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To understand the beginnings of Blue Funnel
Lines we need to start at the beginning, for it started with in 1865 when two
brothers, Alfred and Philip Holt of Liverpool,
commenced the “Ocean Steamship Company.” This would evolve into a
number of companies, however, one of its subsidiaries
was the famous shipping company, Blue Funnel Line the owner of the ship in
question MS Centaur (3).
In the early sixties, Alfred Holt & Co
placed an order with John Brown & Co to build the third ship to be named
Centaur for their Australia / Singapore service. Centaur would
replace two popular ships that operated on that service at the time, being the 3,633
GRT (Gross Registered Tons) MS
Gorgon (2) built 1933 and she was sold and scrapped in 1964, and the 3,703 GRT MS
Charon (2) built in 1936, which was
also scrapped in 1964.
Looking back, the very first Centaur was just
1,900 GRT and she was built in
1895, but was sold four year later (1899) to North German Lloyd and was renamed
“Korat.” I have no further details
regarding her since that time.
MS Centaur II
The second
MS Centaur (2) was ordered for the Ocean Steamship Co,
of course later known as the Blue Funnel Line and she was built in 1924, but she had a tragic end, after she had
been converted to become the Australian Hospital Ship (AHS)
Centaur in Sydney
to serve during World War II.

Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur built in 1924
From a subscribers private collection
Early one
morning she was brutally torpedoed near Moreton Island Brisbane by a Japanese
submarine at (approx) 0410 on May 14 1943 and apparently
the AHS Centaur sank within
minutes with the tragic loss of 268 lives, but thankfully there were at least
64 survivors rescued. This act was
nothing short of murder at sea by the Japanese, for the ship was clearly marked
as being a hospital ship and not a naval vessel, a ship of war!
Please
Note: The MS
Centaur II story will be online soon and a LINK
will then be located at the bottom of this page as well as on the Main Index.
2009/2010 – AHS Centaur News Updates
December 20, 2009. The Director for the Search for the AHS Centaur, Mr. David L. Mearns,
who also located HMAS Sydney off the West Coast of Australia, this morning
confirmed that the location of the Centaur has been now been confirmed. Thus,
after 66 years the mystery has finally ended! The Centaur is located approximately 30
nautical miles due east of the southern tip of Moreton
Island off Brisbane (27 deg 16.98 South, 153 deg 59.22
East) at a depth of 2,059 metres
January 10, 2010. During the night Mr. David Mearns
and his associates sent
down their remote controlled submarine to take the first ever footage of the wreck
of this Australian hospital ship. What happened next was nothing short of a
miracle, especially for the surviving families of those who perished. Excellent
images were taken of the Centaur
starting from 2.50 AM and she is seen lying on a sandy ocean floor at a depth of about
2059 meters and listing some 25 degrees to the port side. Amazingly her paintwork is in
reasonably good order, her white hull is clearly visible considering the time
she has been on the seabed, as are the Red Crosses on her sides denoting that
it was a hospital ship, for they are clearly visible, as is her thick
green band painted around the ship. On her bow, the distinctive star could also be
seen on the bow’s company crest (which had been painted over during the
war) along with the corroded identification number 47 on the front sides of the
bow.

The Red Cross seen on the side of the AHS Centaur on January 10, 2010
AAP Bruce Long

A full
colour artists impression of the Australian Hospital
Ship Centaur
Artist unknown – *See photo and credit details at
bottom of the page
--------------------------------------------

MS Gorgon
Although at
this time sister ships Gorgon and Charon operated a successful service, there were now newer and far more
modern ships operating from the Eastern
States and thus superior
passenger facilities were needed and Centaur (3) would fill this need perfectly
out of the West Coast of Australia!
Centaur
proved to be one of the most attractive passenger-cargo liners to be built.
Like all combination liners before her, they were built in the three island configuration,
whereas Centaur featured a long forward freighter section and a high aft
superstructure. This, combined with her tall streamlined funnel gave her an
unusual, but attractive profile.

Note the vitiated air discharge outlets on the two forward masts
Centaur had many unique features, whilst
having excellent passenger accommodations; she also carried general,
refrigerated and liquid cargoes. In addition, Centaur, like the ships she
replaced, carried up to 700 head of cattle or some 4,500 sheep in her ’tween decks. Livestock was loaded both in Broome or Derby. Both these ports
had operational difficulties as they have extreme tidal ranges, for this reason
Centaur was built with a strengthened hull in order to cope having to sit on
the bottom at an even keel at low tide. Another unusual item was that vitiated
air was discharged through mast tops, as the image above clearly shows.
Built for £1½ million sterling, MS Centaur was
launched on June
20, 1963 by Mrs. Brand, the wife of the Western Australian Premier.
After her official handover in January 1964, she departed for Liverpool, where
she loaded cargo for Australia.
On January 20, 1964,
Centaur departed Liverpool for her delivery voyage to Australia, sailing via the Suez Canal to Singapore, after which she headed for Sydney where she arrived
on February 23. Her first voyage out of Australia
was under charter by the Australian Department of Commerce as a floating trade
exhibition to the Far East and Japan.
The charter concluded in April and finally Centaur headed for her Australian
homeport Fremantle (Perth). She departed on her first official voyage on May 27, 1964 for Singapore, Port Klang (Kuala
Lumpur) and George Town
(Penang).
Originally Centaur was registered under the
ownership of Ocean Steamship Co. Ltd, part of the Alfred Holt Group. She was
then transferred to another Alfred Holt subsidiary, the China Mutual Steam Navigation
Co. In 1973 she was re-registered in Singapore, becoming part of the
Eastern Fleets Ltd. It was not until 1978 that she was officially transferred
to Blue Funnel Line, another Alfred Holt subsidiary. However, interestingly
enough, from the day she was launched her funnel was painted in traditional
Blue Funnel Line colours, although she was the first of the fleet to have a
white hull.

Centaur was blessed with spacious decks,
both aft and on the forward superstructure
Centaur offered excellent accommodation for
196 one class passengers. Promenade (A) Deck had two luxury suites with private
facilities located forward flanking the library. Amidships were ten twin cabins
with private facilities. Aft was a spacious lounge overlooking Lido Deck and
the ships pool. B and C Decks had seventy-seven
1-2-4 bedded/berth cabins, of which twenty-three 1 and 2 bedded cabins
on B Deck had private facilities. B Deck also facilitated the Children’s
facilities and a paddle pool, whereas the Dinning Room, Cinema and the Music
Room were located on C deck.

Centaur was designed to offer her passengers a
cruise-like voyage, rather than a liner service between Fremantle and Singapore, a
voyage of five days. She became a popular ship, with round trip passengers, and
those travelling on her one way, be it from Fremantle or Singapore,
returning by air. Soon, Centaur became so popular; many of her passengers
travelled thousands of kilometres across Australia to join one of her
voyages.

In 1979, Blue Funnel Line placed her on a new
service, a 25 day circle voyage from Fremantle to Singapore,
Hong Kong and Manila, returning via Singapore to
Fremantle. She remained on this service for the next three years, but as
passenger numbers between Australia
and Asia were rapidly declining, Centaur was
taken out of service in 1982. On September 15, 1982, on a wet and windy day,
Centaur departed Fremantle for her final official voyage to Singapore. This
departure is recorded in Australian maritime history as the last ever liner
departure out of Australia.
All future ships based in Australia
were round voyage cruise ships. Sadly, Blue Funnel Line concluded all their
services from Australia
at the same time.

After her arrival in Singapore, Centaur
was chartered to the St Helena Shipping Company for one year. She headed for Cape Town with her funnel
repainted in their colours. On November 5, 1982, she departed Cape Town for her first voyage to St Helena, continuing to
Bristol England. She maintained this 24 day
round voyages until the end of the twelve month charter contract in November
1983. Blue Funnel had hoped that St Helena Shipping Company would take up the
purchase option, but this was not the case, and she was handed back to her owners.
On her voyage back to Singapore
she made one more call to Fremantle where she arrived on December 3. After
three days in Fremantle, Centaur departed Australia
on November 6,
1983, for the last time, arriving in Singapore on the 12th. Whilst laid
up, she remained idle until 1985, when she was sold to the China
Ocean Shipping Co, who renamed her MS Hai Long, and placed her on the Hong Kong Shanghai service.

MS Hai Da seen around
April/May 1986
Photographer unknown – see photo notes at bottom of
page
In 1986 she was renamed Hai
Da and continued service, In February 2006 MS Hai Da was finally sold to ship breakers at Guangdong, China and was duly broken up.
Specifications
Built by: John
Brown & Co., Glasgow
Launched: June 20, 1963
Inaugural voyage: January 20, 1964
– Liverpool to Fremantle
Tonnage: 8,262
GRT (Gross registered tons)
Length: 146.6m
– 481ft
Width: 20.1m
– 66ft
Draught: 7m
– 23ft
Engines: 2
B&W diesels – 16,500 BHP
Screws: Two
Service speed: 20
knots
Passengers: 196
Passenger decks: 6
Crew: 109
Livery: All
white hull and superstructure and a blue and black funnel.

Many
Australians will have fond memories of this unusual passenger-cargo liner
I trust you have enjoyed reading this page on
two fine and much loved passenger liners. If you have sailed on them I would
like to hear from you, and if you have any photographs I would greatly
appreciate some, especially those of the interiors and out on deck. Email Me!
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PLEASE NOTE: I receive hundreds of requests for Passenger/Crew Lists and Sailing Schedules. I
hereby wish to advise that I am unable to assist due to time
restrains and as most shipping companies have long gone these lists/schedules
are no longer available. I regret to advise that any request for these will no
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the ships of the past make history & the MV Doulos Site
Please
Note:
Photographs
on ssmaritime are: 1. By the author. 2. From the author’s private collection. 3. As provided by Shipping
Companies and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all
contributors. However, there are photographs provided to me without details provided
regarding the photographer concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images
would be so kind to make them-selves known to me, that due credit may be given.
I know what it is like, I have seen a multitude of my own photographs on other
sites, yet they either refuse to give me credit and
even refuse to remove them, knowing full well that there is no legal comeback
when it comes to the net. However, let us show the charlatans up and do the
right thing at all times and give credit where credit is due! Note: I do not credit those who send me photos as they
are not the owners of the photographs concerned, unless the image is part of
their private collection.
This
notice covers all pages, although, I have done my best to ensure that all photographs
are duly credited and that this notice is displaced on each page, that is, when
a page is updated!
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