Wahine survivor Peter Jerram seeks powerful personal stories of maritime disaster

Tuesday, 19 April 2016

Jenny Hodges, nee Cole, was 17-years-old when she helped Wahine survivors into life-rafts.

The grounding and foundering of the Wahine still holds a fascination for New Zealanders nearly 50 years after the maritime disaster.

Charitable trust Wahine 50 has been set up to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the event on April 10, 2018.

Peter Jerram, and team mates on the Lincoln College first XI cricket team, survived the Wahine disaster.

Fifty-one people lost their lives on April 10, 1968 when the passenger ship was driven onto a reef in the mouth of Wellington Harbour during a storm. Several others died in the following weeks.

Trustee Peter Jerram, of Marlborough, said a website (www.wahine50.org.nz) had been set up to share stories of, and after, the disaster.

* Wahine website launched on 48th anniversary**

The trust wanted to created a database of every survivor and archive the stories of every survivor, rescuer and person who played a support role in that day.

'The most powerful history is very much about personal experience,' Jerram said.

A number of Wellington institutions held reports, documents and images on the Wahine disaster and its impact on the Wellington region but the trustees were committed to telling the Wahine story through an exhibition in April 2018 focusing on the extraordinary contribution made by volunteers and rescuers, Jerram said.

There were also plans for a memorial service on the coastline near Eastbourne, where 47 of the 51 people who died lost their lives.

The Wahine - 50 Years On commemoration would also support Coastguard Wellington and Coastguard Mana in their fundraising initiatives to replace two rescue boats.

Jerram was a 20-year-old Lincoln College student when his cricket squad were going to Palmerston North to take part in that year's Universities Easter Tournament, but instead found themselves scrambling into lifeboats and rafts as the boat foundered in heavy seas as it entered Wellington Harbour.

'I was young, fit and healthy. I was lucky.'

Controversy remained on how the boat sank, Jerram said.

'Some residents swore black and blue the ship was seen between the reef and the land.'

There were two new theories that concentrated on onboard and onshore mistakes, he said.

'I would like to know what happened.'

Wahine survivor Jenny Hodges, nee Cole, who lives in Renwick, outside Blenheim, had just finished training with the Royal New Zealand Airforce.

The 17-year-old, and six fellow airwoman, were in bed when a steward knocked on their door at 6.30am asking them to go to the muster station.

Passengers sat shoulder to shoulder on the floor of the lounge while stewards handed out sandwiches, tea and cakes.

The wind sounded like thunder as the storm raged, she said.

Some passengers prayed but Hodges sang to boost spirits.

'I remember I was told to stop singing because people were praying.

'Nobody was particularly worried. It wasn't until the boat started to list that we knew something was wrong.'

Hodges did not feel the ship hit the reef but others did.

'Then the mood changed. There was silence. Any chairs that could move slid.'

As the boat rolled passengers were asked to move to starboard.

Many passengers went the wrong way and slid down the ship, suffering broke bones, before they hit the icy water.

Hodges had to catch people as they slid to prevent them from hitting the railing and tumbling into the sea.

Only a few starboard lifeboats could be launched, and crewmen, assisted by Hodges, tried to get as many people as possible into them.

'It was a mad rush. People were very scared.

'People were trying to take their bags with them. We threw them away because it was the equivalent of one person on the boat.'

Passengers had to time when they jumped into the lifeboats and many fell into the cold, churning sea, she said.

Lifeboats were swamped shortly after leaving the sinking ship and their occupants were tossed into the sea.

Hodges swam to an inflatable life-raft that had been thrown overboard.

She remembered the raft was full with two layers of people lying on top of each other.

As the raft floated towards Eastbourne, it would flip each time a wave crashed into it.

The raft's occupants, sodden and shaken, stumbled ashore onto Eastbourne beach.

She remembered being given a cup of soup before being bussed to a Returned and Services Association club where she was given an orange woolly jumper and black pants to change into.

'Lots of people were running around with telegram sheets. I sent a telegram home saying 'all OK, will ring soon'.

'Everybody tried to blame the captain but I don't think it was anyone's fault. The storm came in faster than expected.'