Maritime Disaster

It was, and still remains, this country's worst maritime disaster. In 1863, 189 people were killed when the HMS Orpheus hit a sandbar off the coast of West Auckland. Local Waitakere historian Bruce… Audio

On February 7 1863 the HMS Orpheus, a naval ship carrying British soldiers involved in the New Zealand Land Wars in the Waikato, sunk in Whatipu, near the entrance of the Manukau Harbour. 189 people… Audio