TEV Wahine

The Wahine disaster occurred on 10 April 1968 when the TEV Wahine', a New Zealand inter-island ferry of the Union Company, foundered on Barrett Reef at the entrance to Wellington Harbour and capsized near Steeple Rock. Of the 610 passengers and 123 crew on board, 52 people lost their lives (one name was added nearly 40 years later).

The wrecking of the Wahine is by far the best-known maritime disaster in New Zealand's history, although there have been worse with far greater loss of life. New Zealand radio and television captured the drama as it happened, within a short distance of shore of the eastern suburbs of Wellington.

Disaster timeline

In the early morning of 10 April, two violent storms merged over Wellington, creating a single extratropical cyclone storm that was the worst recorded in New Zealand's history. Cyclone Giselle was heading south after causing much damage in the north of the North Island. It hit Wellington at the same time as another storm which had driven up the West Coast of the South Island from Antarctica. The winds in Wellington were the strongest ever recorded. At one point they reached a speed of 275 km/h. In one Wellington suburb alone the wind ripped off the roofs of 98 houses. Three ambulances and a truck were blown onto their sides when they tried to go into the area to bring out injured people.

As the storms hit Wellington, the ferry Wahine was crossing Cook Strait on the last leg of her overnight journey from the port of Lyttelton, near Christchurch, to Wellington. At 5:50 a.m., with winds gusting at between 130 and 150 km/h, Captain Hector Robertson decided to enter the harbour. Twenty minutes later the winds had increased to 160 km/h, and the ship lost its radar. A huge wave pushed the Wahine off course and in line with Barrett Reef. The captain was unable to turn back on course, and decided to keep turning the ferry around and back out to sea again. For 30 minutes the Wahine battled into the waves and wind, but by 6:40 a.m. had been driven back onto the rocks of Barrett Reef. Passengers were told that the ferry was aground, to put on their lifejackets and report to assembly points around the ship.

The storm continued to grow more intense. As the winds increased, the Wahine dragged its anchors and drifted into the harbour, close to the western shore. The weather was so bad that no help could be given from the harbour or the shore.

At about 11.00 a.m. a harbour tug managed to reach the vessel, and tried to attach a line and tow the ferry, but the line gave way. Other attempts failed, but the deputy harbourmaster managed to climb aboard the Wahine from the pilot launch, which had also reached the scene.

At about 1.15 p.m. the combined effect of the tide and the storm swung the Wahine around, providing a patch of clear water sheltered from the wind and the sea. As the ferry listed more and more, Captain Robertson gave the order to abandon ship. Only four lifeboats could be launched. One lifeboat was swamped when it hit the water and people were lost into the sea. Some managed to hold onto the boat as it drifted across the harbour to the eastern shore. Other boats were also swamped but many of the passengers were able to reach the rescue boats which by now were surrounding the vessel.

At about 2.30 p.m. the Wahine rolled completely onto her side. By then the first of the survivors were reaching the western shore. Over 200 survivors drifted across to the rocky, unpopulated eastern side of the harbour.

On the eastern side the only road was blocked by land slips, and it became impassable due to the huge seas breaking over it. Some of the survivors reached the shore only to die of exhaustion. Fifty-one people died, most of them middle-aged or elderly, from drowning, exposure or injuries from being battered on the rocks.

Aftermath

Ten weeks after the sinking, a court of inquiry found errors of judgement had been made, but stressed that the conditions at the time had been difficult and dangerous. The build-up of water on the vehicle deck was the reason the ferry finally capsized. The report of the inquiry stated that more lives would almost certainly have been lost if the order to abandon ship had been given earlier or later. The storm was so strong that rescue craft would not have been able to safely help the passengers from the ferry any earlier than about 12.30 p.m..

Attempts were made to salvage the Wahine, but later storms broke up the wreck, and she was finally dismantled where she lay.

Today the Wahine Memorial Park marks the disaster, near where survivors reached the western shore at Seatoun. This park has a memorial plaque, the Wahine's anchor and chain, and replica ventilation pipes. The Wahine's fore-mast is part of another memorial in Frank Kitts Park in central Wellington.

References

• Max Lambert and Jim Hartley, The Wahine Disaster (1969)
• Kevin Boon, The Wahine Disaster, Petone, N.Z. : Nelson Price Milburn, 1990. ISBN 0-7055-1478-1
• T.E.V Wahine (O.N. 317814), Shipping casualty, 10 April 1968. Report of Court and Annex Thereto, November 1968. This is the official report of the Court of Inquiry. It is extremely detailed and recommended for those who wish to do serious research into the disaster.
• C.W.N. Ingram, New Zealand shipwrecks : 195 years of disaster at sea, Auckland, N.Z. : Beckett (1990). ISBN 0-908676-49-2. This is the latest edition of a book first published in 1936. Arranged chronologically, the section on the Wahine gives an excellent hour-by-hour account of how the sinking happened as well as details of the Court of Inquiry which followed the disaster.
• The New Zealand Maritime Record: TEV Wahine Web Site is a detailed account of the ship, including the sinking, with many photographs.
• New Zealand Disasters Shipwreck: Wahine - A chronological listing, with photographs.
• Co-ordinating the rescue - Wahine Disaster - explores the ability of the police to respond to the Wahine disaster
• The day the Wahine went down - Wairarapa Times-Age report of recollections of Hoppy Hodges, a young police constable involved in the rescue.
• Deaths from the sinking of the T.E.V. Wahine lists those who perished in the disaster.
• The Wahine Disaster gives a good account of the sinking, with links to Hurricane Giselle and other New Zealand disasters.
• Revell & Gorman-The Wahine storm is a research paper published in the New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. This paper (available in pdf format) is an academic evaluation of the meteorology of Hurricane Giselle.

External links

• THE NEW ZEALAND MARITIME RECORD Lots of photos and history on the Wahine
• The day the Wahine went down, from the Wairarapa Times Age, NZ
• On This Day BBC story on Wahine
• The Wahine disaster NZHistory.net.nz - includes images, sound and video

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