The Wahine Disaster - Documentary #Documentary

swim and I said well your diet with me because I'm pregnant and can't swim it's April the 9th 1968 and New Zealand's newest passenger ferry Wahine is getting ready to set sail on her overnight journey from the South Island port of Littleton [Music] Mahina was built in scotland by Fairfield's of glasgow she set sail to New Zealand in 1966 she was one of the finest passenger liners in the world but in 1968 where he nee set out on what would be her final journey on board was 734 passengers and crew [Music] [Applause] it was a beautiful evening in Littleton the stars are out there's no wind we were marked on how beautiful it was and that we're going to have a good crossing because I'm not a good sailor Diane and Ken Wilton had just got married they were on their way north to celebrate their wedding [Music] tip up to run in tune with us just as normal Frank Hitchens was a member of the crew on board Wahine [Music] it often traveled on the underneat on the ferry and it was just quite not a normal night we had they're just normal anticipation Frank Scott was traveling with his wife Maureen they were on their way home to their five young children Maureen was another good sailor so I had we had first class cabins getting on the bike yeah little bored of the trip David Knight was just six years old his mother Shirley was taking her three young children home was it rough but I've been taught by some of the crew members that I knew that we should go on board early and get children on board because was going to be a rough trip Breck but few could have guessed how rough the Wahine a was sailing into the most ferocious storm New Zealand had ever seen [Music] we slept well all night and although the ship was a little rough we weren't aware just how bad the storm was [Music] was lying in beds when and trying to get dressed lying in bed because it was so rough I couldn't extend up kay McCormick was on holiday from her job as a nurse at Wellington Hospital this original weather map shows the storm as it headed south Mohini was unaware that the storm was gaining momentum and even changing direction as she continued her journey north you have to remember this is 1968 there were no computer models or anything like that available so things were done more on a sort of extrapolation basis so they had a picture of what the storm was like 24 hours ahead of say when it hit Wellington and they predicted that it would carry on in a south east of the direction mapping what was a cyclone forecasters broadcast the following warning heard by Wahine a strong northerly is changing to southerly after midnight tonight the southerly is gradually increasing to Gale or storm from tomorrow morning I guess by the time the boat was approaching the harbour the winds and got up to about I think by six o'clock they're up to sixty knots that doesn't happen every day I mean ten minute average winds of 60 knots not just gusts of 60 knots so that's starting to get pretty serious but it wasn't until about 9 o'clock that the winds got up to about 80 knots and now that is serious and you don't see that often at all in fact they might be return periods of 500 years for that sort of intensity [Music] [Music] the ship was nearly 500 feet long it was a very big ship biggest roll-on/roll-off theory of its time and well equipped to deal with those sorts of weather conditions around New Zealand passengers were unaware of the storm but they did start to notice the journey getting increasingly rough by the time we got to the heads and mountain heads in the morning of course that's when the storm was really really doing its best and then that's been the way of Sunday everything was so high the second steward asked me to go up to the mess room where the stewards have their breakfast because the nice and Forks and everything was done to slide around off the tables the captain was woken up at about 6 o'clock in the morning to to go up on the bridge for the approach to the harbour entrance at that time he would have been made aware by the officer of the watch what the weather conditions were doing that he was notified also that a tug would be standing by to assist the ship if required to berth so apart from that it was business as usual the waves have cooked straight were growing in Wahine was now rolling heavily her propellers often out of the water but sailing through gale force winds was not unusual for Wellington the crew though did note the barometer was falling indicating the storm was going to get worse but it would often go up and down here and they ignored it it was time for Wahine a to begin her entrance into the arms of Wellington Harbour and it was at this critical time too that the storm arrived in Wellington standing next to one of the crewmen or one of the persons on the boat he said off we beam on another ship he said we've been on those rocks by now when things really started to go wrong the ship was really committed it was like an aircraft they're coming in there's a point of no return you're committed and that was really where they were at the ship was first it were first went off course heading for the pink coral ice house and then when they realized they were going towards the shore they decided to try and back the ship out into the safety of their Cook Strait in the end he had to try and feel his way around and zero visibility mr. Muir you have to remember it was dark it was spray there was big waves 30 to 40 40 foot high and in heavy rain so he had to feel his way around in you the reef was somewhere there and unfortunately for him another 20 feet she would have made the turn and quite safely got back out to sea and we wouldn't have been doing this documentary now it would have just been a non-event the stewardess put my cup of tea on on the table I had set up expecting the cup of tea and when she she lurched her had to one side and I was looking up like looking up at a cup of tea coming towards me a great speed and I just managed to move forward for it to fly behind my back and smash against the wall so that was my first introduction of the impending disaster [Music] [Music] the crew began to lose control the ship they slowed her down to regain steerage but she continued to be thrown off course towards the dangerous rocky coastline and it was then that a giant wave struck the side of the ship for she for the pearl kept and he got flung from one wing of the bridge across the the almost the width of the bridge without touching the deck and until he crashed into the radar console which is a fairly large hefty metal object flung literally through the air maybe 60 or 70 feet and crashed into something I mean what would that do to you overlooking the harbor was Stuart Young's house he was woken by the fierce storm the wind and the rain lashing against his windows when he looked out he couldn't believe what he saw he was the first to call the emergency services half past 6:00 we were watching out these throughout front windows and the other way he was a suddenly appeared out of the Mist right in front of our house on the western side of Barrett's reef where no ship should even be pointing directly at us and blaze of lights at that stage it was quite distressing and I call the piece on one one one that said the way any wasn't a serious trouble on duty that morning was a young policeman Jim Mason curious to see the ship he set off around the eastern coast on the other side of the harbor there was much activity from the storm happening there are trees coming down and there were a lot of motor accidents calls coming in for people wanting help with roofs being blowing off and just general storm damage [Music] we had on the on the ng NBC radio the Wahine was in trouble in the Wellington Harbour and we didn't think too much of it so beer being a cousin if we hadn't been instructor that stage to guarantee sworn but we thought it was in our area to patrol so we started to drive around point Howard around and we couldn't get very far because the waves are crashing over the road that driftwood got on the road and seaweed and all sorts of obstacles on row but we thought to going just as we were approaching the end of the spoon road I could see through the gray mist and cloud I could see them the big shadow of the Wahine with the winds screaming the Seas atrocious and the visibility nil for the next 26 minutes the crew wrestled to control Wahine a but at 6:41 a.m. she crashed into the rocks of Barrett reef while I was treating our moment all of a sudden it was two surrenders bang and we also jumped and so indecent was it and someone said we must have hit something and it's a lot of talk don't be silly when it can't hit anything you know unfortunately as she turned she clipped the most out of rock of Barrett's reef with her propeller which broke it off broke the shaft officer water started to enter into the engine room and within minutes they'd lost power and then essentially the ship was at the mercy of the the sea came back with another cup of tea and and then the announcement over the loudspeaker was telling us to get dressed put our things away and make towards our station [Music] knock at the door and the Stuart came bursting and said you have to get up on deck we're sinking and I went to reach from my handbag to get my contact lens and so I could see what I was doing this if you haven't got time just go some people were getting dressed completely as if they were going to a day at the races they were determined to everything on and handbags everything others which are streaming out and then there were the children that were trying to get up the steps and everyone was just was really quite panicky and I thought we're going to go down be similar on the rock we're going to go down before we actually get up on deck [Music] when the ship hit boats reef a mayday was put out and Wellington radio received it and so did beacon help so they were aware of what the problems that the ship was in trouble captain John Brown was the duty pilot for the Wellington Harbour Board which means he was waiting for a ship to come in or sail that he was going to guide in or out of the harbour that about 20 to 7 I heard this call come out from the way he need to Beacon Hill that was the single station to say that he had touched Barrett's reef and he had let him know if he wanted any assistance which was quite a dramatic thing for a ship - at Barrett sorry [Music] captain Brown was one of the few people that day to speak directly to captain Robertson the ferry captain told him he'd lost both engines and had dropped both anchors he hoped captain brown could tow him to safety the worst thing was the possibility there was just no visibility at all and we couldn't really see where the next wave was coming from this was down about the area where the way he knew eventually sank we were on that area and we had a radar and we could see the way any on the radar the end of the south of us a big blob but we couldn't see it visually captain Robinson kept on Cemal if I can get a tug we can get a line up and he can tow me to safety but I still have doubts about how he was going to tow the way Heaney anywhere because the way he had two anchors down at the stage we both agreed that he had a lot more water on board than what he had indicated to us by saying everything was under control with the pilot alongside Wahine the deputy harbor master managed an incredible leap on board the captain had stayed on the bridge watching closely the anchors they were struggling to hold Vahini and captain Robertson knew that of one cable what apart the ship would smash onto the rocks the total loss of life was now a real possibility and I believe it was some home gained on board of that stage it must been just after 12 when you got on board I think he said to Robinson a couple of things about well you didn't really know how serious you are I think you better go down and have a look and that may being the first time that Robinson could get off the bridge and go down to the vehicle deck where that came out later on that there being water on the essence about eight o'clock but Robinson certainly didn't intimated that to anybody as sure because we could hear all the messages that were going over the VHF and he certainly didn't say anything about water on the vehicle ticking any other messages up all that time don't know and I think that he didn't know if you had ads off sure the inter-island ferry Wahine is drifting helplessly backwards up the habit most of the time it is obscured by the driving rain and sleet and spray or drop off the sea a few moments ago it was visible clearly visible from the shore and it appeared to be moving slowly backwards towards the rocks a few hundred yards from the shore this at all why didn't just plain like normal kids do the little fella Hawaiian II we were playing and well we didn't know the bike was sinking [Music] and it took us unawares it took awesome that's everybody in the in the area completely unawares you know one minute there was we were all sitting around chatting away and those buzz going on with people chatting and then the next instance of the ship gave a lurch and things went flying off the table and so there was dead silence soon after captain Galloway arrived on the bridge the ship started to list at an alarming rate [Music] all the time the scene was just so rough and then the ship started to have a bit of a list and it would tip over one way and come back up her [ __ ] and tip over a bit more come up a bit and then this one particular time at this attempt right over and you could hear people falling and screaming and glass breaking and furniture crashing in their lounge next door to where I was standing it was a terrible noise terrible at 20 past 1:00 the tide turned the ship lurched and Wahine was now an immediate danger of capsizing then I asked one of the crew that I've been friends were so he'd go back and get gaudy some clothes and we're on D deck and I went down he came back necessary surely I can't get into cabinets under water some people were starting to panic it's time to relive it now huh yeah boy you know you sit around and we prayed we spent some time in prayer and yeah we thank God for our lives and we asked him to spare a special mistake [Music] New Zealanders reeling from this storm which had brought devastation across the country were now hearing the news while he nee with 734 people on board was in trouble but the captain chose to keep those on shore and those on board come and few realized just how great the danger was we had one transistor radio somebody had went on and they lounge and just a little time they were coming over we'd be in port soon we were quite safe we looked out the window with waves breaking all over you I don't think we sort of realized what was going on the chair started tipping to the side a bit and methought misses it was going over we're going to have to make a move soon to get off Gordy's lying on the lifejacket because there wasn't room to have miss him like that so he'd be better lying on my knee he's very much mums boy he wouldn't have gone to anyone else in any case giving the kids quiet we were singing mourning Town Road basically a lot of other ones but it was my kids favorite song I don't know why we used to sing rock n roll and ride in all across the baby Oh many miles away sometimes there is sunshine sometimes Sarah's frame sometimes Sarah's mourning town all along the way but surely was becoming increasingly anxious as there were no child life jackets for her children see how the life jacket covers however it's only a little face shine [Music] when the when the tide turned and the ship listed over our side [Music] all hadn't quite suddenly [Music] it was 25 past 1 on April 10th that time ran out Mohini was about to keel over the captain ordered everyone on board to abandon ship siren went and the the awful shelling sound of abandoned ship everybody made a rush for the door of course and [Music] when we got on quite a lean it sort of like that and people start to slip away from everybody and Alma slipped away and Bill got separated ala went one way or with another fearing that the ship would sink before they could even get off some passengers jumped in others slipped and fell into the water for my feet to stop me and the impact and that's when I broke my ankle and I ended up in the water [Music] all a heavy furniture broke loose and came down on top of me [Music] we headed back out to the ship and at the time we got there the ship had started to take a big list to starboard and when they saw us to be the life rafts are trying to inflate them on deck some of them are blowing away up to have account building up the harbor at this stage the lower end of the boat was only a few feet above the water and then we could see people jumping in the water so we think we're trying go to some of these people but as soon as they got on the water they were swept the way over to the Eastern Shore and just found myself to sit on this piece of wood with a surly gentleman hanging onto the side of it I tried to help him also Sooyoung biting you just let guy who and and he went under halfway down Maureen caught her foot underneath the capsule she couldn't get it out [Music] a guy comes along and he said ah can I take your little girl and put her into a lifeboat and I said yeah but she didn't want to go and I select about and told her she was nobody girl and she was to go [Music] then a steward came along and I said would he take Gordy and he said no he said didn't want it because he said he'll die with me I can't swim and I said well he'll die with me because I'm pregnant and can't swim and so he did take him and I could hear him screaming and screaming and screaming and he jumped over the side with him into the water and I could still hear him screaming it a little bit later Stewart's help me and we busted down and went over the side and I could still hear gawdy screaming and then all of a sudden he stopped and I sort of knew he'd gone I got off and the ship was so far tipped over that didn't have to jump or anything the rail was right down in the sea so just climbed over us around you know about three feet high try as we might we just couldn't get her foot free from the capstan and eventually in desperation so with one hand on this other on the rope wasn't going to leave that go and I gave it a desperate yank and foot came free and someone handed me a baby I don't know where from or where to so I handed it in to my friend who was in the raft if someone said to me throw her in and then jump so I picked maureen up and i threw her into the boat [Music] while we were getting away from the boat there was a cry from on the top deck and I looked up and there was this crewman yelling out capture Brazil or something like that and then he threw this person was white and as it came towards us the way he knee went that way our boat went that way and the gulf widened and that parcel went straight down between us and I saw it was a shawl with a baby and and it just went straight down I never saw its surface again I remember an old Maori lady - just standing at the back of the boat and singing as wonderful noise of lady singing Maori just a normal wind and rain whipping it around astonishing many of the tragedies that day had been on the same lifeboat as Alma the starboard or s1 lifeboat the officer in charge of that I've done a why but he decided to head out into the Cook Strait again and got swamped south of where that I hear his son so why did they go the wrong way back out to sea when they'd been so close to the beach at sea toon crew member Frank hitch and says they had no choice got the engine started on that and then took up to try and start pick up any survivors in the water but very soon after that it got are the swamp boy wife well I didn't put the plug in I'm not too sure which but he got full of water anyway swamped in sinking an attempt to rescue them was wrecked by another huge wave I looked across in the most kind of did a weenie bit and I saw this other lifeboat and the tag coming towards it and as I looked the tank came up on a wave in the lifeboat was there and the tech came right down on the lifeboat and a lifeboat turned upside down trying everybody into the water I'm gonna forget hearing those screams either you could you know just coming out to across the scene was chaos there were people around everywhere the boats were trying to get away to lifeboats did make it to see tune the emergency services and locals rushed here to help but the strong current and winds were carrying passengers across to the dangerous Eastern Shore we went around one one Bay two days we saw nothing much here that's what's happening here and as we go around another Bay which is a probably about three three or four three kilometers away from went from the gate around we walked we started we saw I saw an orange life raft and it was upturned on the edge of the of the edge of the rocks and I just plated and I thought just lying there floating and thinking or ways were high and I'm thinking oh well if the shacks and the harbor too bad I'm not very worried you know I've lost my kids so you know that was it when we saw the life I was feeling like this is something serious you know this is bigger than what we thought we thought you know this was really something that happened hundreds of passengers were now in the freezing seas rescue vessels and locals working frantically to reach them I think the tank picked up a hundred and twenty people out of the water [Music] then we were confronted I remember by people an orange life life vest walking towards us and there were no shoes they were wet cold shaking and they're saying well thank God you come to help us but we we didn't know you know we had no idea how we could help them we decided that we'd go right out we went straight out and we could see two people way way in the distance and we saw we'll get there the first ones that we could see so we'll get them all of a sudden the boys came along in a lifeboat in the a minor lifeboat and now we picked Shirley up first [Music] we started to see people in the surf and out beyond the beyond the rocks they were out there bobbing around the surf and their life jackets [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] by this stage we could hear on a car radio that the Wahine was in difficulty at sea tune the entrance for the harbor so I thought I'd go out this if there was anything I could do the storm and the demand on the emergency communications proved too much they were flooded and crashed but one man managed to help keep them in contact I had my radio equipment with me in my car which and a policeman was he was trying to use his radio but it wouldn't work and I said to him I've got communications with amateur radio cannot be any help he said they wanted ambulances [Music] [Applause] on the other side of the harbor though there was no sign of help for Jim I remember trying to grab people to pull them out and we got hold of one or two and pulled them up onto the beach and it would pull them up and we had to take them for a good 10 meters up the beach otherwise the the waves would come in and catch them and suck them back out again as Jim tried to reach passengers from the rocks out in the open sea Ray was trying to rescue Shirley he was hold on to me and I said just let me go you know I don't want to go on anymore and there's no when the boat will be quite safe and next thing away cordis the boat went straight up the curve of the wave over she went everybody fell out under the water and the boat coming down to Tecna buddy thank goodness [Music] I remember trying to make my way between some rocks there's a little bit of breach between these rocks are trying to make my way between them one shocking incident that really really struck me was this old lady she was probably about 60 years of age and she was bobbing around out beyond the rocks and I went out between two rocks to try to to get here I got her I got her by the arm and I'm holding him pulling her in but the force of the sea when it went back was too strong I couldn't hold her and it sucked her out of my arm and I'm indicating duct by the big breakers a couple of times and then the last big breaker came along and I just remember being duck totally and everything went dark and quiet and that's the last thing I remembered it's just sucked back out to sea and the next thing on the next wave she came in and I can see it now I can see it as clear as it was yesterday here crashing on the rock and her head and his shoulder they just smashed on the rock and then I saw the blood I thought well that's what could you do you know and yeah excuse me that's it's as clear as it was yesterday I thought man that could have been my mother I know that's Herod affected me within an hour of the call to abandon ship all passengers had left Wahine alive captain Robertson the last to leave but many had yet to make it ashore safely with hundreds blown across to the desolate rocky coast their clothes where it was stripped off them the woman were in there just panties and bras old ladies they had no shoes they had big grazes down their legs their arms were shredded on the rocks and and there were others being washed up on a beach and it was was just horrific and ray trying to save Shirley's life was also now trying to save his own we all were clinging to the option lifeboat and we would been washed out further and further out towards pink area lighthouse we were all on the underneath of the lifeboat it was turned upside down and we were lying across it out of the blue appeared a trawler and attended I think it was a new fish they took a hell of a long time to get us up and today they have a heck of a job getting me into there because we had to go at this tiny thin rope you we were just pulling them back up onto the beach and I remembered try to to make a fire all in all the beach and I tried to get this fire going with these old bits of wood and stuff and to try and give some warmth to the people that had come out and it was a pretty futile attempt it didn't really do much but the people at least they like to set it all the good side of them was look helps coming helps coming you know and not that we at that stage didn't even know that any help was coming Warcraft's came out boat fishing boats came out you know as there were the real heroes first of every description are heading out and have been heading out for the past quarter hour from worship a there have been surf lifesaving folks from the surf club along here dinghies launchers motor both a whole truckload of inflatable life raft came through ten minutes ago they've all gone out to help when the tank pulled up to the Jessie as I went to get off to go in to get into the bus to see actually washed up over the jetty it was so rough and that's when I screamed the first time you know I just it made you realize what we had survived in and what we've been through so was a terrible day I wasn't in a lifeboat maybe I was like not to be in one because I might have ended up with my sister's six years old David was also carried across to the eastern coast he'd survived by clinging to a piece of wood until he too was unconscious I was sitting on the rocks there's no clothes on very cold I had a cop I think it was taking me through and he see dogs he's had just hit her through she's lost two children we're pulling them up onto the beach and but some of them when they came in they were so frightened they just kept going they just went up the metes and they started climbing up through the gorse bushes at the back on the on the side of the hill they just took to escape the the waves and they were in a state of shock and I was sitting down there's that's 4 o'clock in the afternoon and his radios were on down there and so but said that they'd found the body of a tall girl over pink arrow rock and just as I was walking out I said to him I said that's my girl [Music] and we did what we could to save as many as we could but some we were pulling them out we were pulling them out they were did you know many what they're doing we're just pulling bodies it's dragging the bodies up the beach and laying them on the on the on the shingle and just leaving them nearer I can I can still see it today it's clear as you know these bodies young young ones man woman just laying there with their clothes their legs strip beer and it was a horrific sight it really was [Music] bodies from the Wahine have been brought to shore at many points around the harbor bodies have been recovered from the eastern beaches from Penn Cairo to Eastbourne this is me sitting or lying on the back of a truck here there was my feet hanging over the back there and I believe that some of the people on the air could have been dead crewman Frank Hitchens was so cold and lifeless it was thought he too had died this Land Rover the first chilling signal to the emergency services of the catastrophe unfolding on the Eastern Shore Janne Willis was a nurse on duty that day he had been further around to the end of the s borne road where the beach gets quite rocky on the way to pink hair oh and he had Land Rover and he said I found some people on the beach and they did I've got them in my Land Rover at last Jim would get the help he needed and Frank Scott had his prayers answered as a lifeboat was carried ashore between the rocks at the crucial moment a huge wave lifted us up carried us right up onto the beach and we stepped into water and no deeper than our knees well we could have passed half past 6:00 we were I was interested at the in the car we had instruction for the passengers getting event what come on they're identical [Music] April the 10th with Gordy's first birthday it's spent it being resuscitated I said to the doctor and I said wanted to do that for and he said we've got to save a life and I says no life I said it was my beautiful boy in my year old boy detective X's birthday yeah Gordy suffered permanent brain damage Shirley cared for him for 22 years before he died the day itself claimed 51 lives and many more suffered terrible physical and psychological injuries my immediate reaction is one of humility I feel very very humble thankful that my feeling of a clear conscience has now been vindicated [Music] a court of inquiry found that captain Robertson and his chief officer were not guilty of any wrongful acts it did note though serious errors of judgment had been made but these were made under great difficulty in danger but nautical Assessors who assisted the inquiry were more critical they've challenged the captain's decision to bring the ship into the harbour in the bad weather his messages too sure that all was under control and his failure to report the extent of the vehicle deck flooding in the captain's defense it's argued that he not only tried desperately to get the ship back out but did everything he could to save both Wahine and its precious cargo of 734 lives people city children teens and earlier I don't think so as far as coming into the habit now I think if he the ship could have gotten to the have quite easy that morning I don't the weather was bad but if he had used us announced and kept the speed up and that he would have been in a bit early but he would have got unsafely but was unheard of on these inter-island ships to be an early or is that the boy is 16 minutes past 6:00 the court went on to make a number of recommendations they changed passenger shipping around the world to try and prevent a similar disaster from ever happening again [Music] you they abandon ship me my mate said we'll grab a kit each he grabbed a kid I baby kid I lost my miss you in Laurium seen him since nice far as I know there's cotton jacket you when she go to the toilet you come out of the toilet the Beast to India that's where do you really come out [Music] you [Music] you [Music] you [Music] you

Channel: Tuckey Travel

Views: 373,089

Rating: 4.7461929 out of 5

Keywords: wahine disaster, wahine disaster documentary, wahine disaster video, documentaries, new zealand disasters, 女人灾难, 华因灾难纪录片, 女人災難, 華因災難紀錄片, महिला आपदा, वाहिन आपदा डॉक्यूमेंट्री, vrouw ramp, wahine ramp documentaire, new zealand, the, the wahine disaster, the wahine movie, disaster movie, true story, true story film, new zealand accent, radio new zealand

Id: Q83ZbtKjkpM

Length: 50min 57sec (3057 seconds)

Published: Sun Jan 19 2020