The Wahine Disaster April 1968

What do i think is going to happen in my  opinion  i think that it is gonna be bad cause of the storm.

It was bad cause there was a bad wind.

The wahine traveled to wellington harbour.

 Two huge storms crashing into each other in 1968 caused New

Zealand’s worst modern maritime disaster.

The Wahine left Lyttelton at 8:40 PM on the evening of 9 April with 734

passengers and crew on board. At 5:50 AM, the Wahine entered

Wellington Harbour just as tropical cyclone Giselle and a southerly

storm collided. 100 knot winds blew the ship towards Barrett Reef.

Captain Robertson battled but the Wahine grounded at 6:40 AM. A

propeller broke and the engine failed so both anchors were dropped.

Passengers were told to put their lifejackets on and prepare for rescue,

but the weather made that impossible. The Wahine dragged its anchors

and drifted off the reef leaning over to one side.

At 1:30 PM the abandon ship order was given but only four lifeboats

could be launched, one of them immediately sinking. Only three

lifeboats reached land and the rest of the passengers were forced to

jump into the sea and swim to shore.

By 2:30 PM, the empty Wahine sank as the first of the 200 survivors

struggled ashore. Rescue teams couldn’t get through slips that blocked

the roads so some people died on the shore. In total, 53 people lost

their lives from lack of medical attention,

drowning, or from hitting rocks.

As the weather improved, a few boats

managed to rescue passengers. Captain

Robertson was last off and spent an hour

in the water near the wreck before being

rescued.

It was one of the worst storms recorded

in NZ’s history and took a huge human toll.

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