SYDNEY - A deep-sea probe for an Australian hospital ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in World War II with the loss of 268 lives is set to begin next month, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Monday.

Rudd said the loss of the Centaur, a clearly marked hospital ship, off eastern Australia in May 1943 "struck deeply at the heart of our nation, and became a symbol of our determination to fight on against a brutal enemy".

"I hope the search is successful, that all Australians may finally know and commemorate the resting place of the brave nurses and crew who died on that terrible day," he said in a statement.

The search, which will involve deep-sea sonar equipment and a remotely operated submersible vessel capable of plunging to depths of 6,000 metres, will focus on an area off Moreton Island off the Queensland city of Brisbane.

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh said the search, due to begin in mid-December, was expected to be very challenging because initial indications were that the underwater search terrain was steep and rugged.

In 2008, Australian searchers found the wreck of the HMAS Sydney II off the coast of Western Australia. The Sydney, then the pride of the Australian wartime fleet, sank in 1941 with the loss of 645 lives after a battle with the German raider Kormoran.