Tragedy in Wellington Harbour
The sinking of the Lyttelton–Wellington ferry Wahine on 10 April 1968 was New Zealand’s worst modern maritime disaster. Fifty-one people lost their lives that day, another died several weeks later and a 53rd victim died in 1990 from injuries sustained in the wreck. The Wahine’s demise also marked a coming of age for television news broadcasting in New Zealand as images of the disaster were beamed into the nation’s living rooms. The footage was later screened around the world as the international media spotlight focused on Wellington.
Would-be rescuers stood helplessly on the beach at Seatoun as the Wahine succumbed to one of the worst storms recorded in New Zealand history. It seemed impossible that so many lives could be lost so close to shore. Although the main cause of the accident was the atrocious weather conditions, the subsequent inquest also acknowledged that errors of judgement had been made both on board the ferry and on shore. Shipwrecks were commonplace in the 19th century, but this was the 1960s – how could a large, modern vessel founder almost within sight of New Zealand’s capital city?
The Union Steam Ship Company’s 8948-ton roll-on roll-off (RO-RO) passenger ferry Wahine, the largest ship of its kind in the world when completed two years earlier, left Lyttelton at 8.40 p.m. on the evening of 9 April. There were 734 passengers and crew on board. Storm warnings had been issued, but rough seas were nothing new in Cook Strait. As it turned out, the Wahine was about to sail into one of the worst storms ever recorded in New Zealand. The ship reached Cook Strait as tropical cyclone Giselle swept south and collided with a southerly front. The combination of warm tropical air and cold air dragged up from Antarctica produced exceptionally violent turbulence.
At 5.50 a.m. on the morning of 10 April Captain H. G. Robertson decided to enter Wellington Harbour. The wind was blowing at over 50 knots, but vessels had entered the harbour in stronger winds before. Just as the Wahine reached the narrow funnel of the harbour entrance, however, the wind speed suddenly increased to over 100 knots. Shortly after 6 a.m. the Wahine’s radar system failed and a huge wave slammed into the ship, throwing many of those on board off their feet. Now side on to the towering waves, the vessel was pushed towards the notorious Barrett Reef on the western side of the harbour entrance.
For 30 minutes the Wahine fought the waves, as Robertson apparently attempted to turn his ship back out to sea in poor visibility. At about 6.35 a.m., unaware of his location, the captain ordered full astern. At 6.40 a.m. the vessel reversed onto Barrett Reef. The starboard propeller was knocked off, and the port engine stopped shortly after. Initially many of the passengers were unaware of what was happening due to the ferocious battering the ship was receiving from the storm.
With the ship’s engines no longer working, Captain Robertson ordered that all watertight doors be closed and both anchors dropped. Passengers were now informed that the ferry had run aground on the reef. The signal station at nearby Beacon Hill was notified of the accident as the crew prepared life-saving equipment. Flooding in four compartments and on the vehicle deck raised serious concerns about the stability of the ship.
The Wahine foundering off Steeple Rock
The Wahine dragged its anchors and gradually drifted further up the harbour past Point Dorset. Despite being close to shore, the weather made it impossible for rescuers to reach the ship from land.
The tug Tapuhi set off from Queen’s Wharf and reached the Wahine at about 11.00 a.m. By 11.50 the tug had secured a line to Wahine. An attempt was made to tow the ferry to safety, but the line quickly gave way. Other attempts to get a line to Wahine failed. Shortly after noon the deputy harbourmaster, Captain Galloway, managed to climb aboard the Wahine from the pilot launch, which had also reached the scene. He risked his life jumping from a heavily pitching launch to a ladder hanging over the starboard side of the ship.
Abandon ship
By 1.15 p.m. the Wahine was listing heavily to starboard. The tide and storm had swung the ship around so that there was a patch of water sheltered from the wind and waves on the lower starboard side. Just before 1.30 p.m. the order was finally given to abandon ship.
Captain Robertson had resisted this call because he felt that the storm conditions meant it was safer for the passengers to remain on board. He was also keen to avoid causing any unnecessary panic. Passengers, who had been unaware of just how serious the situation was, were now confused and frightened. People slid across the sloping deck, trying to make their way to the lifeboats. Some passengers had removed their life jackets during the morning and were using them as pillows when the order came to abandon ship. Others were initially directed by crew to move to the high (port) side of the ship, from which it was impossible to launch the lifeboats, before making their way to the low side.
Only the four starboard lifeboats could be launched, and crewmen tried to get as many people as possible onto them. One lifeboat was swamped shortly after leaving the sinking ship and its occupants were tossed into the sea. (Two of the other lifeboats safely reached Seatoun; the third landed at Eastbourne). Other passengers were forced to jump into the cold, churning sea. Some clung on to inflatable liferafts that had been thrown overboard, but a number of these were punctured by the wreckage or flipped over by the heavy seas.
At about 2.30 p.m. the now-abandoned Wahine capsized in 11.6 metres of water just east of Steeple Rock Light and crashed heavily to the seabed. By this time the first of the survivors had already reached the western shore at Seatoun.
The Wahine was within sight of land and many other vessels, including the smaller New Zealand Railways Wellington-Picton ferry Aramoana, which stood by to pick up survivors. Many were blown across the harbour towards Eastbourne Beach, an area with difficult access. Rescue teams found the road to Eastbourne blocked by slips. Eventually 200 survivors struggled through the surf to safety on this coast, but it was here that most of the 51 fatalities occurred. A number of people who reached shore alive did not receive medical attention quickly enough to prevent death from exposure. Others were drowned or killed when thrown against rocks.
Robertson and Galloway were the last to abandon ship after checking that no one remained on the ferry. They spent an hour in the water near the wreck before being rescued.
Although the stricken Wahine was close to New Zealand’s capital city, the rescue effort was delayed by several hours due to uncertainty over the ship’s fate. Those on shore were only just beginning to realise the gravity of the situation. Emergency services were fully stretched dealing with numerous call-outs as the storm tore roofs off houses, toppled trees and caused injuries as people were hit by flying debris.
Because of slips blocking the road, only eight police officers were initially able to get to Eastbourne. Eventually another 100 officers and 150 civilians were involved in the rescue effort there. This was a difficult task in appalling weather, and many worked through the night to assist survivors. In all, 371 police members out of a total of 629 in the Wellington district, national headquarters and the training school were involved.
Wahine survivors being rescued
Chief Inspector George Twentyman of Police National Headquarters took charge of co-ordinating the rescue at 2.05 p.m. He had been involved in the 1953 Tangiwai disaster operation where he had observed first-hand the confusion and stress created by handling inquiries in the same place as the rescue effort. He therefore immediately set up separate groups in different locations to handle the various aspects of the operation and allow the rescue effort to go forward unimpeded. Separate points in the city were established to deal with inquiries about the passengers and crew while a survivor assembly station was set up at Wellington railway station. A mortuary and property section was also established.
Events at Tangiwai had also been hampered by the fact that no national civil defence organisation existed. By 1968 this was no longer the case, and a quick mobilisation of local authority, military and civilian volunteer assistance was now possible. The Wellington harbour master controlled the sea rescue.
Police Diving Squad
This was one of the first high-profile police diving missions, and the divers provided vital evidence at the court of inquiry. Until the Wahine’s sinking, this squad had existed as a group of voluntary enthusiasts from around the Wellington and Hutt districts. Some of these members performed a dangerous dive on the Wahine wreck to recover the radio log from the bridge.
Chief Inspector George Twentyman, who was in charge of the police response to the Wahine tragedy, realised that a court of inquiry was bound to follow. He ensured that a comprehensive and accurate paper trail existed. Every decision and communication was documented, and these records, together with the personal reports of the officers commanding sections, formed the basis for a very full debriefing report on the police organisation during the disaster. This was a first as far as police procedure was concerned and is now standard practice.
A story of gallantry mentioned in the inquiry
The court of inquiry that met 10 weeks after the sinking pinpointed the build-up of water in the vehicle deck as the reason the ferry finally capsized. The ship’s enormous two-tiered vehicle deck could hold over 200 cars and spanned nearly the entire length and breadth of the ship. When water entered the vehicle deck, it sloshed from one side of the ship to the other. This momentum increased the vessel’s list to starboard until it reached a critical point, forcing the captain to order those on board to abandon ship. The rush to the lower, starboard lifeboats produced a slight but sudden shift in weight that was sufficient to cause the ship to lose any remaining stability.
One question focused on the timing of the decision to abandon ship, but the report of the inquiry concluded that more lives would almost certainly have been lost if this order had been given earlier. The storm was so strong that rescue craft would not have been able to assist any earlier than 12.30 p.m.
Captain Robertson was criticised for failing to report to those on shore that the vehicle deck was taking on water and that the ship’s draught had increased to 6.7 metres after striking the reef. The extreme nature of the storm, though, was ultimately responsible for the tragic events of that day.
Credit for information goes to NZ History. Govt
