Nightmare at Sea

All night the gleaming oceangoing ferry Wahine battled gale-force winds and violent seas on its regular run between South and North islands in New Zealand. As it entered Wellington Harbor, only a mile from its destination, the two-year-old ship was blown onto a reef. Water gushed through a hole in the hull. Then, after the Wahine floated free, it suddenly lurched over on its side into the water. Panic seized the 676 passengers and crewmen.

Many simply slid down the wet decks into the water. Women screamed for their children. People careened along the corridors toward the lifeboat stations. A man who was helping his fellow passengers, Ian MacDonald, later reported that he worked with one hand grabbing the rail "and the other grasping hands, shoulders, legs and even hair to stop tumbling bodies." As the huge ship started sinking, those who could get aboard lifeboats rowed furiously away. Others tried to swim for it. One crewman jumped in with a child under each arm. In the icy waters, mothers cradled their babies in life jackets as rescue craft circled around them. By week's end 52 persons had been found dead or were presumed drowned.

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