Wahine
1966
(DEDO 16)
- Type: Passenger / general cargo
- Displacement: 8,944 tons
- Dimensions: 488.9 x 72.6 x 41.5 ft.
- Machinery: Steam turbo-electric, twin screw 18,000shp = 19 knots
- Passengers: 931
- Crew:
- Builder: Fairfields Ltd, Glasgow, Scotland, 1966
- Service: The second Wahine built for Union Steamship Company of New Zealand (British flag). Launched 14 Jul 1965; builder wnt bankrupt but loan from RBS used to finish her. Trials Jun 1966 and enter the 176 mile Wellington-Lyttelton overnight service 1 Aug. On 10 Apr 1968, approaching Wellington in the worst storm on record, with 130 mph wind gusts, she was blown on Barretts Head at the harbor entrance and holed. She was carrying 727 passengers, 65 cars, mail and cargo. A rising tide lifted her off and she managed to enter the harbor without power, dropped her anchors, and tried to ride the storm out. In the early afternoon, as the winds started to abate, she suddenly listed to port and abandon ship was ordered. Some lifeboats could not be lowered, one capsized, and many in life jackets were washed across the harbor onto rocks where the surging surf killed 51, including 4 crew; 680 passengers were saved. The ship fell on her side in 40 feet of water at the edge of the shipping channel. Plans to cut away the superstructure and refloat the hull were made, but another storm in May 1969 broke the hull in two and she had to be broken up where she lay.
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