New Zealand Disasters

Lesson 3: Shipwrecks

Key Content

• Tararua Shipwreck 1881
• Wahine Disaster 1968

Learning Outcomes

Students will be able to:

• Outline the sequence of events leading up to the shipwrecks.
• Describe the impact of shipwrecks on people.

7. Shipwrecks Series 1: Tararua Tragedy 1881 (Extracts), Greenstone Pictures, 2000

The Tararua Tragedy (2000)

The Tararua left Port Chalmers (Dunedin) heading for Bluff one day in 1881. She never made it.

a. What type of ship was the Tararua?
A coastal trading passenger and cargo ship.

b. Where did the Tararua hit rocks?
At Otara Reef just of from Waipapa Point on her way to Bluff.

c. How many died? 131

d. How many survived? 20.

8. Wahine Day [extract], National Film Unit, 1973

Wahine Day (1973)

On 10 April 1968 the 9,000 ton inter-island ferry Wahine sank inside Wellington Harbour during a ferocious storm, resulting in the loss of 51 lives. The modern ferry, 20 months in service and of latest design, carried 735 passengers and crew.

a. Why do you think the journalists kept reporting that all was under control and that the Wahine was in no danger?
To send out a message of reassurance to the public and relatives of those on board. At the earlier stages of the event the journalists and authorities would have been unaware of the gravity of the situation that was to unfold.

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