australian war records and historic weather charts.

Also involved is Melbourne-based Defence Maritime Services, which has conducted deep-water searches to locate an aircraft black box off Sydney and a Black Hawk helicopter off Fiji in 2007.

Defence Maritime Services chief executive Greg Hodge said the Seahorse Spirit would run up and down the search area like a lawn mower beside sonar equipment in the hunt for the ship's remains.

"It's like going to search for gold - you might find gold on day one or you might find it on day 50," Mr Hodge said.

"We don't know how long it's going to take."

US-based Williamson and Associates, which was involved in the successful search for HMAS Sydney off Western Australia in 2008, has been chosen to provide the deep tow side scan sonar.

Phoenix International, a company with extensive international experience in the identification of shipwrecks at extreme depths, will provide a remotely operated submersible vessel capable of operating at depths up to 6000m.

The search will initially involve sonar.

The submersible will be involved in the second phase of the project - in early January 2010 - once the likely location of the Centaur is identified.

This phase will seek to confirm the final resting place of the Centaur using high resolution video equipment.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is taking a keen interest in the ship, which he says is an important part of Australia's history.

"The loss of a clearly marked hospital ship during World War II struck deeply at the heart of our nation, and became a symbol of our determination to fight on against a brutal enemy," Mr Rudd said.

"I hope the search is successful, that all Australians may finally know and commemorate the resting place of the brave nurses and crew who died on that terrible day."

MYSTERY REMAINS

Just what happened on May 14, 1943, when the Centaur was sunk remains murky.

The ship was heading up the coast from Sydney to New Guinea with medical staff and 149 men of the 2/12th Field Ambulance.

At 4.10am, the ship, believed to have been about 24 nautical miles northeast of Stradbroke Island's Point Lookout, was hit by a torpedo from the Japanese submarine I-177. Most of the 332 on board were asleep.

The Centaur sank in about three minutes.

Sixty-four people spent about 35 hours adrift in shark-infested waters before being rescued by the destroyer USS Mugford.

Of the 18 doctors aboard, only one - Lieutenant Colonel Leslie Outridge of Gympie - survived.

Only one of the 12 nurses, Sister Ellen Savage from Sydney, survived.

The finding of the Centaur will mean the most for those closely connected with the crew.

Jack Argent, a member of the ship's ambulance crew, was among the 64 survivors.

His son John Argent, of Brisbane, said he was excited the search was finally happening but he wished it happened when his father was alive.

He said his father was haunted by the experience to the day he died, 26 years ago.

"Finding out exactly where it is will give some closure to people who lost loved ones and answer a few questions," he said.

"My dad never got closure. He could never understand how we could lose 200 mates in three minutes.

"He never was able to come to terms with that but I think it would have really provided some closure for him (if the ship was located)."

Centaur Memorial Fund for Nurses president Deborah Prior said many were relieved the search would finally go ahead.

"I think it's very important to locate the last resting place of loved ones so many families can have some sense of closure," Dr Prior said.

"There is a lot of excitement but there is also realism that it may not be found."

- AAP