1881 - 1881 (0 years)
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Date |
Event(s) |
| 1 | 1881 | - 29 Apr 1881: Tararua shipwreck
On a voyage from Port Chalmers to Melbourne, the Tararua struck a reef off Waipapa Point, Southland, at 5 a.m. on 29 April. A passenger swam ashore to raise the alarm, but the rough sea made it too dangerous to take people off. The ship began to break up, and the passengers climbed the rigging. They hung on until 2.35 a.m. the next morning, when those on the beach heard piercing shrieks. By daybreak the ship had sunk, and bodies were floating ashore. Of the 151 passengers and crew on board, 131 were lost in the worst civilian shipwreck in New Zealand waters.
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Chris Korte's New Zealand Genealogy Project
