WRECK WEEKEND

HMNZS TUI

HMNZS Tui, formerly USNS Charles H. Davis (T-AGOR-5), was one of nine Conrad class oceanographic ships built for the United States Navy (USN), that later saw service in the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Serving with the USN from 1963 to 1970, these ships were designed to perform acoustic experiments on sound transmission underwater, and for gravity, magnetism and deep-ocean floor studies.

The ship was commissioned into the RNZN in late 1970, and as HMNZS Tui served as an oceanographic survey and research ship until her decommissioning in 1997. In 1999, the ship was scuttled as a dive wreck.

At 62 metres long she now lies in 30 metres of water just 2km north of Tutukaka Heads. Easily penetrated through purpose cut access points, explore the control room, bridge, crew living quarters and engine rooms via established routes. A very enjoyable dive for all levels of divers.

For more information about the HMNZS TUI click here.

HMNZS CANTERBURY

The ex-HMNZS Canterbury was scuttled on 3 November 2007 at Deep Water Cove in the Bay of Islands to provide a dive wreck and what a dive she is. Prepared with divers in mind; plenty of extra access points have been created to provide an ease of entry and exit, this makes for some particularly good penetration and swims through opportunities. The wreck sits completely upright and fully intact, and her position in Deep Water Cove is protected in most conditions. She lies at a depth of between 12 metres at the middle funnel, and 38 metres at the stern, where visibility can range between 8 and 30 metres. At 113 metres long and at 13 metres in beam, this site is big enough to make you want to dive it twice!

For more information about the history and finer diving details please click here.

HMNZS WAIKATO

HMNZS Waikato (F55) was a Leander Batch 2TA frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). She was one of two Leanders built for the RNZN, the other being the Batch 3 HMNZS Canterbury. These two New Zealand ships relieved British ships of the Armilla patrol during the Falklands conflict, freeing British ships for deployment.

Specification:

Displacement: 3182 Tonnes
Length: 113.4 metres
Beam: 12.4 metres
Draught: 5.6 metres
Machinery: Twin steam turbines driving twin shafts 30,000 horsepower total
Armament: Twin 115mm guns Wasp helicopters carrying homing torpedoes Two twin barrelled torpedo tubes. One Phalanx closed weapon system. Maximum speed: 30 knots Complement: 239 (19 Officers)

HMNZS Waikato was purposefully sunk in November 2000 and now lies 30 metres down and bolt upright on the seabed. She has large holes cut in the side to make entry and exit very safe and less experienced divers will gain valuable wreck diving experience from the vessel. The shallowest part of the wreck is only 8 metres from the surface.

THE RAINBOW WARRIOR

The Rainbow Warrior was built in 1955, in Aberdeen, Scotland, as a trawler named Sir William Hardy, and entered service with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. She served until 1977 when she was put up for sale by the Ministry. She was acquired by Greenpeace at a cost of £40,000 and underwent a four month refit. She was re-launched on April 29, 1978 as Rainbow Warrior, the first ship to serve with Greenpeace. Further modifications followed, with the replacement of the engines in 1981 and the fitting of sails in a ketch rig in 1985.

In early 1985 Rainbow Warrior was in the Pacific campaigning against nuclear testing. In May, she evacuated some 300 Marshall Islanders from Rongelap Atoll, polluted by radioactivity from past American nuclear tests at the Pacific Proving Grounds.

She travelled to New Zealand to lead a flotilla of yachts protesting against French nuclear testing at the Mururoa Atoll in the Tuamotu Archipelago of French Polynesia. During previous nuclear tests at Mururoa, protest ships had been boarded by French commandos after sailing into the shipping exclusion zone around the atoll.

For the 1985 tests Greenpeace intended to monitor the impact of nuclear tests and place protesters on the island to illegally monitor the blasts. The French Government infiltrated the Canada-based organisation and discovered these plans.

The Rainbow Warrior, then captained by Peter Willcox, was sabotaged and sunk just before midnight NZST (1pm BST, 8am EDT) on July 10, 1985 by two explosive devices attached to the hull by operatives of the French intelligence service (DGSE). One of the twelve people on board, photographer Fernando Pereira, returned to the ship after the first explosion to attempt to retrieve his equipment, and was killed when the ship was sunk by the second larger explosion.

The wreck of the Rainbow Warrior was refloated on 21 August 1985 and moved to a naval harbour for forensic examination. Although the hull had been recovered the damage was too extensive for economic repair and the vessel was scuttled in Matauri Bay in the Cavalli Islands, New Zealand on 2 December 1987, to serve as a dive wreck and artificial reef to promote marine life.