NVN News Navy Victoria Network April 2016 Volume 6 Edition 4 Calendar Events (see calendar for details of all events) NVN current membership: 1029 Editorial 01 May – RAN Recruits Pilgrimage, Another Anzac Day has come and gone and many of us have wreath laying in the Sanctuary enjoyed our yearly get-togethers with ex-shipmates while 06 May – HMAS Castlemaine with remembering those that were lost. It is of paramount Tecoma primary school, wreath laying importance we forever remember the men and women who have 08 May – Battle of Coral Sea paid the ultimate sacrifice. commemoration service The 14th May 2016 marks the 73rd anniversary of the sinking of 23 May – NHS Meeting (all welcome) the Australia Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur. She was attacked 29 May – RAN Recruits Pilgrimage, wreath laying in the Sanctuary and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland. th Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 died, 03 Jun – 47 Anniversary of the Melbourne / Evans collision. 74 lives including 11 of the 12 nurses. The 64 survivors spent 35 hours lost. on rafts before being rescued. Sister Ellen Savage was the only 12 Jun – ‘N’ Class Destroyers wreath nurse to survive and although badly hurt herself, she concealed laying in the Sanctuary her injures and while sharks circled their raft, and when ships and aircraft passed by without seeing them, she gave what help Latest News she could to the other survivors. For her "conspicuous gallantry" Sister Savage was awarded a George Medal. NOTE: The full articles of the news The ship had been appropriately lit and marked to indicate that items listed below can be found on our website: it was a hospital ship and its sinking was regarded as an atrocity. http://navyvic.net/news/news.html The Australian Government delivered an official protest to Japan over the incident. The Japanese did not acknowledge Future submarine program The Turnbull Government today responsibility for the incident for many years and the War announces that the next generation of Crimes Tribunal could not identify the responsible submarine. submarines for Australia will be However, the Japanese official war history makes clear that it constructed at the Adelaide shipyard, was submarine I-177, under the command of Lt Commander securing thousands of jobs and Nakagawa who had sunk the Centaur. Lt Commander ensuring the project will play a key part in the transition of our economy. Nakagawa was convicted as a war criminal for firing on DCNS of France has been selected as survivors of the British Chivalry which his ship had sunk in the our preferred international partner for Indian Ocean. Nakagawa refused to ever speak on the subject of the sinking of the Centaur, even to defend himself, until his death the Respect of Disabled Veterans. in 1991. the design of the 12 Future InSubmarines, a damning subject display toof furtherpolitical arrogance the Coalition Government Centaur entered operation as a hospital ship on 12 March 1943. discussions on commercial matters. has lost the respect and the support of The early stages of Centaur's first voyage as a hospital ship were theAustralia nation’s-Japan 130,000 bilateral disabled exercise test and transport runs; the initial run from Melbourne to veteransconcludes by continuing to ignore their Sydney resulted in the Master, Chief Engineer, and Chief concernShips and at aircraft the erosion from of the the Royal value of Australian Navy and Japanese Medical Officer composing a long list of defects requiring their compensation payments, especiallyMaritime Selfthose Defence affecting Force our (JMSDF) most attention. Following repairs, she conducted a test run, severelyhave completed disabled the war bilateral veterans. Exercise transporting wounded servicemen from Townsville to Brisbane NICHI GOU TRIDENT off the coast of to ensure that she was capable of fulfilling the role of a medical 808New Squadron South Wales. return from Operation FIJI ASSIST vessel. Centaur was then tasked with delivering medical PersonnelContinuous from Naval 808 Shipbuilding Squadron personnel to Port Moresby, New Guinea, and returning to returnedThe Turnbull to HMAS Government Albatross is securingrecently Brisbane with Australian and American wounded along with a aftera sustainable a five-week long deployment-term Australi onan small number of wounded Japanese prisoners of war. Operationnaval shipbuilding FIJI ASSIST. industry. The aircrew, Today engineersthe Government and three is announcing MRH90 the Arriving in Sydney on 8 May 1943, Centaur was re-provisioned helicoptersbuild locations formed for 12 part Offshore of the Patrol Vessels and up to 21 Pacific Patrol at Darling Harbour, before departing for Cairns, Queensland on Australian Defence Force’s humanitarianBoats, in addition assistance to nine relief Future to Fiji in 12 May 1943. From there, her destination was again New theFrigates aftermath previously of Tropical announced. Cyclone These Guinea. On board at the time were 74 civilian crew, 53 Winston.announcements provide for two Australian Army Medical Corps personnel, 12 female nurses shipyards to implement the Arrival of the 5th rotation of US from the Australian Army Nursing Service, 192 soldiers from the Government’s commitment to a Marinescontinuous in Darwinbuild of naval surface 2/12th Field Ambulance, and one Torres Strait ship pilot. Most Theships nex in tAustralia. rotation of Major US Marines warships will of the nurses had transferred from the hospital ship Oranje, and beginwill be arriving built in inAdelaide Darwin and from minor today to the Army personnel were all medical staff. commencevessels in Henderson, their fifth rotation Western through NorthernAustralia. Australia as part of the US At 0400 on the 14 May 1943, without warning, she was rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region. torpedoed. ThisAustralians year’s rotation Reunited will include aroundThe Minister 1,250 for US Veterans'Marines, aAffairs and The media were notified of Centaur's sinking on 17 May 1943, detachmentMinister Assisting of four the Bell Prime UH-1Y Minister Venom for the Centenary of ANZAC, Dan but were ordered not to release the news until it had been helicopters and a range of equipment. Tehan, today announced announced in Parliament by Prime Minister John Curtin on the Spacearrangements Surveillance were Telescope in place for for the afternoon of 18 May. News of the attack made front pages Haroldrepatriation E Holt of Australians from throughout the world, including The Times of London, The New Ministercemeteries for in Defence, Malaysia Senator and Singapore the Hon Marise Payne today visited Defence’s York Times, and the Montreal Gazette. to Australia, in June 2016. Naval Communication Station Harold EFiji Holt, farewells which isAustralian set to gain troops a highly The initial public reaction to the attack on Centaur was one of advancedFijian dignitaries Space Surveillance and troops have outrage, significantly different from that displayed following the Telescope.formally farewelled The telescope Australian will soon be loss of Australian warships or merchant vessels. As a hospital movedDefence from Force its personnel current location who have in the ship, the attack was a breach of the Hague Convention, and as Unitedprovided States humanitarian to a new purpose support builtand undertaken disaster relief work such was a war crime. The sinking of Centaur drew strong Australian facility near Exmouth. following Tropical Cyclone Winston. reactions from both Prime Minister Curtin and General Douglas Sea Power Centre: Semaphore – Issue MacArthur. Politicians urged the public to use their rage to fuel 2,ADSO 2016 Media Statement the war effort, and Centaur became a symbol of Australia's OperationsThe Turnbull Hurricane Government and hasMosaic lost determination to defeat what appeared to be a brutal and uncompromising enemy. The On 3 October 1952, a nuclear device Australian Government with a reported yield of 25 kilotons produced posters depicting exploded just off Trimouille Island in the sinking, which called for the Montebellos group some 130km Australians to "Avenge the off the Pilbara coast of Western Australia. It was the first of several Nurses" by working to nuclear tests conducted in Australian produce materiel, purchasing territory in the 1950s, and the first war bonds, or enlisting in the ever conducted by the United armed forces. Kingdom. Seapower Centre: Sounding Papers. It is on occasions such as this 73rd anniversary of the loss of the Sounding Paper #8 – Examining Centaur that the Naval Ode becomes relevant for all those who Maritime Insecurity in Eastern Africa have gone done to the sea in ships. A spate of escalating hijackings in and around the east African coast between They have no grave but the cruel sea, 2005 and 2012 thrust the Horn of No flowers lay at their head, Africa into the global spotlight and A rusting hulk is their tombstone, triggered an unprecedented international response. Afast on the ocean bed. Sounding Paper #9 – Dominion, Trade LEST WE FORGET! and the Maritime Silk Road: A Review of the Issues Yours Aye! Because of its utility as the safest and NVN Team cheapest way of transporting goods and people, the sea has always been a basis - and many would say the basis - for trade. On the other hand, control LEUT R. Forsyth RAN, 26 April 2016. of the sea can also be an important LSMTPSM R. Cameron, 19 April 2016. Aged 75. source of political and military CERA T. Decini, 16 April 2016. dominion. CMDR G. Bond RAN, 12 April 2016. Aged 70. Sounding Paper #10 - Some CERA D. Hinton, R42370, 10 April 2016. Capability and Operating G. Nason, R94700, 09 April 2016. Implications Arising from Australia’s Ex-JR W. Nissell, R94274, 07 April 2016. Antarctic and Southern Ocean TEL R.D. Bergin, R29521, 05 April 2016. Aged 88. Interests J. Flood, R59570, 03 April 2016. Introduction ABRO N.A. Old, R52563, 29 March 2016. Aged 75. This paper considers the capability ABFC W.