DISASTERS AND MISHAPS – SHIPWRECKS
DISASTERS AND MISHAPS – SHIPWRECKS
The island story of New Zealand could hardly fail to include many chronicles of wreck and catastrophe at sea, but happily the catalogue of disaster is today largely a matter of fairly remote history. The first wreck, or rather, scuttling, recorded, that of the trading ship Endeavour in Facile Harbour, Dusky Sound, dates back to 1795, and a wide variety of craft were lost in the early decades of the nineteenth century before the colonisation of the country. For many years the New Zealand coastline was notorious for its hazards, and the basis of that reputation is to be found in the record of between 1,400 and 1,500 disasters of greater or less degree in the brief span of this country's history. Among early wrecks were the 470-ton barque Maria, smashed to pieces on the rocks at Cape Terawhiti in 1851, with the loss of 26 lives; the 463-ton paddle steamer City of Dunedin, lost in Cook Strait with all hands (14 passengers and a crew of 25) in 1865; the 834-ton schooner St. Vincent, totally wrecked in Palliser Bay in 1869, with 20 persons drowned; the Surat (1,000 tons), lost at the mouth of the Catlins River in Otago in 1874, without loss of life, when the intoxicated captain, at the revolver point, prevented his passengers from hailing a passing ship for aid; the 438-ton Taiaroa, which went ashore at Waipapa Point, North Canterbury, in 1886, 39 of a complement of 48 losing their lives; and the trans-Tasman ship, Tasmania, of 2,252 tons, wrecked off Mahia Peninsula, Poverty Bay, in 1897, with a death roll of 13. In later years there were the Devon (5,489 tons), ashore at Pencarrow Head, Wellington, in 1913; the 128-ton Tainui, whose cargo of petrol exploded off Shag Rock, North Canterbury, in 1919, killing all hands (eight) except the cook; the 12,160-ton Wiltshire, which met its end in 1922 on the Great Barrier Island without casualties; the 4,534-ton intercolonial steamer Manuka, which became a total loss on Long Point, South Otago, in 1929, again without loss; and the Huddart Parker Co.'s Wanganella (9,576 tons), which struck Barrett Reef while entering Wellington Harbour in 1947. The Wanganella was subsequently refloated a few hours before a terrible southerly storm struck Wellington.
HMS Orpheus
In addition to these, however, there have been disasters of the first magnitude in New Zealand waters which in their day shocked the country. The first of these, and the worst, was the wreck of the steam corvette HMS Orpheus (1,706 tons) on the Manukau Bar, Auckland, on 7 February 1863. Disaster struck in fine clear weather at a cost of 189 lives. HMS Orpheus had arrived from Sydney with stores for Her Majesty's ships on the New Zealand station, and ran ashore 2 miles from the Heads, only 50ft from deep water. Huge rollers sweeping her port broadside forced the hatchway fastenings and the ship filled with water. A strong flood tide completed the vessel's destruction and when a roll call was taken, after only partially effective rescue operations, it was found that 189 (including the captain, Commodore W. F. Burnett, C.B.) of a complement of 259 had been drowned.
Burning of Fiery Star
The Fiery Star, a full-rigged clipper of 1,361 tons, London-bound from Brisbane, met with misadventure of the worst kind—fire at sea—when 150 miles northwest of the Chatham Islands. Fire broke out in her cargo of wool on 19 April 1865, and a course was set for Hauraki Gulf; but after four days the captain decided to abandon ship. Seventy-eight of her passengers and crew, with Captain W. H. Yule, took to the boats, and were never seen again, but the chief officer and 17 of the crew who stayed behind and fought the flames for nearly three weeks, while at the same time working the ship towards land, were taken off by the ship Dauntless half an hour before the Fiery Star foundered in a mass of flames. They were then only about 15 miles from the New Zealand coast.
Tararua
A total of 131 men, women, and children lost their lives on 29–30 April 1881 when the intercolonial steamer Tararua, of 828 tons, struck a reef at Waipapa Point, Southland, less than three-quarters of a mile from shore. Of her total complement of 151 passengers and crew only 20 were saved. Heavy seas and pounding surf made rescue work impossible, and at a subsequent inquiry it was shown that after noon on the day following the disaster, no help could have been effective by sea or land. The cause of the catastrophe was the failure by an able-bodied seaman to keep a proper lookout. The 65 casualties whose bodies were recovered were buried in the nearby Fortrose Cemetery in a spot still identified as the Tararua Acre.
Wairarapa
Scarcely less tragic was the loss 13 years later of the ship Wairarapa, of 1,786 tons, which was wrecked on Great Barrier Island, whose rock-bound shores have claimed nearly two score victims, large and small. Of the 186 passengers and 65 of a crew who left Sydney in the Wairarapa, 121 were drowned. On 29 October 1894, while 10 to 15 miles off course approaching the Hauraki Gulf, and steaming at full speed through a dense fog, the ship ran bow on into a steep 800 ft cliff. The impact smashed boats and rafts, and a great many people were still on board when the breaking seas swept away the funnel and the bridge, and washed the decks clear of life. The captain's certificate was suspended for a year when a Court of Inquiry found that he failed to take the correct point of departure at Three Kings Islands.
Ventnor
In October 1902 the Chong Shin Tong Society and other Chinese interests chartered the 3,961-ton twin-screw steamer Ventnor to carry 499 coffins, containing the remains of Chinese who had died in New Zealand, for reburial in their homeland. Besides these, she also carried 5,357 tons of Westport coal. On 26 October 1902, after completing her loading, the Ventnor sailed from Wellington bound for Hong Kong. Weather conditions were fine and the sea smooth at the time of her departure. Shortly after noon on the following day she struck a submerged rock off Cape Egmont and was holed forward. The engines were reversed and the ship managed to get free. As there were no suitable dock facilities at Wellington, the master decided to proceed to Auckland via North Cape for repairs. In the meantime the pumps were brought into use, but these could not cope with the water. By 9 p.m. on 28 October, when Ventnor was about 10 miles off Omapere, Hokianga Harbour, the ship became unmanageable and it was apparent that she would soon founder. Although all boats were launched, 13 lives were lost when the captain's boat was sucked under with the ship. The Ventnor's unusual cargo was not recovered. This was not the first occasion that Chinese corpses had been sent from New Zealand. In the 1880s a similar shipment had been made, though on a much smaller scale than that of 1902.
Elingamite
Another casualty of the Sydney-Auckland service was the Huddart Parker ship Elingamite, of 2,585 tons, which ran ashore on West Island in the Three Kings Group on 2 November 1902 and sank in 20 minutes with the loss of 45 lives. Steaming at half-speed through a thick fog, the ship could have been saved at the first sight of land, but for some reason the orders for stopping, or their execution, were delayed until it was too late. The Elingamite carried 136 passengers and a crew of 58, and 28 passengers and 17 of the crew died from drowning or exposure. A Court of Inquiry found the master, Captain E. B. Atwood, guilty of grossly negligent navigation and suspended his certificate, but eight years later an Australian naval survey proved that the charted position of Three Kings Islands was in error by as much as a mile and a half. Special legislation, passed to enable the Elingamite inquiry to be reopened, resulted in the Supreme Court completely exonerating Captain Atwood.
Penguin
When on 12 February 1909 the Picton-Wellington ferry steamer Penguin (824 tons) struck Toms Rock, abreast of the Karori Stream, in Cook Strait, 75 of the 105 persons on board lost their lives. With a dangerous sea running, the lifeboats and rafts found the shoreward journey hazardous and several capsized or were smashed. The one woman who survived, struggled ashore with her dead infant child in her arms, after rescuing a 17-year-old youth, and watching her other three children drown. The cause of the disaster was an exceptionally strong flood tide, and in the view of the Court of Inquiry, the master, Captain F. E. Naylor, ought to have put to sea sooner.
Ranui
A holiday excursion to Mayor Island in the Bay of Plenty ended tragically on the evening of 28 December 1950 when 23 persons were drowned after the 45 ft passenger launch Ranui capsized and was smashed to pieces on North Rock, Mt. Maunganui, Tauranga. There was only one survivor, a 19-year-old youth. It was all over in a matter of moments and nothing could be done to help anyone on board. A Marine Court could find no fault with master or owners, and found that the disaster was caused by a single exceptionally high wave in a violent sea flinging the small craft on to the rocks.
Holmglen
A marine disaster of unusual character, the cause and manner of which was never definitely determined, occurred on 24 November 1959 when the m.v. Holmglen, of 485 tons, owned by the Holm Shipping Co. Ltd., Wellington, foundered 22 miles south-east of Timaru with the loss of all hands, 15 officers and crew. The Holmglen had left Oamaru for Timaru late in the afternoon, and at 9.24p.m. shore stations at Dunedin and Wellington received the international May Day distress signal over the radiotelephone from Captain E. J. E. Regnaud requesting assistance. His message was “Am heeling heavily to port … accommodation awash … preparing to launch boat”. He asked Taiaroa Head (Otago Harbour) to stand by for further messages, but nothing more was ever heard from the stricken vessel. There was a strong southerly wind at the time with a moderate to rough sea, but nothing which would normally worry such a craft. By dawn two naval launches and 17 fishing craft began a search and, later, three freighters and six aircraft joined in. The Holmburn, another of the company's ships, discovered an oil slick at 5.30 a.m. on 25 November. The Holmglen was eventually discovered by echo sounders in 30 fathoms of water about 6 miles from the position from which she sent out her distress call. Wreckage and two bodies were later picked up. Close examination by divers using television cameras disclosed nothing that could account for the sudden foundering of the vessel, and the Marine Court of Inquiry was unable to establish any cause of the tragedy. The ship was found to be resting on an even keel and there was no sign of a boiler explosion. The cargo appeared to be properly stowed; there was no evidence of its having shifted and, though the vessel was very close to her marks, she was not overloaded. The disaster remains a mystery to this day.