Otago Former Times

72 people who lost their lives 100 years ago today when the passenger steamer SS Penguin went down in a storm.

2009-02-12T09:45:00.001+13:00

The wreck of the Penguin on 12 February 1909 was New Zealand's worst maritime disaster of the 20th century.

A half-day holiday was declared to allow people to mourn and bury the dead and the city came to a standstill as crowds lined the streets to watch the funeral processions wend their way through the city, Kelburn and up to Karori Cemetery in Wellington. The saddest sight was the four little white coffins of the McGuire children who had been temporarily living in a Nelson orphanage. They were returning to Wellington to be reunited with their widowed father who had just remarried.

The ship was travelling from Nelson to Wellington via Picton when it hit something in the dark and began taking on water. The Penguin had enough lifeboats and rafts to accommodate all aboard but the lifeboats did not fare well in the atrocious conditions. Twenty-four people reached shore on the ship's two rafts, but only six people who left in lifeboats survived the night. Only one woman survived the tragedy and all 10 children onboard perished in the rough seas.
Shepherds from Terawhiti sheep station (now Terawhiti Station) were the first on the scene and searchers scoured the coast, recovering bodies from the jagged rocks and surf and often struggling in deep water to carry the dead ashore. Survivors were carried on horseback across the flooded Karori Stream.

Immigrants close their eyes and think of England

2009-02-02T10:18:00.000+13:00

Immigrants close their eyes and think of England is the startling title of the ODT's 100 Years Ago column.

Many of the immigrants say that they have been grossly misled by officials of the New Zealand Government in London, and some of them are endeavouring to sell their effects to get back to England again.

Read more at: http://www.odt.co.nz/opinion/100-years-ago/41598/immigrants-close-their-eyes-and-think-england

Cook Strait Ferry Penguin Hits the Rocks

2009-01-28T10:07:00.000+13:00

Penguin shipwreck

On 12 February the Cook Strait ferry Penguin struck rocks off Cape Terawhiti and sank with the loss of 75 lives. (See: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/timeline&new_date=12/2)