“Dunkirk” Rescue: Triumphs And Horror In Stormy Seas

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31652, 11 April 1968, Page 1

“Dunkirk” Rescue: Triumphs And Horror In Stormy Seas

More than 100 persons drowned when the Wahine, flagship of the Union Steam Ship Company, foundered in Wellington Harbour at 2.33 p.m. yesterday, the Press Association reported.

The two-year-old inter-island steamer, which . carried 614 passengers and a crew of 130, sank in the gale-lashed shipping channel about a mile off Seatoun Beach and behind Steeple Rock in full view of thousands of anxious spectators watching from both sides of the harbour.

The Wahine went down in relatively shallow water after several hours of drama in the worst storm in Wellington’s history.

Forty-two bodies had been recovered yesterday but with possibly 150 persons still missing early this morning, it seemed that the death toll could be as many as 200.

A “Dunkirk” fleet of ships—ranging from the railway ferry Aramoana to power boats and surf dub life-saving boats—crashed through heaving seas to rescue the passengers and crew of the stricken ship.

The tragedy was divided into a smooth-running rescue operation and chaotic horror. On the Seatoun side of the harbour lifeboats carried passengers, often in dry suits, 400 yards to safety. On the other side of the harbour was the horror. Corpses lay strewn along the jagged rocks of Palliser Road, near Eastbourne. Rescue Ship High winds and heavy seas, ehanging to treacherous rollers near the coast, swept swimmers, tiny red liferafts

and some lifeboats on to the rocks. The Aramoana cruised the area all afternoon, launching boats and plucking passengers from the sea. The rail ferry, harbour-bound yesterday because of the tremendous winds, lost two of her lifeboats in the heavy seas. People began jumping into the odd seas shortly before 2 p.m. as the Wahine began her death roil. Inflatable rubber liferafts were thrown into the sea to aid them and scores of passengers and crew, wearing lifejackets, scrambled into the

ship's lifeboats, some of which were lowered safely. Dozens of people were hauled to safety by the rescue craft standing by. Survivors Met The chilled survivors were met on both sides of the harbour by ambulances and other emergency service vehicles, which ferried them to the Lower Hutt and Wellington Hospitals and to the Wellington railway station, where an emergency centre had been set up. The survivors were treated for injuries, fed and given hot drinks. Aground On Reef The 8948-ton Wahine, commanded by Captain H. G.

Robertson, was first reported in trouble at 6.30 a.m. yesterday.

The vessel, which first went into service between Wellington and Lyttelton on August 1, 1966, grounded on Barretts Reef as she approached Wellington harbour after a stormy overnight passage from Lyttelton. About 8 a.m., the ship came off the reef, where the trans-Tasman liner Wanganella grounded in 1947. She used her own power. A company tug, sent to aid the Wahine, was unable to get close to her in the raging seas and hurricane.

Without Power Later, the company reported the Wahine was without normal power. Reasons for the failure were not fully known. Parts of the engine room were flooded.

Further reports indicated “quite severe damage” to the ship.

By mid-morning the Wahine was anchored with engines out of action near Steeple Rock and drifting slowly upharbour. At that stage murky seas and wind-whipped spray and rain gave watchers only an indistinct view of the ferry.

First Fears By late morning, fears began to be expressed for the safety of the ship. One company tug, the Tapuhi, got a line aboard the Wahine but it snapped. The company ordered another tug, the Taioma, commissioned.

A spokesman said there was only meagre information about what was happening aboard the ship. “Captain Robertson is doing his best to look after his passengers, crew and ship and has little time for communication,” he said.

The Wahine had received underwater damage and the machinery spaces were flooded, he said. Because the wind was changing direction, it was not known which side of the harbour the Wahine might strike should she be driven ashore while disabled.

By midday, the ship was near Steeple Rock, off Fort Dorset She had two anchors down but was Still drifting.

The Deputy Harbourmaster (Captain D. W. Galloway) boarded the drifting Wahine off Steeple Beacon at 12.45 p.m. from a tossing pilot boat. It is not clear yet what happened on the ship after this to turn a dangerous situation into a critical one.

Call For Help An emergency call for help was flashed to the Aramoana at 1.30 p.m. and rite'churned across the harbour and into the shipping channel. At this stage the flotilla of small craft began moving out to the stricken ferry. By 1.45 p.m., the ship was listing to starboard. Soon after the order was given to abandon ship. The first ship’s lifeboats were swung into the sea and headed for Seatoun Wharf.

Miraculously, the hurricane winds, which had gusted to a record 125 m.p.h. during the morning, had begun to abate and died down slowly as the massive rescue began The Wahine’s list increased to 45 degrees. Passengers and crew dived over the side, liferafts were thrown into the sea and further lifeboats launched.

As first survivors reached shore on both sides of the harbour they were met by ambulances and police. A fleet of 18 buses left for the Wellington side of the harbour to carry passengers and crew to warmth and shelter.

Last Moments By 2,20 p.m. the end of the ship was near. Slowly she had rolled over on her starboard side. The decks slowly reached vertical as they went under water, the funnel pointing directly at Eastbourne. A few minutes later, at 2.33 p.m., the Wahine went right over. Clouds of steam billowed from the sea as the ship went down. Her keel became clearly visible to on-shore watchers. .

Spectators with binoculars said they saw people still jumping into the water after the ferry’s final lurch.

At 3.24 p.m. survivors were reported in the water near Steeple Rock and small boats were trying to rescue them. A few minutes before the ship went down the first lifeboat reached Seatoun. Most of the lifejacketed passengers were suffering from exposure. At least two were carried to ambulances. Captain Robertson, his chief officer, and a Wellington pilot were the last off the Wahine. Captain Robertson walked along the wharf looking shocked and shaken. He did not talk to reporters.

The chief officer said the rescue operation bad been “a marvellous job.”

Harbour Closed

After the disaster Wellington Harbour was closed to ail shipping. The Wellington Harbourmaster (Captain H. S. Suckling) said he would inspect the harbour entrance at 6.30 a.m. today to make sure a shipping channel was elear. The port would probably open at 8 a.m.

The Maori sailed for Wellington from Lyttelton at 9.42 p.m. It will wait outside the heads until the harbour is open.

A few passages were cancelled yesterday, not so much, it is thought, because of a psychological reaction to the Wahine disaster, but because of the uncertainty of arrangements for a return journey. Telephones did not stop ringing at the Wellington Central Police Station last night as anxious relatives and friends sought news of people on the Wahine.