On this date, 150 years ago, New Zealand's worst maritime disaster took place off Auckland’s west coast.
Today, commemorations were held for the 189 men who died when the naval ship "Orpheus" sank in the Manukau Harbour.
Barbara Lady Harvey, wife of former Waitakere Mayor Sir Bob Harvey and the great-great-granddaughter of then-harbour master Thomas Wing, says the sinking of the Orpheous was a huge event.
“It was on an enormous scale. Equivalent to the Erebus tragedy of 1979, or the Tangiwai rail disaster,” says Lady Harvey.
She and many other descendants gathered at Auckland’s Whatipu Beach today to pay respects to the men who went down with the Orpheus.
On February 7, 1863, the Orpheus stuck the sand bar at the Manukau Heads. Out of the 259 men onboard, 189 people died. Some of them were as young as 14 years old.
Most of them couldn't swim. They clung onto the ship’s masts for hours as it broke apart below them. And yet, as it finally went down, they were heard cheering.
Historian Michael Wynd says it was a testament to their spirit.
“I think it’s a story about the Victorian stiff upper lip. And courage in the face of what was ultimately their deaths. If you listen closely you can almost hear their cheers now,” he says.
Bodies were dragged out of the water and buried nearby. The remains of three unknown men still lie at the site.
The commander of the ship, Commodore Burnett, relied on an old chart with an incorrect route.
But at the time, the harbour master was blamed
“Captain Wing never really recovered. For the rest of his life he tried to exonerate himself,” says Lady Harvey.
A museum nearby now holds artifacts from the ship. A fragment of a mast is there, as well as Orpheus’ anchor.
It's a sobering sight for one descendant, whose great-grandmother was named Orpheus after the death of his brother, and went on to invent a widely-used life jacket.
“It’s almost like her determination not to let the sea win as such,” says descendant Caroline Fitzgerald. “It had haunted her during her childhood, and here she was – able to provide some sort of assistance.”
But 150 years on, there’s still debate over why the ship was in New Zealand at all.
“It was coming to help in the land wars, it was a war ship, it was coming armed,” says Lady Harvey.
However Mr Wynd disagrees.
“All she was doing was bringing Commodore Burnett to meet Governor Gray to say, ‘look we need to talk about the navy situation in New Zealand’.”
The truth remains a secret that went down with the Orpheus 150 years ago today
3 News
source: newshub archive
