Pacific Sun passengers remember HMAS Sydney
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As news broke this week of the discovery of torpedoed Australian hospital ship, Centaur, off the Queensland coast, passengers and crew on P&O Cruises’ Pacific Sun paused to remember another major loss of World War II.
Pacific Sun’s passengers assembled on deck for a remembrance service led by the ship’s Captain Trevor Lane at the spot where the remains of the battle cruiser, HMAS Sydney, were found off the West Australian coast in March last year.
Pacific Sun is currently on a cruise from Fremantle to Christmas Island, Indonesia and West Australian ports, sailing through the area where HMAS Sydney was located in March last year by international shipwreck hunter, David Mearns, whose team also found the Centaur just days ago.
HMAS Sydney was lost with all 645 officers and men following an epic sea battle with the German raider, Kormaron, on November 19, 1941. The site where HMAS Sydney was located has since been declared a military gravesite with all the respect that this involves.
Many of Pacific Sun’s passengers, including a number of teenagers, gathered on deck for the memorial service and paused for two minutes’ silence at the precise location where HMAS Sydney was lost with all hands.
One of the most poignant moments in the service came as Captain Lane recited the Naval Ode to the Fallen. The service of remembrance conducted on board Pacific Sun was developed in conjunction with Ex-Service organizations in Western Australia.
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