The Sinking Of The ' Wahine'.

The roll-on-roll-off Lyttleton-Wellington ferry entered Port Nicholson at 6am, sailing to the Underworld. The crew felt the blast of a tropical cyclone which hit the 'Wahine' almost a knockout blow as she swirled, Striking the hard cold rocks of Barrett's Reef low. The passengers were calm at first, kept in the dark as the captain knew panic would spread like an epidemic, if the news of flooding in the vehicle deck were known. Captain Robertson decided late to lift anchors from the reef. The 'Wahine' drifted past Point Dorset, the point of no return, as the ferry started to list to starboard quite steeply. After mid-day the captain gave the order to abandon ship, starboard side. The lifeboats and life rafts were frantically filled when most passengers scrambled overboard on those lifesavers, or clung to life-rafts, sailing to Seatoun or Eastbourne. Most of them made it but fifty-one unlucky ones did not. The victims drowned at sea or perished from the cold on shore. Selfless volunteers dragged the desperate from the churning surf to the sands of safety, where some of them would survive the ordeal thanks to first aid resuscitation and late medical treatment. -Revised 7 June,2017. -10/11 April,2017.