A poignant moment was standing alongside the memorial erected on the eastern side of Wellington Harbour in remembrance of when the TEV Wahine passenger ferry capsized and sank during stormy weather on 10 April 1968. On that day 51 people lost their lives; another person died several weeks later; and the 53rd person died in 1990 from injuries sustained. The Court of Inquiry held ten weeks later found the build-up of water in the vehicle deck after the Wahine ran aground on Barrett Reef as the reason the Wahine finally capsized. The tragedy led to improved safety procedures on ships and the establishment of the Wellington Volunteer Coastguard and the Life Flight Trust which is based at the Wellington International Airport and provides emergency air rescue and ambulance services across NZ.

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1. Background

TEV Wahine passenger ferry was built in Scotland between 1963-1965

The TEV Wahine (also known as Wahine II) was a turbo-electric vessel used as a passenger ferry between Wellington and Lyttelton by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand Ltd during 1965-1968. The Company had previously built another passenger ferry in 1912 named the TSS Wahine which was a twin-screw steamer. The TSS Wahine had also served as a minelayer during WWI and as a troopship in WWI, WWII and the Korean War during which it was wrecked in 1951. 

Source:

The New Zealand Maritime Record: Wahine  

Wikipedia: TSS Wahine

TEV Wahine: Ferry's structure

The following details about the type of passenger ferry the TEV Wahine was and its structure are extracted from the Court of Inquiry's report on the sinking of the Wahine published in Nov 1968: T.E.V. Wahine; report of court and annex thereto (p. 11) which is accessible on Wellington City Recollect: https://wellington.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/5611

Completed hull of TEV Wahine was launched on 14 July 1965

The launching of the TEV Wahine had been delayed due to the shipyard's financial situation. After funding became available from the Royal Bank of Scotland, the steel hull was completed and the TEV Wahine was launched on 14 July 1965. Once afloat, the TEV Wahine was towed by tugs to the fitting-out berth at Fairfield where further work on its machinery and the outfitting of the cargo spaces and passenger accommodation needed to be completed.

Completion of outfitting of TEV Wahine delayed until June 1966

After the launch of the TEV Wahine, the completion of its construction was slowed by the financial situation of the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd. The delay meant the TEV Wahine was unable to join the Union Steamship Company's launch of its inaugural inter-island roll-on/roll-off service in December 1965 with the TEV Maori, which had been converted to a roll-on/roll-off vessel during 1965. The Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Co. Ltd transferred its shipbuilding assets in early January 1966 to the subsidiary Fairfields (Glasgow) Limited. On 7 January 1966, a new financial partnership between the British Government and private concerns took over Fairfields (Glasgow) Limited. This led to further delays in the completion of the TEV Wahine until mid-year and trials were eventually run on 12 June 1966. (Source: UK Parliament: Hansard: Fairfield (Glasglow) Ltd, Volume 724 debated on Tuesday 8 February 1966)

On 24 July 1966, the TEV Wahine arrived at Wellington 

On 1 Aug 1966, Wellington-Lyttelton day & overnight trips began

2.  Sinking of the TEV Wahine on 10 April 1968

The following timeline is based on radio accounts from Maritime Radio - 1968: Wahine sinks and the findings of the Court of Inquiry (Nov 1968): T.E.V. Wahine; report of court and annex thereto 

Tues 9 April 1968: TEV Wahine's scheduled departure delayed from 8:00pm to 8:43pm

The Wahine was scheduled to depart from Lyttelton at 8:00pm and arrive at Wellington at noon. However, its departure was delayed until 8:43pm so that passengers could board from the train travelling from Dunedin which was running late.

At 20:18pm & 20:30pm, storm warnings received by Wahine's Radio Officer

A tropical storm had begun in the Coral Sea near the Solomon Islands on 5 April 1968. It then travelled onto Noumea in New Caledonia where it was named Cyclone Giselle by French meteorologists. Cyclone Giselle then swung southwards, arriving at Cape Reinga early in the morning of Thursday 9 April 1968.

• At 20:18pm, the Radio Officer, Robert Lyver, had received a navigation warning on 487 kHz from Auckland Radio ZLD about the severe tropical depression (Cyclone Giselle) near North Cape which was expected to travel down the North Island by 12 noon. 

• At 20:30pm, a storm warning with winds from 50 to 60 knots travelling down the central North Island was received on 417 kHz from Wellington Radio ZLW. The strong northerly gales would change to southerly after midnight and gradually increase to a gale or storm with rain and poor visibility. The information received was typed by Lyver and passed to the Wahine's bridge where it was read by the Officer of the Watch and Captain Hector Robertson.

At 8:43pm, the Wahine departed Lyttelton Harbour for Wellington

The Wahine left Lyttelton Harbour and travelled northwards along the east coast of the South Island to Wellington. Varied accounts have been published of the number of people on board: passengers (610), crew (123-125), and stowaways (1-2). According to the following source (Wellington City Libraries: Library blog: Wahine) there was "a stowaway who was travelling to Wellington to join the crew of the rail ferry Aramoana in Wellington which was not an uncommon unofficial way to travel". The number of vehicles on board have also varied from 61 to 71.

Sources:

• Lambert, Max, "The Wahine Disaster" (Reed, 1970), pp. 14-16

• Wellington City Libraries: Library blog: Wahine

• P&O Heritage: Ship Fact Sheet: - Wahine (1966)

Wed 10 April: Cyclone Giselle reached Wellington

After reaching Cape Reinga, Cyclone Giselle travelled southwards down the east coast of the North Island. The wind gusts of up to 160 kilometres an hour caused damage to buildings and small craft were driven ashore. The torrential rain closed roads, caused landslides, and flooded farmland - hundreds of stock were drowned. Cyclone Giselle then reached Wellington in the early hours of Wednesday 10 April where it damaged buildings; blew over power, telephone and trolley bus lines; overturned vehicles; and uprooted trees. The strongest gust recorded in Wellington was 187 km/hr. The high winds led to three casualties in Wellington, and weather-related injuries were reported in the Waikato, Manawatu-Wanganui and Wellington.

See: NIWA: NZ historic events catalogue: April 1968 New Zealand Ex-tropical Cyclone Giselle

Cyclone Giselle & Southern Front collide over the Cook Strait

When Cyclone Giselle reached the Cook Strait, it met a southerly gale moving up from the West Coast of the South Island as a front of cold air from a depression near Antarctica.

At 5:50am on 10 April, the Wahine reached the Wellington Harbour

When the Wahine reached the Wellington Harbour the wind gusts from the SSW were up to 50 knots. There had been storm warnings; however, the Cook Strait was renown for its rough seas. As the Wahine reached the narrow funnel of the harbour entrance, Captain Hector Robertson decided to enter the harbour.

At about 6:10am, Wahine was abeam of Pencarrow Head & hit by a large wave

By about 6:41am, the Wahine driven onto the rocks of the Barrett Reef

Alarm bells rung & announcement made to go with life jackets to the muster stations

Alarm bells were rung and the following announcement was made: 

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are aground on Barrett's Reef.  There is no immediate danger.  Please proceed to your cabins, collect your life jackets, and report to your muster stations." 

Source: The New Zealand Maritime Record: Wahine

Wahine Radio Officer alerted Radio ZLW to send out a distress message

By 8:00am, Wahine cleared the reef & with both anchors dropped, began drifting north to Point Dorset, Seatoun

By noon, the pilot launch arrived with Deputy Harbourmaster Captain Galloway who climbed aboard 

At about 1:25pm, Captain Robertson gave the order to abandon ship as the Wahine was listing 45-50 degrees starboard

Rescue operation underway

The TEV Wahine had the following lifeboats aboard: "The lifeboat complement was eight large fibreglass lifeboats, two 7.9-metre (26 ft) motor lifeboats each with a capacity of 50 people, six 9.4-metre (31 ft) standard lifeboats each with a capacity of 99 people, and additionally 36 inflatable rafts, each with a capacity of 25 people." (Source: Wikipedia: TEV Wahine). As the ferry was listing starboard, four of the starboard lifeboats were able to be launched.

At about 2:30pm, the Wahine capsized in 11.6 metres of water & the first survivors arrive at Seatoun

News coverage: TEV Wahine sinking & loss of lives

Media reports covered the sinking of the TEV Wahine and the loss of 51 lives - 44 passengers, six crew and one unofficial crew member ('stowaway'). (See list of people compiled from the Bay of Plenty Times: https://www.sooty.nz/wahine.html) Another person died several weeks later, and the 53rd person died in 1990 from injuries sustained. (See: Stuff.co.nz (18 April 2023): "Wellington's biggest news story: The Wahine disaster")

Salvage operations: 2 Aug 1968 - 19 Sept 1973

On 2 August 1968, salvage operations began to refloat the Waihine which had sunk in 38ft of water. The salvage contract was awarded to United Salvage Proprietary Ltd of Melbourne. The salvage plan was to remove cars, furniture and panelling from inside the ferry to lighten it; then fill the cavity with urethane foam which would expel water and refloat the hull. The Wahine would then be towed and sunk in deep water in the Cook Strait. However, after a storm on 8 May 1969 broke the ferry into three pieces, the salvage operations focused on removing the wreckage from the sea bed. The salvage took until 19 September 1973 to complete during which the life was lost of one of the divers involved in the underwater cutting work. The pieces from the wreckage were taken to a scrap yard in Lower Hutt and then transported to a steel mill in Auckland for recycling.

Find out more: Hikitia - Maritime Heritage Trust of Wellington: The Wahine salvage (25 April 2022)

Court of Inquiry held

A Preliminary Inquiry under section 324 of the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952 was conducted by Barney Scully, Superintendent of Mercantile Marine, Wellington. Following Scully's recommendation made on 26 April 1968, a formal investigation into the circumstances surrounding the Wahine's sinking and loss of lives pusuant to section 325 of the Act  was ordered by Hon. William John (Jack) Scott, Minister of Marine on 2 May 1968. 

The Court of Inquiry was held in Wellington with 26 sitting days between 25 June until 1 August 1968, and its findings were presented on 15 November 1968. The Court was chaired by Wellington stipendiary magistrate Raymond Douglas Jamieson who was assisted by four assessors: Captain E. H. Hopkins; Captain W.J. Keane; Mr G. C. Apperley, a naval architect; and Mr Albert Wall, a former district surveyor of ships. Eighty-one witnesses were called to give evidence.

The Court's findings were presented in a two-page summary, with an Annex (132 pages) detailing the reasons: T.E.V. Wahine; report of court and annex thereto (Nov 1968) which is accessible on Wellington City Recollect: https://wellington.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/5611.

The Court's Wellington stipendiary magistrate Mr R. D. Jamieson ruled:

• The build-up of water in the vehicle deck after the Wahine ran aground on Barrett Reef as the reason the Wahine finally capsized. 

• Captain Robertson and Chief Officer Luly had shown "certain serious omissions or errors of judgment, occurring under conditions of great difficulty and danger, but not amounting to wrongful acts or defaults as charged" in terms of section 333 (1) (b) of the Shipping and Seamen Act 1952. Chief Engineer Herbert Wareing was similarly charged by reason of his "defaults" in terms of the same Act.

• The Wellington Harbour Board, through the Harbourmaster, failed to take adequate contingency steps: "The danger was that of a ship without motor power in the terrible weather that existed at that time, riding on its anchors. Had the anchors parted it must inevitably have wrecked upon the eastern shore." The same applied to the Wahine's owners, the Union Steamship Co. of NZ Ltd though to a lesser degree because the primary responsibility of making such provision rested on the Board through the Harbourmaster. The Report also noted that the Harbourmaster had been unable to attend the Inquiry and may have untaken some steps not known to the Court. 

Improvements in ship safety procedures recommended:

The Court of Inquiry recommended improved safety measures which led to improvements in safety procedures on ships. Also formed were the Wellington Volunteer Coastguard and the Life Flight Trust which is based at the Wellington International Airport and provides emergency air rescue and ambulance services across NZ.

CommeMOrations

Medals:

Memorials:

Parts of the Wahine and memorabilia from the ferry are held by public collections. Pieces that have been recovered have also been installed at memorial sites around Wellington’s coastline.

Find out more:

• Stuff.co.nz: Wahine disaster 50 years on: Those who died and a city's memorials (7 April 2018)

• Heritage New Zealand: The Wahine tragedy remembered 55 years on (31 March 2023)

Wahine Memorial Park at Breaker Bay: 

In August 1974 Wellington Mayor Sir Francis Kitt formally proposed the idea of building the memorial at Breaker Bay. However, the memorial designed by sculptor Guy Ngan led to protestors objecting outside the Town Hall. One of the bow thrusters (propellors ) from the Wahine is located on the southern edge of Moa Point Road. The nearby plaque reads: "This manoeuvring propeller is from the interisland ship TEV Wahine, which was lost off Steeple Rock, with the loss of 51 people during a storm on April 10, 1968."

Churchill Park in Seatoun:

There is a memorial plaque, the ship’s anchor and chain with each link representing those who died, and replica ship ventilators.

Wahine Memorial, Eastbourne:

The east side of the harbour on the coastline where many survivors and deceased were washed up has the foremast (repainted white from the original yellow) from the Wahine at the parking area near Burdan’s Gate. Nearby is a plaque that states that of the 51 people who died on the day, 49 were along the Eastbourne/Pencarrow coastline.

Wahine Memorial at Frank Kitts Park:

On the Wellington City waterfront stands the main mast of the Wahine which is painted yellow (the original colour of the Wahine's masts). Nearby, a plaque was placed on behalf of the survivors, part of which reads "Hundreds survived due to the efforts of a large rescue mission. This plaque is dedicated to all those who assisted in that rescue. You saved us from disaster and took us to a safe place."

Anniversary events

Find out more

This DigitalNZ story was compiled in March 2024