A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital . Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies ) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. In the 19th century, redundant warships were used as moored hospitals for seamen.
140-406: Australian Hospital Ship (AHS) Centaur was a hospital ship which was attacked and sunk by a Japanese submarine off the coast of Queensland , Australia, on 14 May 1943. Of the 332 medical personnel and civilian crew aboard, 268 died, including 63 of the 65 army personnel. The Scottish-built vessel was launched in 1924 as a combination passenger liner and refrigerated cargo ship and operated
280-471: A calorifier , the rerouting of all steam pipes away from patient areas, and ventilation arrangements suitable for tropical conditions. The unions representing the ship's crew requested improved living and dining conditions, including new sinks in the food preparation areas and the replacement of flooring in the quarters and mess rooms. When AHS Centaur was relaunched on 12 March 1943, she was equipped with an operating theatre, dispensary, two wards (located on
420-447: A flathead engine a push rod is not necessary. The overhead cam design typically allows higher engine speeds because it provides the most direct path between cam and valve. Valve clearance refers to the small gap between a valve lifter and a valve stem that ensures that the valve completely closes. On engines with mechanical valve adjustment, excessive clearance causes noise from the valve train. A too-small valve clearance can result in
560-464: A brutal and uncompromising enemy. The Australian Government produced posters depicting the sinking, which called for Australians to "Avenge the Nurses" by working to produce materiel, purchasing war bonds , or enlisting in the armed forces. People also expressed their sympathy towards the crew, and there were several efforts to fund a new hospital ship. The councillors of Caulfield, Victoria , organised
700-475: A fund to replace the lost medical equipment, opening with a donation of AU£2,000. Those who worked on Centaur ' s conversion contributed money towards a replacement, and employees of Ansett Airways pledged to donate an hour's pay towards the fitting out of such a replacement. With some people unable to believe that the Japanese would be so ruthless, rumours began to spread almost immediately after news of
840-499: A grocery concern. In his travels, he encountered the internal combustion engine built in Paris by Belgian expatriate Jean Joseph Etienne Lenoir . In 1860, Lenoir successfully created a double-acting engine that ran on illuminating gas at 4% efficiency. The 18 litre Lenoir Engine produced only 2 horsepower. The Lenoir engine ran on illuminating gas made from coal, which had been developed in Paris by Philip Lebon . In testing
980-469: A hospital ship on 12 March 1943. The early stages of Centaur's first voyage as a hospital ship were test and transport runs; the initial run from Melbourne to Sydney resulted in the Master, Chief Engineer, and Chief Medical Officer composing a long list of defects requiring attention. Following repairs, she conducted a test run, transporting wounded servicemen from Townsville to Brisbane to ensure that she
1120-640: A new hospital ship was required. Of the Australian Merchant Navy vessels able to operate in this region, none were suitable for conversion to a hospital ship, and a request to the British Ministry of Shipping placed Centaur at the disposal of the Australian military on 4 January 1943. The conversion work began on 9 January and Centaur was commissioned as an Australian Hospital Ship on 1 March. During her conversion, Centaur
1260-493: A replica of the Lenoir engine in 1861, Otto became aware of the effects of compression on the fuel charge. In 1862, Otto attempted to produce an engine to improve on the poor efficiency and reliability of the Lenoir engine. He tried to create an engine that would compress the fuel mixture prior to ignition, but failed as that engine would run no more than a few minutes prior to its destruction. Many other engineers were trying to solve
1400-404: A route intended for a merchant vessel, set a course closer to land, but on the seaward side of 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) in depth. Also, Centaur was sailing completely illuminated, with the exception of the two bow floodlights, which had been switched off as they interfered with visibility from the bridge. There are three main theories as to why Centaur was attacked: This theory stems from
1540-508: A section referring to the Manunda incident as a response to the attack on Centaur , with the conclusion that the attack was the work of an irresponsible Japanese commander, and that it would be better to wait until further attacks had been made before considering the removal of hospital ship markings. When the consideration was made that the ambulance drivers' weapons incident just before Centaur's voyage may have been partially responsible for
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#17327871668181680-488: A sergeant bombardier out of organising a retaliatory bombing run on a Japanese hospital ship known to be in their area. Six days after the attack on Centaur , a request was made by the Australian Department of Defence that the identification markings and lights be removed from Australian hospital ship Manunda , weapons be installed, and that she begin to sail blacked out and under escort. The conversion
1820-495: A sheet of canvas. The quality of food was very poor. In the 1690s, the surgeon aboard Siam complained that the meat was in an advanced state of putrefaction , the biscuits were weevil-ridden and bitter, and the bread was so hard that it stripped the skin off patients’ mouths. Hospital ships were also used for the treatment of wounded soldiers fighting on land. An early example of this was during an English operation to evacuate English Tangier in 1683. An account of this evacuation
1960-575: A ship named Therapia , and the Roman Navy had a ship named Aesculapius , their names indicating that they may have been hospital ships. The earliest British hospital ship may have been the vessel Goodwill , which accompanied a Royal Navy squadron in the Mediterranean in 1608 and was used to house the sick sent aboard from other ships. However this experiment in medical care was short-lived, with Goodwill assigned to other tasks within
2100-410: A speed of 297 knots (550 km/h, 341.8 mph). Work was 90% complete on this model, Spasatel , but Soviet military funding ceased and it was never completed. Some hospital ships, such as SS Hope and Esperanza del Mar , belong to civilian agencies, and do not belong to a navy. Mercy Ships is an international non-governmental charity (or NGO). Hospital ships were covered under
2240-402: A surgeon and four surgeon's mates. The standard issue of medical supplies was bandages, soap, needles and bedpans . Patients were offered a bed or rug to rest upon, and given a clean pair of sheets. These early hospital ships were for the care of the sick rather than the wounded, with patients quartered according to their symptoms and infectious cases quarantined from the general population behind
2380-488: A trade route between Western Australia and Singapore via the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), carrying passengers, cargo, and livestock. At the start of World War II, Centaur (like all British Merchant Navy vessels) was placed under British Admiralty control, but after being fitted with defensive equipment, was allowed to continue normal operations. In November 1941, the ship rescued German survivors of
2520-583: A turbine system that converted waste heat into kinetic energy that it fed back into the engine's transmission. In 2005, BMW announced the development of the turbosteamer , a two-stage heat-recovery system similar to the Mack system that recovers 80% of the energy in the exhaust gas and raises the efficiency of an Otto engine by 15%. By contrast, a six-stroke engine may reduce fuel consumption by as much as 40%. Modern engines are often intentionally built to be slightly less efficient than they could otherwise be. This
2660-544: A year and her complement of convalescents simply left behind at the nearest port. It was not until the mid-seventeenth century that any Royal Navy vessels were formally designated as hospital ships, and then only two throughout the fleet. These were either hired merchant ships or elderly sixth rates , with the internal bulkheads removed to create more room, and additional ports cut through the deck and hull to increase internal ventilation. In addition to their sailing crew, these seventeenth century hospital ships were staffed by
2800-413: Is a contact surface on which the cam slides to open the valve. Many engines use one or more camshafts "above" a row (or each row) of cylinders, as in the illustration, in which each cam directly actuates a valve through a flat tappet. In other engine designs the camshaft is in the crankcase , in which case each cam usually contacts a push rod , which contacts a rocker arm that opens a valve, or in case of
2940-467: Is closer to the top. Diesel engines by their nature do not have concerns with pre-ignition. They have a concern with whether or not combustion can be started. The description of how likely Diesel fuel is to ignite is called the Cetane rating. Because Diesel fuels are of low volatility, they can be very hard to start when cold. Various techniques are used to start a cold Diesel engine, the most common being
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#17327871668183080-424: Is designed to provide efficiency at the expense of power density , and is used in some modern hybrid electric applications. The original Atkinson-cycle piston engine allowed the intake, compression, power, and exhaust strokes of the four-stroke cycle to occur in a single turn of the crankshaft and was designed to avoid infringing certain patents covering Otto-cycle engines. Due to the unique crankshaft design of
3220-536: Is limited by the chemical composition of the fuel. There are several grades of fuel to accommodate differing performance levels of engines. The fuel is altered to change its self ignition temperature. There are several ways to do this. As engines are designed with higher compression ratios the result is that pre-ignition is much more likely to occur since the fuel mixture is compressed to a higher temperature prior to deliberate ignition. The higher temperature more effectively evaporates fuels such as gasoline, which increases
3360-609: Is necessary for emission controls such as exhaust gas recirculation and catalytic converters that reduce smog and other atmospheric pollutants. Reductions in efficiency may be counteracted with an engine control unit using lean burn techniques . In the United States, the Corporate Average Fuel Economy mandates that vehicles must achieve an average of 34.9 mpg ‑US (6.7 L/100 km; 41.9 mpg ‑imp ) compared to
3500-431: Is not immediately available due to the need to sharply increase engine RPM, to build up pressure and to spin up the turbo, before the turbo starts to do any useful air compression. The increased intake volume causes increased exhaust and spins the turbo faster, and so forth until steady high power operation is reached. Another difficulty is that the higher exhaust pressure causes the exhaust gas to transfer more of its heat to
3640-414: Is regarded as the first car. In 1884, Otto's company, then known as Gasmotorenfabrik Deutz (GFD), developed electric ignition and the carburetor. In 1890, Daimler and Maybach formed a company known as Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft . Today, that company is Daimler-Benz . The Atkinson-cycle engine is a type of single stroke internal combustion engine invented by James Atkinson in 1882. The Atkinson cycle
3780-400: Is that the temperature rise of the compressed charge can cause pre-ignition. If this occurs at the wrong time and is too energetic, it can damage the engine. Different fractions of petroleum have widely varying flash points (the temperatures at which the fuel may self-ignite). This must be taken into account in engine and fuel design. The tendency for the compressed fuel mixture to ignite early
3920-416: Is the question of how Nakagawa and his crew were able to predict that Centaur was taking an alternative route and how they were able to determine the new route selected. Similar but later rumours included that during her first voyage, Centaur had transported soldiers to New Guinea, or Japanese prisoners of war back to Australia for interrogation, and consequently had been marked as a legitimate target by
4060-412: Is ultimately limited by material strength and lubrication . Valves, pistons and connecting rods suffer severe acceleration forces. At high engine speed, physical breakage and piston ring flutter can occur, resulting in power loss or even engine destruction. Piston ring flutter occurs when the rings oscillate vertically within the piston grooves they reside in. Ring flutter compromises the seal between
4200-550: The Admiralty in all matters excluding the crewing and management of vessels. Following the outbreak of World War II on 3 September 1939, Centaur was equipped with a stern -mounted 4-inch (100 mm) Mark IX naval gun and two .303 Vickers machine guns located on the bridge wings for protection against Axis warships and aircraft. She was also fitted with port and starboard paravanes and degaussing equipment for protection against naval mines . The weapons were removed during
4340-635: The British Red Cross supplied a steel-hulled ship, equipped with modern surgery equipment including chloroform and other anaesthetics , and carbolic acid for antisepsis . Similar vessels accompanied the 1882 British invasion of Egypt and aided American personnel during the 1898 Spanish–American War . During a smallpox outbreak in London in 1883, the Metropolitan Asylum Board (MAB) chartered and later purchased from
AHS Centaur - Misplaced Pages Continue
4480-746: The Crimean War in the 1850s. The only military hospital available to the British forces fighting on the Crimean Peninsula was at Scutari near the Bosphorus . During the Siege of Sevastopol almost 15,000 wounded troops were transported there from the port at Balaklava by a squadron of converted hospital ships. The first ships to be equipped with genuine medical facilities were the steamships HMS Melbourne and HMS Mauritius , staffed by
4620-721: The Hague Convention X of 1907 . Articles of the Hague Convention X specified the provisions for a hospital ship: According to the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea , a hospital ship violating legal restrictions must be duly warned and given a reasonable time limit to comply. If a hospital ship persists in violating restrictions, a belligerent is legally entitled to capture it or take other means to enforce compliance. A non-complying hospital ship may only be fired on under
4760-539: The New Guinea campaign meant that the hospitals in Queensland would quickly become unable to deal with the quantity of the casualties and the nature of their injuries, so a longer voyage to Sydney was required. The Army demanded that more facilities and conversions be added to the original plans such as expanded bathing and washing facilities, hot water made available to all parts of the ship through installation of
4900-515: The Royal Hamadryad Seamen's Hospital . Other redundant warships were used as hospitals for convicts and prisoners of war. The Royal Navy institutionalised the use of hospital ships during the first half of the nineteenth century. Hospital ships were generally superior in their standard of service and sanitation to the medical provision available at the time for convalescent soldiers. The modern hospital ship began to emerge during
5040-500: The Soviet hospital ship Armenia in 1941, and AHS Centaur in 1943. While any ship can be designated and marked as a hospital ship, many ships are permanently dedicated to that function. It is common for naval ships, especially large ships such as aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships to have on-board hospitals. However, they are only one small part of the vessel's overall capability, and are used primarily for
5180-584: The engagement between Kormoran and HMAS Sydney . Centaur was relocated to Australia's east coast in October 1942, and used to transport materiel to New Guinea. In January 1943, Centaur was handed over to the Australian military for conversion to a hospital ship, as her small size made her suitable for operating in Maritime Southeast Asia . The refit (including installation of medical facilities and repainting with Red Cross markings)
5320-590: The fuel economy improvements the Atkinson cycle can provide. The diesel engine is a technical refinement of the 1876 Otto-cycle engine. Where Otto had realized in 1861 that the efficiency of the engine could be increased by first compressing the fuel mixture prior to its ignition, Rudolf Diesel wanted to develop a more efficient type of engine that could run on much heavier fuel. The Lenoir , Otto Atmospheric, and Otto Compression engines (both 1861 and 1876) were designed to run on Illuminating Gas (coal gas) . With
5460-455: The public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . The entry can be found here . [REDACTED] Media related to Hospital ships at Wikimedia Commons Four-stroke engine A four-stroke (also four-cycle ) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to
5600-672: The 1930s, Centaur remained alone on her route, but the increase in trade along this route prompted Blue Funnel Line to reassign Gorgon and assign the new Charon to work alongside Centaur . Following the change in Code Letters in 1934, Centaur was allocated the Code Letters GMQP. A highlight of Centaur' s pre-war career was the rescue of the 385 ton Japanese whale-chaser Kyo Maru II in November 1938. Kyo Maru II had developed boiler problems while returning from
5740-404: The 332 aboard died in the attack; the 64 survivors were discovered 36 hours later. The incident resulted in public outrage as attacking a hospital ship is considered a war crime under the 1907 Hague Convention . Protests were made by the Australian and British governments to Japan and efforts were made to discover the people responsible so they could be tried at a war crimes tribunal. In the 1970s
AHS Centaur - Misplaced Pages Continue
5880-673: The Admiralty two ships, HMS Atlas and HMS Endymion , and a paddle-steamer, PS Castalia , which were moored in the Thames at Long Reach , near Dartford , and remained in service until 1903. Hospital ships were used by both sides in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905.The sighting by the Japanese of the Russian hospital ship Orel , illuminated in accordance with regulations for hospital ships, led to
6020-571: The Allies during the Battle of the Bismarck Sea , or may have expected praise for the sinking of an enemy naval vessel. In February 1944, while in command of I-37 , Nakagawa ordered the machine-gunning of survivors from three British merchant vessels torpedoed by his submarine ( British Chivalry , on 22 February; Sutlej , on 24 February; and Ascott , on 29 February). His defence, that he
6160-767: The Antarctic and was drifting towards the Houtman Abrolhos Archipelago, where she was in danger of being wrecked by the reefs in the area. Centaur responded to the distress signal and towed Kyo Maru II to Geraldton . As a vessel of the British Merchant Navy , Centaur was affected by the British Parliament's 1939 outline of how the Merchant Navy would respond to the declaration of war, primarily submission to
6300-433: The Atkinson, its expansion ratio can differ from its compression ratio and, with a power stroke longer than its compression stroke, the engine can achieve greater thermal efficiency than a traditional piston engine. While Atkinson's original design is no more than a historical curiosity, many modern engines use unconventional valve timing to produce the effect of a shorter compression stroke/longer power stroke, thus realizing
6440-508: The Australian Prime Minister on 14 November 1944 that no further communications would be made on the loss of Centaur . Torpedo attacks in Australian waters were common at this time, with 27 Japanese submarines operating in Australian waters between June 1942 and December 1944. These submarines attacked almost 50 merchant vessels, 20 ships confirmed to be sunk as result of a Japanese attack, plus 9 more unconfirmed. This
6580-781: The Australian armed forces, General MacArthur, the Admiralty, and the Australian Government, an official protest was sent. This was received by the Japanese Government on 29 May 1943. At around the same time, the International Committee of the Red Cross sent a protest on behalf of the major Allied Red Cross organisations to the Japanese Red Cross. On 26 December 1943, a response to the Australian protest arrived. It stated that
6720-606: The British Royal Navy had 77 such ships in service. During the Gallipoli Campaign , hospital ships were used to evacuate wounded personnel to Egypt , Malta or England. Canada operated hospital ships in both world wars. In World War I these included SS Letitia (I) and HMHS Llandovery Castle which was deliberately sunk by a German U-boat with great loss of life, despite the hospital ship's clearly marked status. In World War II, Canada operated
6860-471: The Japanese Government had no information justifying the allegation made, and therefore took no responsibility for what happened. The reply counter-protested that nine Japanese hospital ships had been attacked by the Allies, although these claims were directed against the United States, not Australia. Although several later exchanges were made, the lack of progress saw the British Government inform
7000-599: The Japanese Navy, Sakamoto's work was considered to be official admission of the attacking submarine's identity. Subsequently, most sources assumed as fact Nakagawa's and I-177 ' s role in the loss of Centaur . Nakagawa, who died in 1991, refused to speak about the attack on Centaur following the war crimes investigation at the end of World War II or even to defend himself or deny the claims made by Rohwer and Sakamoto. The media were notified of Centaur ' s sinking on 17 May 1943, but were ordered not to release
7140-401: The Japanese government issued a statement formally denying responsibility for the sinking of Centaur . Records provided by the Japanese following the war also did not acknowledge responsibility. Although Centaur ' s sinking was a war crime , no one was tried for sinking the hospital ship. Investigations into the attack were conducted between 1944 and 1948, and included the interrogation of
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#17327871668187280-408: The Japanese. Centaur had carried 10 prisoners of war on her return voyage from New Guinea, but as they were all wounded personnel, transporting them on a hospital ship was legal. This theory states that Nakagawa was unaware that the vessel he was attacking was a hospital ship, and that the sinking was an unfortunate accident. This view was supported by several Japanese officers, both before and after
7420-662: The Medical Staff Corps and providing services to the British expedition to China in 1860 . The ships provided relatively spacious accommodation for the patients, and were equipped with an operating theatre. Another early hospital ship was USS Red Rover in the 1860s, which aided the wounded soldiers of both sides during the American Civil War . During the Russo-Turkish War (1877–78) ,
7560-535: The United States and were not equipped or staffed to handle large numbers of direct battle casualties. Three of the Navy hospital ships, USS Comfort , USS Hope , and USS Mercy , were less elaborately equipped than other Navy hospital ships, medically staffed by Army medical personnel and similar in purpose to the Army model. The last British royal yacht , the post World War II HMY Britannia ,
7700-528: The Western Australian coast calling at Geraldton , Carnarvon , Onslow , Point Samson , Port Hedland , Broome , and Derby then to the Bali Strait , Surabaya , Semarang , Batavia , and Singapore. Centaur operated as a cross between a tramp steamer and a freight liner ; she travelled a set route, but stops at ports along the route varied between journeys. From 1928 until sometime in
7840-448: The accuracy of both the calculated point of sinking and the dead reckoning position, but the 2009 discovery of the wreck found both to be correct, Centaur located within 1 nautical mile (1.9 km; 1.2 mi) of Rippon's coordinates. Of the 332 people on board, 64 were rescued. Most of the crew and passengers were asleep at the time of attack and had little chance to escape. It was estimated that up to 200 people may have been alive at
7980-525: The actual four-stroke and two-stroke cycles is not a simple task. However, the analysis can be simplified significantly if air standard assumptions are utilized. The resulting cycle, which closely resembles the actual operating conditions, is the Otto cycle. During normal operation of the engine, as the air/fuel mixture is being compressed, an electric spark is created to ignite the mixture. At low rpm this occurs close to TDC (Top Dead Centre). As engine rpm rises,
8120-426: The air has been compressed twice and then gains more potential volume in the combustion but it is only expanded in one stage. A turbocharger is a supercharger that is driven by the engine's exhaust gases, by means of a turbine . A turbocharger is incorporated into the exhaust system of a vehicle to make use of the expelled exhaust. It consists of a two piece, high-speed turbine assembly with one side that compresses
8260-453: The ambulance drivers were allowed to carry weapons under the 10th Hague Convention (specifically Article 8), as they were used "for the maintenance of order and the defence of the wounded." The remaining cargo was searched by the crew and labourers for other weapons and munitions. At approximately 4:10 am on 14 May 1943, while on her second run from Sydney to Port Moresby, Centaur was torpedoed by an unsighted submarine. The torpedo struck
8400-409: The attack on Centaur was one of outrage, significantly different from that displayed following the loss of Australian warships or merchant vessels. As a hospital ship, the attack was a breach of the tenth Hague Convention of 1907 , and as such was a war crime . The sinking of Centaur drew strong reactions from both Prime Minister Curtin and General Douglas MacArthur . Curtin stated that the sinking
8540-675: The attack was made public. The most common rumour was that Centaur had been carrying munitions or commandos at the time of her sinking, the Japanese being made aware of this before her departure. This stemmed from an incident involving the ambulance drivers' weapons during loading in Sydney. The attack was universally condemned by Australian servicemen, who commonly believed that the attack on Centaur had been carried out deliberately and in full knowledge of her status. Similar reactions were expressed by other Allied personnel; United States Army Air Forces General George Kenney recalled having to talk
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#17327871668188680-513: The attack, it led to the tightening of rules regarding who was allowed to travel on a hospital ship. Quasi-medical staff, like repatriation teams, were no longer permitted on hospital ships. Ambulance drivers had to transfer from the regular Army to the Australian Army Medical Corps before they were allowed aboard, although they were still permitted to carry their unloaded weapons and ammunition. After consultation with
8820-671: The beginning of 1943, Centaur was placed at the disposal of the Australian Department of Defence for conversion to a hospital ship. The conversion was performed by United Ship Services in Melbourne, Australia, and was initially estimated to cost AU£ 20,000. The cost increased to almost AU£55,000, for a variety of reasons. It was originally intended for the ship to travel between ports in New Guinea and Townsville, Queensland , Australia. Increasing casualty numbers in
8960-452: The bore diameter is larger than its stroke length is an oversquare engine, conversely, an engine with a bore diameter that is smaller than its stroke length is an undersquare engine. The valves are typically operated by a camshaft rotating at half the speed of the crankshaft . It has a series of cams along its length, each designed to open a valve during the appropriate part of an intake or exhaust stroke. A tappet between valve and cam
9100-425: The colouration of the cloth band ringing the hat, a distant observer could have concluded that the hospital ship was transporting soldiers. Those witnessing the loading in Sydney would have seen the ambulance drivers bring their weapons aboard, and could have come to a similar conclusion. If a spy or informant had passed this information to the Japanese, I-177 could have been lying in wait. The main flaw in this theory
9240-515: The commanders of the submarines operating in Australian waters at the time, their superiors, plus junior officers and crewmen from the submarines who had survived the war. Several of the investigators suspected that Nakagawa and I-177 were most likely responsible, but they were unable to establish this beyond reasonable doubt, and the Centaur case file was closed on 14 December 1948 without any charges laid. Historians were divided on which submarine
9380-515: The creek under quarantine to protect the country from infectious diseases including the plague . From 1821 to 1870, the Seamen's Hospital Society provided HMS Grampus , HMS Dreadnought and HMS Caledonia (later renamed Dreadnought ) as successive hospital ships moored at Deptford in London. In 1866, HMS Hamadryad was moored in Cardiff as a seamen's hospital, replaced in 1905 by
9520-436: The current standard of 25 mpg ‑US (9.4 L/100 km; 30.0 mpg ‑imp ). As automakers look to meet these standards by 2016, new ways of engineering the traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) have to be considered. Some potential solutions to increase fuel efficiency to meet new mandates include firing after the piston is farthest from the crankshaft, known as top dead centre , and applying
9660-480: The decisive naval Battle of Tsushima . Orel was retained as a prize of war by the Japanese after the battle. During World War I and World War II, hospital ships were first used on a massive scale. Many passenger liners were converted for use as hospital ships. RMS Aquitania and HMHS Britannic were two famous examples of ships serving in this capacity. By the end of the First World War,
9800-423: The deployment of lifeboats, although two broke off from Centaur as she sank, along with several damaged liferafts . According to the position extrapolated by Second Officer Gordon Rippon from the 4:00 am dead reckoning position, Centaur was attacked approximately 24 nautical miles (44 km; 28 mi) east-northeast of Point Lookout , North Stradbroke Island, Queensland. Doubts were initially cast on
9940-474: The efficiency of the compression engine. Higher compression ratios also mean that the distance that the piston can push to produce power is greater (which is called the expansion ratio ). The octane rating of a given fuel is a measure of the fuel's resistance to self-ignition. A fuel with a higher numerical octane rating allows for a higher compression ratio, which extracts more energy from the fuel and more effectively converts that energy into useful work while at
10080-502: The energy generated by combustion is converted into useful rotational energy at the output shaft of the engine, while the remainder being lost due to waste heat, friction and engine accessories. There are a number of ways to recover some of the energy lost to waste heat. The use of a turbocharger in diesel engines is very effective by boosting incoming air pressure and in effect, provides the same increase in performance as having more displacement. The Mack Truck company, decades ago, developed
10220-412: The engine's performance and/or fuel efficiency could be improved by improving the overall efficiency of the cycle. It has been found that even if 6% of the entirely wasted heat is recovered it can increase the engine efficiency greatly. Many methods have been devised in order to extract waste heat out of an engine exhaust and use it further to extract some useful work, decreasing the exhaust pollutants at
10360-560: The engines burst, nearly killing Diesel. He persisted, and finally created a successful engine in 1893. The high-compression engine, which ignites its fuel by the heat of compression, is now called the diesel engine, whether a four-stroke or two-stroke design. The four-stroke diesel engine has been used in the majority of heavy-duty applications for many decades. It uses a heavy fuel containing more energy and requiring less refinement to produce. The most efficient Otto-cycle engines run near 30% thermal efficiency. The thermodynamic analysis of
10500-420: The first high-speed Otto engine in 1883. In 1885, they produced the first automobile to be equipped with an Otto engine. The Daimler Reitwagen used a hot-tube ignition system and the fuel known as Ligroin to become the world's first vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. It used a four-stroke engine based on Otto's design. The following year, Karl Benz produced a four-stroke engined automobile that
10640-427: The following conditions: In all other circumstances, attacking a hospital ship is a war crime . Modern hospital ships display large Red Crosses or Red Crescents to signify their Geneva Convention protection under the laws of war . Even so, marked vessels have not been completely free from attack. Notable examples of hospital ships deliberately attacked during wartime are HMHS Llandovery Castle in 1915,
10780-404: The former cattle decks), and a dental surgery, along with quarters for seventy five crew and sixty five permanent Army medical staff. To maintain the ship's mean draught of 6.1 metres (20 ft), 900 tons of ironstone were distributed through the cargo holds as ballast. AHS Centaur was capable of voyages of 18 days before resupply and could carry just over 250 bedridden patients. Centaur
10920-419: The full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either direction. The four separate strokes are termed: Four-stroke engines are the most common internal combustion engine design for motorized land transport, being used in automobiles , trucks , diesel trains , light aircraft and motorcycles . The major alternative design is the two-stroke cycle . Nikolaus August Otto was a traveling salesman for
11060-426: The horizon. Around the same time, a Royal Australian Air Force Avro Anson of No. 71 Squadron , flying ahead on anti-submarine watch, dived towards the object. The aircraft returned to the two ships and signalled that there were shipwreck survivors in the water requiring rescue. Mugford ' s commanding officer ordered Sussex to continue alone as Mugford collected the survivors. Marksmen were positioned around
11200-733: The hospital ship RMS Lady Nelson and SS Letitia (II) . The first purpose-built hospital ship in the U.S. Navy was USS Relief which was commissioned in 1921. During World War II both the United States Navy and Army operated hospital ships though with different purposes. Naval hospital ships were fully equipped hospitals designed to receive casualties direct from the battlefield and also supplied to provide logistical support to front line medical teams ashore. Army hospital ships were essentially hospital transports intended and equipped to evacuate patients from forward area Army hospitals to rear area hospitals or from those to
11340-407: The hospital ship refit, although the anti-mine countermeasures remained. Centaur initially remained in service on her original trade route. On 26 November 1941, a damaged lifeboat carrying 62 Kriegsmarine (German navy) sailors and officers was spotted by an aircraft looking for the missing Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney ; the aircraft directed Centaur to the lifeboat. Upon encountering
11480-434: The intake air, and the other side that is powered by the exhaust gas outflow. When idling, and at low-to-moderate speeds, the turbine produces little power from the small exhaust volume, the turbocharger has little effect and the engine operates nearly in a naturally aspirated manner. When much more power output is required, the engine speed and throttle opening are increased until the exhaust gases are sufficient to 'spool up'
11620-565: The lifeboat, food was lowered to its occupants, and one person was allowed on board to explain the situation. Initially posing as a Norwegian merchant navy officer, the man quickly revealed that he was the first officer of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran and that the lifeboat contained German survivors from Kormoran ' s battle with HMAS Sydney seven days earlier, including Captain Theodor Detmers . Unwilling to leave
11760-498: The loading process, there was an incident when the ambulance drivers attached to the 2/12th attempted to bring their rifles and personal supplies of ammunition aboard. This was met with disapproval from Centaur ' s Master and Chief Medical Officer, and raised concerns amongst the crew and wharf labourers that Centaur would be transporting military supplies or commandos to New Guinea: the rifles were not allowed on board until Centaur ' s Master received official reassurance that
11900-417: The markings were illuminated by a combination of internal and external lights. Data on the ship's markings and the layout of identifying structural features was provided to the International Committee of the Red Cross during the first week of February 1943, who passed this on to the Japanese on 5 February. This information was also circulated and promoted by the press and media. Centaur entered operation as
12040-424: The mechanical parts of the engine. The rod-to-stroke ratio is the ratio of the length of the connecting rod to the length of the piston stroke. A longer rod reduces sidewise pressure of the piston on the cylinder wall and the stress forces, increasing engine life. It also increases the cost and engine height and weight. A "square engine" is an engine with a bore diameter equal to its stroke length. An engine where
12180-399: The most visible characteristics was the 35-foot (11 m) smokestack, the extreme size was more a concession to tradition than of practical advantage on a diesel-powered vessel. Her engine was 6-cylinder 4-stroke, single cycle single action diesel engine . It had cylinders of 24 15 ⁄ 16 inches (64 cm) diameter by 51 3 ⁄ 16 inches (135 cm) stroke. The engine
12320-741: The news until it had been announced in the South West Pacific Area's General Headquarters dispatch at midday on 18 May, and in Parliament by Prime Minister John Curtin that afternoon. News of the attack made front pages throughout the world, including The Times of London, The New York Times , and the Montreal Gazette . In some newspapers, the news took precedence over the 'Dambuster' raids performed in Europe by No. 617 Squadron RAF . The initial public reaction to
12460-481: The number one cargo hold, where they were joined by another hundred Kormoran survivors collected by other ships, plus forty Australian Army guards, which were then transported by Centaur to Fremantle. Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the beginning of the Malayan Campaign on 7 December 1941, Centaur ' s run was curtailed to Broome, Western Australia . On 6 October 1942, Centaur
12600-416: The observation of the target made through the periscope, there is a possibility Nakagawa would not have seen the hospital ship's markings if he had been in the wrong position. Apart from the two bow floodlights, Centaur was lit up brilliantly. To attack, I-177 would have had to approach from abeam of Centaur , which was illuminated by both its own lights and a full moon. This theory states that Nakagawa
12740-415: The piston speed for industrial engines to about 10 m/s. The output power of an engine is dependent on the ability of intake (air–fuel mixture) and exhaust matter to move quickly through valve ports, typically located in the cylinder head . To increase an engine's output power, irregularities in the intake and exhaust paths, such as casting flaws, can be removed, and, with the aid of an air flow bench ,
12880-480: The portside oil fuel tank approximately 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) below the waterline, creating a hole 8 to 10 metres (26 to 33 ft) across, igniting the fuel, and setting the ship on fire from the bridge aft. Many of those on board were immediately killed by concussion or perished in the inferno. Centaur quickly took on water through the impact site, rolled to port, then sank bow-first, submerging completely in less than three minutes. The rapid sinking prevented
13020-421: The power output limits of an internal combustion engine relative to its displacement. Most commonly, the supercharger is always running, but there have been designs that allow it to be cut out or run at varying speeds (relative to engine speed). Mechanically driven supercharging has the disadvantage that some of the output power is used to drive the supercharger, while power is wasted in the high pressure exhaust, as
13160-418: The probable identity of the attacking submarine, I-177 , became public. The reason for the attack is unknown; there are theories that Centaur was in breach of the international conventions that should have protected her, that I-177 ' s commander was unaware that Centaur was a hospital ship, or that the submarine commander, Hajime Nakagawa, knowingly attacked a protected vessel. The wreck of Centaur
13300-472: The problem, with no success. In 1864, Otto and Eugen Langen founded the first internal combustion engine production company, NA Otto and Cie (NA Otto and Company). Otto and Cie succeeded in creating a successful atmospheric engine that same year. The factory ran out of space and was moved to the town of Deutz , Germany in 1869, where the company was renamed to Deutz Gasmotorenfabrik AG (The Deutz Gas Engine Manufacturing Company). In 1872, Gottlieb Daimler
13440-497: The radii of valve port turns and valve seat configuration can be modified to reduce resistance. This process is called porting , and it can be done by hand or with a CNC machine. An internal combustion engine is on average capable of converting only 40-45% of supplied energy into mechanical work. A large part of the waste energy is in the form of heat that is released to the environment through coolant, fins etc. If somehow waste heat could be captured and turned to mechanical energy,
13580-429: The revelation that Nakagawa was responsible. Amongst them was Lieutenant Commander Zenji Orita, who took command of I-177 after Nakagawa. Orita did not hear anything from the crew about having sunk a hospital ship, not even rumours, and believed that if I-177 had knowingly attacked Centaur , he would have learned this from the crew's gossip. When compared to the other contemporary Australian hospital ships , Centaur
13720-399: The ring and the cylinder wall, which causes a loss of cylinder pressure and power. If an engine spins too quickly, valve springs cannot act quickly enough to close the valves. This is commonly referred to as ' valve float ', and it can result in piston to valve contact, severely damaging the engine. At high speeds the lubrication of piston cylinder wall interface tends to break down. This limits
13860-401: The rumours spreading after Centaur ' s sinking. If Centaur had been in breach of the Hague Convention of 1907 , and someone had informed the Japanese of this, I-177 may have been under valid orders to attack. When Centaur left Sydney, her decks were packed with green-uniformed men, and as Field Ambulance uniforms were only distinguishable from other Army uniforms by badge insignia and
14000-502: The same motivation as Otto, Diesel wanted to create an engine that would give small industrial companies their own power source to enable them to compete against larger companies, and like Otto, to get away from the requirement to be tied to a municipal fuel supply. Like Otto, it took more than a decade to produce the high-compression engine that could self-ignite fuel sprayed into the cylinder. Diesel used an air spray combined with fuel in his first engine. During initial development, one of
14140-406: The same time preventing engine damage from pre-ignition. High Octane fuel is also more expensive. Many modern four-stroke engines employ gasoline direct injection or GDI. In a gasoline direct-injected engine, the injector nozzle protrudes into the combustion chamber. The direct fuel injector injects gasoline under a very high pressure into the cylinder during the compression stroke, when the piston
14280-498: The same time. Use of the Rankine Cycle , turbocharging and thermoelectric generation can be very useful as a waste heat recovery system. One way to increase engine power is to force more air into the cylinder so that more power can be produced from each power stroke. This can be done using some type of air compression device known as a supercharger , which can be powered by the engine crankshaft. Supercharging increases
14420-536: The ship to shoot sharks, and sailors stood ready to dive in and assist the wounded. Mugford ' s medics inspected each person as they came aboard and provided necessary medical care. The American crew learned from the first group of survivors that they were from the hospital ship Centaur . At 2:14 pm, Mugford made contact with the Naval Officer-in-Charge in Brisbane, and announced that
14560-632: The ship was recovering survivors from Centaur at 27°03′S 154°12′E / 27.050°S 154.200°E / -27.050; 154.200 , the first that anyone in Australia had knowledge of the attack on the hospital ship. The rescue of the 64 survivors took an hour and twenty minutes, although Mugford remained in the area until dark, searching an area of approximately 7 by 14 nautical miles (13 by 26 km; 8 by 16 mi) for more survivors. After darkness fell, Mugford returned to Brisbane, arriving shortly before midnight. Further searches of
14700-460: The ship's crew and its amphibious forces (and occasionally for relief missions). A warship with hospital facilities does not have the protected status of a hospital ship. A primary example of the varied military-based hospital services available at sea is found aboard several types of US naval ships; More examples from various other national navies include; [REDACTED] German Navy [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from
14840-540: The shipwrecked men at sea, but afraid of having his ship captured by the Germans, Centaur ' s master decided to take the lifeboat in tow, after allowing nine wounded men aboard. During the tow towards Carnarvon, Western Australia , the lifeboat was swamped and partially sunk by rough seas, so two of Centaur ' s lifeboats were lowered to carry the Germans. On arrival in Carnarvon, the Germans were relocated to
14980-452: The speed of the flame front does not change so the spark point is advanced earlier in the cycle to allow a greater proportion of the cycle for the charge to combust before the power stroke commences. This advantage is reflected in the various Otto engine designs; the atmospheric (non-compression) engine operates at 12% efficiency whereas the compressed-charge engine has an operating efficiency around 30%. A problem with compressed charge engines
15120-503: The submarine to Naval Intelligence following the survivors' return to land; his description matched the profile of a KD7 type Kaidai -class submarine of the Imperial Japanese Navy . At the time of the attack, three KD7 Kaidai were operating off Australia's east coast : I-177 under the command of Hajime Nakagawa, I-178 under Hidejiro Utsuki, and I-180 under Toshio Kusaka. None of these submarines survived
15260-601: The time Centaur submerged. Several who made it off the ship later died from shrapnel wounds or burns; others were unable to find support and drowned. The survivors spent 36 hours in the water, using barrels, wreckage, and the two damaged lifeboats for flotation. During this time, they drifted approximately 19.6 nautical miles (36.3 km; 22.6 mi) north east of Centaur ' s calculated point of sinking and spread out over an area of 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi). The survivors saw at least four ships and several aircraft, but could not attract their attention. At
15400-463: The time of rescue, the survivors were in two large and three small groups, with several more floating alone. Amongst those rescued were Sister Ellen Savage , the only surviving nurse from 12 aboard; Leslie Outridge, the only surviving doctor from 18 aboard; Gordon Rippon, second officer and most senior surviving crew member; and Richard Salt, the Torres Strait ship pilot . In 1944, Ellen Savage
15540-407: The turbocharger's turbine to start compressing much more air than normal into the intake manifold. Thus, additional power (and speed) is expelled through the function of this turbine. Turbocharging allows for more efficient engine operation because it is driven by exhaust pressure that would otherwise be (mostly) wasted, but there is a design limitation known as turbo lag . The increased engine power
15680-423: The use of a glow plug . The maximum amount of power generated by an engine is determined by the maximum amount of air ingested. The amount of power generated by a piston engine is related to its size (cylinder volume), whether it is a two-stroke engine or four-stroke design, volumetric efficiency , losses, air-to-fuel ratio, the calorific value of the fuel, oxygen content of the air and speed ( RPM ). The speed
15820-438: The valves not closing properly. This results in a loss of performance and possibly overheating of exhaust valves. Typically, the clearance must be readjusted each 20,000 miles (32,000 km) with a feeler gauge. Most modern production engines use hydraulic lifters to automatically compensate for valve train component wear. Dirty engine oil may cause lifter failure. Otto engines are about 30% efficient; in other words, 30% of
15960-402: The war at sea that I-177 torpedoed Centaur , based on a Japanese report stating that I-177 had attacked a ship on 14 May 1943 in the area the hospital ship had sunk. Japanese Rear Admiral Kaneyoshi Sakamoto, who had shown Rohwer the report, stated that Nakagawa and I-177 were responsible for the attack on Centaur in his 1979 book History of Submarine Warfare . As an official history of
16100-437: The war; I-177 was sunk by USS Samuel S. Miles on 3 October 1944, I-178 by USS Patterson on 25 August 1943, and I-180 by USS Gilmore on 26 April 1944. Kusaka and Nakagawa were transferred to other submarines before the loss of I-180 and I-177 respectively, but Utsuki and I-178 were sunk while returning from the patrol off the coast of Australia. In December 1943, following official protests ,
16240-480: The water as the tidal variance in ports at the northern end of Western Australia was as great as 8 metres (26 ft). Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Greenock was chosen to build Centaur . The keel was laid on 16 November 1923, and the ship was ready for collection by 29 August 1924. Constructed at a cost of £146,750 sterling , Centaur was designed to carry 72 passengers and 450 cattle. Cargo
16380-406: The waters off North Stradbroke Island were made by USS Helm during the night of 15 May until 6:00 pm on 16 May, and by HMAS Lithgow and four motor torpedo boats from 16 to 21 May, neither search finding more survivors. At the time of the attack, none aboard Centaur witnessed what had attacked the ship. Due to the ship's position, the distance from shore, and the depth, it
16520-436: Was "an entirely inexcusable act, undertaken in violation of the convention to which Japan is a party and of all the principles of common humanity". MacArthur reflected the common Australian view when he stated that the sinking was an example of Japanese "limitless savagery". Politicians urged the public to use their rage to fuel the war effort, and Centaur became a symbol of Australia's determination to defeat what appeared to be
16660-582: Was acting under orders from Vice Admiral Shiro Takasu , was not accepted, and he was sentenced to four years imprisonment at Sugamo Prison as a Class B war criminal. These incidents showed that Nakagawa was willing to ignore the laws of war . Hospital ship The Second Geneva Convention of 1949 prohibits military attacks on hospital ships that meet specified requirements, though belligerent forces have right of inspection and may take patients, but not staff, as prisoners of war . Hospital ships possibly existed in ancient times. The Athenian Navy had
16800-531: Was again New Guinea. On board at the time were 74 civilian crew, 53 Australian Army Medical Corps personnel (including 8 officers), 12 female nurses from the Australian Army Nursing Service , 192 soldiers from the 2/12th Field Ambulance , and one Torres Strait ship pilot . Most of the female nurses had transferred from the hospital ship Oranje , and the male Army personnel assigned to the ship aboard were all medical staff. During
16940-627: Was allocated the United Kingdom Official Number 147275 and the Code Letters KHHC. Her port of registry was Liverpool . When Centaur entered service at the end of 1924, the Fremantle – Java – Singapore trade route was being serviced by two other Blue Funnel Line vessels; Gorgon (which remained in service until 1928) and Charon (which Centaur was replacing). Centaur ' s route ran from Fremantle up
17080-648: Was built by Burmeister & Wain , Copenhagen , Denmark. One of her holds was fitted with refrigeration equipment. The refrigerant was brine and the insulation was cork . The refrigerated hold had a capacity of 3,000 cubic feet (85 m). In December 1939, Centaur underwent a minor refit in Hong Kong, with a supercharger and a new propeller fitted to the engine. The supercharger broke down in April 1942, and could not be repaired because of equipment shortages and restricted dockyard access caused by World War II. At
17220-436: Was capable of fulfilling the role of a medical vessel. Centaur was then tasked with delivering medical personnel to Port Moresby , New Guinea, and returning to Brisbane with Australian and American wounded along with a few wounded Japanese prisoners of war. Arriving in Sydney on 8 May 1943, Centaur was re-provisioned at Darling Harbour , before departing for Cairns , Queensland on 12 May 1943. From there, her destination
17360-402: Was carried in four holds; the two decks within the hull were primarily for livestock, and could also be used as extra cargo space. The hull of the ship was a 'turret deck' design; decks below the waterline were wider than those above water, and a flat, reinforced hull allowed the ship to rest on the bottom. Centaur was among the first civilian vessels to be equipped with a diesel engine. One of
17500-494: Was completed in March, and the ship undertook a trial voyage: transporting wounded from Townsville to Brisbane, then from Port Moresby to Brisbane. After replenishing in Sydney, Centaur embarked the 2/12th Field Ambulance for transport to New Guinea, and sailed on 12 May. Before dawn on 14 May 1943, during her second voyage, Centaur was torpedoed and sunk by a Japanese submarine off Moreton Island , Queensland. The majority of
17640-409: Was concluded that she was torpedoed by one of the Japanese submarines known to be operating off the Australian east coast. Several survivors later claimed to have heard the attacking submarine moving on the surface while they were adrift, and the submarine was seen by the ship's cook, Francis Martin, who was floating alone on a hatch cover, out of sight from the main cluster of survivors. Martin described
17780-479: Was constructed in a way as to be convertible to a hospital ship in wartime. After her decommissioning, Peter Hennessy discovered that her actual role would have been as Queen Elizabeth II 's refuge from nuclear weapons , hiding amidst the lochs of western Scotland. A development of the Lun-class ekranoplan was planned for use as a mobile field hospital for rapid deployment to any ocean or coastal location at
17920-623: Was found on 20 December 2009; a claimed discovery in 1995 has been proven to be a different shipwreck. In early 1923, the Ocean Steamship Company (a subsidiary of Alfred Holt's Blue Funnel Line ) decided that a new vessel would be required to replace the ageing Charon on the Western Australia to Singapore trade route. The vessel had to be capable of simultaneously transporting passengers, cargo, and livestock. She also had to be capable of resting on mud flats out of
18060-497: Was fully aware that his target was a hospital ship and decided to sink her regardless, either on his own initiative or on a poor interpretation of his orders. Researchers speculate that as Nakagawa was approaching the end of his tour in Australian waters, and had only sunk a single enemy vessel, the 8,742 ton freighter Limerick , he did not want to return with the disgrace of a single kill. Other claims include that Nakagawa may have been acting in vengeance for casualties inflicted by
18200-684: Was ordered to be converted to a hospital ship to hold wounded French and Spanish prisoners of war. According to Edward Hasted in 1798, two large hospital ships (also called lazarettos ), (which were the surviving hulks of forty-four gun ships) were moored in Halstow Creek in Kent . The creek is an inlet from the River Medway and the River Thames . The crew of these vessels watched over ships coming to England, which were forced to stay in
18340-479: Was ordered to sail to Queensland, where she began runs between the east coast of Australia and New Guinea, carrying materiel . With the commencement of hostilities between Japan and the British Empire, it became clear that the three hospital ships currently serving Australia— Manunda , Wanganella , and Oranje —would not be able to operate in the shallow waters typical of Maritime Southeast Asia , so
18480-658: Was painted with the markings of a hospital ship as detailed in Article 5 of the tenth Hague Convention of 1907 ("Adaptation to Maritime War of the Principles of the Geneva Convention"); white hull with a green band interspersed by three red crosses on each flank of the hull, white superstructure, multiple large red crosses positioned so that the ship's status would be visible from both sea and air, and an identification number (for Centaur , 47) on her bows. At night,
18620-493: Was part of a concentrated effort to disrupt supply convoys from Australia to New Guinea. Several actions on Centaur ' s part may have contributed to her demise. Centaur was under orders to sail well out to sea until reaching the Great Barrier Reef ; her course keeping her between 50 and 150 nautical miles (90 and 280 km; 60 and 170 mi) from shore. Centaur ' s Master, believing he had been given
18760-584: Was performed, although efforts by the Department of the Navy, the Admiralty, and authorities in New Zealand and the United States of America caused the completed conversion to be undone. The cost of the roundabout work came to £12,500, and kept Manunda out of service for three months. On 9 June 1943, communications between the Combined Chiefs of Staff on the subject of hospital ships contained
18900-529: Was presented with the George Medal for providing medical care, boosting morale, and displaying courage during the wait for rescue. On the morning of 15 May 1943, the American destroyer USS Mugford departed Brisbane to escort the 11,063 ton New Zealand freighter Sussex on the first stage of the latter's trans- Tasman voyage. At 2:00 pm, a lookout aboard Mugford reported an object on
19040-633: Was responsible. In Royal Australian Navy, 1942–1945 , published in 1968 as part of the series detailing the Australian official history of World War II , George Hermon Gill concluded that either I-178 or I-180 was responsible; the former was more likely as she had served in Australian waters the longest of any Japanese submarine at the time, but had claimed no kills in the three-month period surrounding Centaur ' s sinking. In 1972, German military historian Jürgen Rohwer claimed in Chronology of
19180-399: Was slowly increased, with regulations issued in 1703 requiring that each vessel also carry six landsmen to act as surgical assistants, and four washerwomen. A 1705 amendment provided for a further five male nurses , and requisitions from the era suggest the number of sheets per patient was increased from one to two pairs. On 8 December 1798, unfit for service as a warship, HMS Victory
19320-406: Was technical director and Wilhelm Maybach was the head of engine design. Daimler was a gunsmith who had worked on the Lenoir engine. By 1876, Otto and Langen succeeded in creating the first internal combustion engine that compressed the fuel mixture prior to combustion for far higher efficiency than any engine created to this time. Daimler and Maybach left their employ at Otto and Cie and developed
19460-479: Was the smallest, approximately a third of the size of Manunda or Wanganella . Centaur was also slightly shorter than I-177 . The observation of Centaur was made through a periscope, and submarine officers attest that at 1,500 metres (4,900 ft), the optimum range of attack for World War II–era Japanese submarines, some officers would not be able to clearly identify a target ship's profile or hull markings. With Centaur ' s bow floodlights out, and with
19600-414: Was written by Samuel Pepys , an eyewitness. One of the main concerns was the evacuation of sick soldiers "and the many families and their effects to be brought off". The hospital ships Unity and Welcome sailed for England on 18 October 1683, with 114 invalid soldiers and 104 women and children, arriving at The Downs on 14 December 1683. The number of medical personnel aboard Royal Navy hospital ships
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