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Warning

This information was published in 1966 in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand, edited by A. H. McLintock. It has not been corrected and will not be updated.

Up-to-date information can be found elsewhere in Te Ara.

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.

Co-creator
Bernard John Foster, M.A., Research Officer, Department of Internal Affairs, Wellington and Ronald Jones, Journalist and Script Writer, New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Wellington.