Visibility was bad and we did not know in which direction the boat was proceeding but it was clear to me that the man at the helm, as mentioned above, was first class and knew his job as was ultimately proved.The life-boat was propelled by means of a crank which extended from bow to stern and was turned by some of the occupants sitting either side and turning the crank. Vehicles were driven to and from the upper garage using two fixed ramps positioned against the ship's hull on the port and starboard sides of the main vehicle deck. There was indication that the ship would even sail again that evening as usual, albeit later than scheduled while the damage done by the reef was repaired. (c) Frank Hitchens. I was torn between the feeling of wanting to be seasick and the worry that, having survived all this, I would land up in Wellington Hospital with pneumonia - in the middle of my holidays.But there were more boats coming towards us. A bus was waiting there, to take us to the Railway Station.Reunions had started already. Three weeks later, on 18 March 1964, the contract to build the Wahine was signed for a fixed price of 3,042,175 pounds Sterling. As the Wahine drops off the way-ends and enters the river a few seconds after this photo was taken, heavy drag chains attached to the hull and laid out alongside her will leap into the air and slow then stop her sternwards movement. Around 13:15, the combined effect of the tide and the storm swung The first starboard motor lifeboat, boat S1, capsized shortly after being launched.The three remaining standard lifeboats, which according to a number of survivors were severely overcrowded, did manage to reach shore.
Shipyard managers accompanied by their wives wait beside the foot of the stairway for arrival of the official party. Teenage apprentice shipwrights, known as "dagger boys", then run as fast as they can from each of the dagger stations, up the building berth to the launch platform. As with the much smaller units in the auxiliary turbo-alternator room, each turbine was coupled to an alternator and these each generated 6,900 kW of electricity. Seldom if ever before has the moment been captured on photograph when a ship's captain steps ashore just after his ship has been wrecked or sunk.
"Darling" I heard - and a big laughing bearded man picked me up in his arms and put me down on the tug deck. But it was so impossible - to be happening in the middle of Wellington Harbour - and to be happening to me - that I just could not believe it.By then the floor was at a very steep angle and the older people seemed to be tired of holding on and were sliding down, their hands bleeding from knocks they had received. Aunty Lois had cooked my favourite pudding for me! The upper garage was 96 feet (29.3 metres) long and, like the main vehicle deck, extended across the full width of the ship. In the early morning of Wednesday, 10 April, two violent storms merged over Wellington, creating a single At 05:50, with winds gusting at between 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) and 155 kilometres per hour (96 mph),For 30 minutes she battled into the waves and wind, but by 06:10 she was not answering her helmThe storm continued to grow more intense. The turbo-electric vessel (TEV) Wahine had made the Lyttelton to Wellington run hundreds of times since first starting its service in 1966. He turned around like he had just been woken up. Who could have? TEV Wahine on her builder's full power trials in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, 14 June 1966, immediately after she was completed.
A tug was summoned from Greenock to tow her back to port, and in the meantime the Wahine came into the Largs Channel, away from the main shipping route. Every time I sat down (only tried it once) I felt sick, so I just stayed standing. He was, from 1963 until retirement in 1973, chairman and managing director the Union Steam Ship Company, the Wahine's owner. Moving from right to left, the Wahine is seen in this and the following six photos as she passes Point Dorset on the western side of the entrance channel. The Zodiac was powered by a Johnson 40hp outboard motor, which we got started. Her loss, with so many lives taken, was the most colossal shock. It similarly had large panoramic windows giving extensive views out over the sea. Abeam of Baring head the wind speed increased considerably, with heavy rain and reduced visibility. TEV Wahine in Wellington Harbour Union Steam Ship Company Archives, part of the Wellington Museums Trust Collections held by Wellington City Archives. Her survival after Barrett Reef is testimony to the strength of her construction and the great skill of the Clydeside men who built her. It provides detailed information about both, and answers the many questions that still surround the Wahine's tragic loss and the role Captain Robertson played.Sublimely beautiful; the Wahine as we remember her during her short life, before the tragedy of 10th April 1968. I met many others involved in the rescue: survivors, rescuers, authors, TV crew and journalists. Critics of Captain Robertson are quoted in the article but the Dominion Post journalist has not included any comment in Captain Robertson's defence, by way of offering balance and fairness to what he wrote The Wahine served only two summers on the Wellington-Lyttelton run: 1966-67 and 1967-68. We had brought with us our overnight bag which we left inside the door to the cafeteria so that we did not need to return to the cabin. We eventually got word from Deputy Harbour Master Galloway acknowledging the rescue work of our Zodiac. Amidships on B Deck was a lounge bar known as the Smoke Room, with seating for 158 patrons. All of these similarly were firsts for a Union Company vessel.The Wahine had three public rooms for her passengers.