{"story":["By the 1960s shipwrecks in New Zealand waters were rare. Radio had been compulsory in larger passenger vessels since 1909, radar came into use in the 1950s, and Te Ara notes that for most of the 20th century wrecks were usually caused by exceptional circumstances. The Union Steam Ship Company had run a Wellington–Lyttelton service since 1895. Its newest ship, the Wahine, was built in Glasgow and made its first voyage to Lyttelton on 1 August 1966. It was an 8948-ton roll-on roll-off passenger ferry, the largest ship of its kind in the world when it was completed, and its two-tiered vehicle deck could hold more than 200 cars.","The Wahine left Lyttelton at 8.40 p.m. on 9 April 1968 with 734 passengers and crew. Storm warnings had been issued, but rough seas were nothing new in Cook Strait. The ship reached the strait as tropical cyclone Giselle swept south and collided with a southerly front. At 5.50 a.m. on 10 April Captain H. G. Robertson decided to enter Wellington Harbour, with the wind blowing at over 50 knots. As the ship reached the harbour entrance the wind rose to over 100 knots, by NZHistory's account; Te Ara describes freak winds of up to 125 knots around Cook Strait. Shortly after 6 a.m. the radar failed and a huge wave slammed into the ship, which, now side on to the waves, was pushed towards Barrett Reef. At 6.40 a.m. the Wahine reversed onto the reef. Its starboard propeller was knocked off and the port engine stopped shortly afterwards. With anchors down and water in four compartments and on the vehicle deck, it dragged its anchors and drifted up the harbour past Point Dorset.","The tug Tapuhi reached the ferry at about 11 a.m., but its towline soon gave way, and shortly after noon the deputy harbourmaster, Captain Galloway, jumped from the pilot launch to a ladder on the ship's side. By 1.15 p.m. the Wahine was listing heavily to starboard, and just before 1.30 p.m. the order was given to abandon ship. Because of the list, only four of the eight lifeboats could be launched. One was swamped soon after leaving the ship, and many of the inflatable life rafts were punctured or flipped in the heavy seas. At about 2.30 p.m. the Wahine capsized in 11.6 metres of water near Steeple Rock. Many people were blown across the harbour towards Eastbourne, where slips blocked the road. About 200 survivors struggled through the surf on that coast, but it was there that most of the deaths occurred. Some who reached shore alive died of exposure before they could get medical help, and others drowned or were killed when thrown against the rocks. On land the storm was tearing roofs off houses and toppling trees, and at first only eight police officers could get through to Eastbourne. Fifty-one people died that day, another died several weeks later, and a 53rd died in 1990 from injuries sustained in the sinking.","A court of inquiry met 10 weeks after the sinking. It found that water building up on the vehicle deck had sloshed from side to side and increased the list to a critical point, and that the rush to the starboard lifeboats then shifted enough weight for the ship to lose any remaining stability. It concluded that more lives would almost certainly have been lost if the order to abandon ship had been given earlier, because rescue craft could not have helped before 12.30 p.m. Robertson was criticised for not telling those on shore that the vehicle deck was taking on water, and the inquiry found that errors of judgement had been made both on board and on shore. NZHistory concludes that the extreme nature of the storm was ultimately responsible. The police response, run by Chief Inspector George Twentyman, produced a full debriefing report, a first for the police that has since become standard practice.","The Wahine was New Zealand's worst modern maritime disaster. In NZHistory's view it also marked a coming of age for television news, as images of the disaster were beamed into the nation's living rooms and the footage was later screened around the world. Television coverage of the disaster later won an international award. The Union Steam Ship Company's replacement, the Rangatira, did not enter service until 1972, and by the mid-1970s most New Zealanders preferred to fly or to take the more convenient Picton–Wellington road and rail ferries. The company withdrew from the route in 1974, and the Rangatira's last arrival from Lyttelton on 15 September 1976 ended more than 80 years of regular passenger ferry services between the two ports."],"sources":[{"title":"The Wahine disaster","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/wahine-disaster-0","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Wahine disaster – Timeline to tragedy","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/timeline-tragedy","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Wahine disaster – Co-ordinating the rescue","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/responding-to-tragedy/wahine-1968","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Wahine disaster – Court of inquiry","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/wahine-disaster/court-of-inquiry","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Wahine disaster on television","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/media/video/wahine-disaster-on-television","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Lyttelton–Wellington ferry service ends","url":"https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/lyttelton%E2%80%93wellington-ferry-service-ends","publisher":"NZHistory, Manatū Taonga"},{"title":"Shipwrecks – 20th-century shipwrecks","url":"https://teara.govt.nz/en/shipwrecks/page-5","publisher":"Te Ara — the Encyclopedia of New Zealand"},{"title":"TEV Wahine","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TEV_Wahine","publisher":"Wikipedia"}]}