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Facts about the Manukau Harbour. After the Kaipara Harbour the Manukau has the second largest Harbour Shoreline in the Southern Hemisphere and is the eighth largest Harbour in the world. The Manukau does claim the number one spot in the world for the largest in-fall and out-fall of water of any harbour in the world with a tidal range in the Harbour from 0.0 right up to 4.6 metres. Photos exist of early Harbour settlers playing cricket on the exposed Bar! The Manukau Bar is one of the most treacherous in the country and has accounted for the loss of many lives over the years. This is largely due the changeable sea conditions, the progressive movement of the sand banks and the relative inexperience of many who venture across it. |
The
wreck of the H.M.S.Orpheus.
On 7 February, 1863, the HMS Orpheus was only miles from her destination
port of Onehunga. On board were 259 men, many of them British soldiers
heading for the Waikato land wars.
The Weather conditions were fine and sunny when the Orpheus struck the
sandbar, burying the nose of the ship. The engines seized and gradually
the Orpheus slipped further over on to her side. A south-westerly wind
sprung up and the waves grew stronger.
As the day progressed attempts to save the drowning men were made, attempts
were made right into the night. By dawn only the stumps of the masts and
pieces of the deck remained visible and there were only 70 survivors.
A 189 had perished.
The Orpheus shipwreck is still New Zealand's worst shipwreck, in which
the greatest number of people died.
