Sunday 14th May 1943
The hospital ship Centaur was sunk by a torpedo from a Japanese submarine on 14 May 1943 at approximately 4am, about 50 miles east north-east of Brisbane.
Of the 332 persons on board, only 64 survived. These survivors spent 35 hours on rafts before being rescued. The ship had been appropriately lit and marked to indicate that it was a hospital ship and its sinking was regarded as a war crime. The Japanese official war history identified submarine 1-177 as being responsible. Its commander was tried for other atrocities at the end of WWII. The Centaur’s wreck was found on the 20th December 2009. The ship was located about 30 nauticual miles off the southern tip of Moreton Island, off Queensland’s south-east coast.
Friday 1st April 1977
103 AS1 Leopard Battle Tanks arrived from Germany to replace the Army’s ageing British built Centurions which had been in service since the 1960s. The tanks were issued to the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. Whilst the majority of Leopards were based in Darwin with 1st Brigade, they were a common site on training areas around Townsville and at the Shoalwater Bay Training Area through the 1970s – 1990s. The Leopards were replaced with M1A1 Abrams Tanks in 2006. Some Leopards were made available as memorials and displays and the remainder ended their lives as training aids and range targets.
Friday 26th March 2010
Australia procured 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets (known as Rhino’s) to replace the ageing F-111’s based in Queensland. The aircraft were also acquired as insurance against any delay to the arrival of F-35 Joint Strike Fighters. The new combat aircraft were based at RAAF Base Amberley and allocated to No’s 1 and 6 Squadron. No 1 Squadron continues to operate the aircraft, whilst No 6 Squadron has re-equipped with F/A-18G Growler Airborne Electronic Warfare versions of the Rhino. The Queensland Growler aircraft are the only examples of the type operated outside the United States and are a world class air combat capability.
