1. Memorialising Disasters: The many pathways to remembrance
Blake, D. 1, McManus, R.2, Johnston, D.3
1. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University, 2. School of Language, Social and Political Sciences University of Canterbury, 3. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University .
Memorialising disasters provides a way to commemorate tragedies when there has been a significant loss of life. These dedicated spaces enable us to mourn, honour, remember and re-story. It is necessary to consider how the actions of the time impact on the lessons we take from the event. This research represents two maritime disasters, and the way in which their legacy shapes the ongoing telling of our maritime and disaster histories.
Figure 3. SS Penguin.
Figure 4. Wahine.
On the 12th February 1909, Aotearoa/New Zealand’s worst 20th century maritime disaster occurred when the SS Penguin sank off the most southwestern point of the North Island. Taking passengers from Picton to Wellington, the ferry went down in a severe storm, and 75 lives were lost. The inquiry blamed the calamity on navigational errors and the captain’s disregard for weather warnings 1. While the wreckage has never been found, a memorial plaque is located at Tongue Point, close to where the ship was said to have sunk.
The Wellington City Council erected the plague in 2009, to acknowledge the one hundredth anniversary of the tragedy2.
On 10th April 1968, the Wahine sank in Wellington Harbour. In total 54 lives were lost. Sailing from Lyttelton to Wellington, 100 knots winds and large waves slammed the ship, until it hit a reef, lost its propeller and capsized. Passengers attempted to reach shores on opposite sides of the harbour. Errors of judgment in difficult and dangerous weather conditions contributed to the tragic outcome. The captain ignored weather warnings and decided to try to enter Wellington harbor disregarding the severity of the storm3.
There are three main Wahine memorial sites around Wellington, including the the ship’s mask erected in Eastbourne in 2010.
Figure 1. SS Penguin Memorial, Tongue Point.
Figure 2. Wahine Memorial, Eastbourne.
These disasters were made meaningful through the translation of news and information into stories and emblems of individual human survival and heroism in the face of nature’s wrath and broken technology. While human courage and survival when facing great danger were memorialised, other narratives such as poor judgement, technology blaming and infrastructural deficiencies were hidden and silenced. Memorialisation enables us to progress our practices of resilence because we gain insight into the limits of disaster planning. These memorials show that when we place technology as the cause and solution to disastrous events we avoid facing a harder question.
Why do we put unrealistic faith into equipment and technologies if we won’t heed warnings? Planning depends on people heeding warnings, but as these two shipwrecks attest, decisions were made that went against such warnings. These memories in the landscape matter as they both remind us that life is precious and tenuous, yet dependent on everyday decisions.
References: 1. Collins, B. E. (2000). The Wreck of the Penguin. Wellington, New Zealand: Steele Roberts. 2. The Dominion Post. (2014, Saturday, April 19). A history of Wellington in interesting objects: Commemorative plague for SS Penguin. The Dominion Post. Retrieved from 3. Makarios, E. (2003). The Wahine disaster: a tragedy remembered: Wellington, N.Z.: Grantham House in association with the Wellington Museums Trust, c2003.

2. Memorialising Disasters: The many pathways to remembrance
Blake, D. 1, McManus, R.2, Johnston, D.3
1. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University, 2. School of Language, Social and Political Sciences University of Canterbury, 3. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University .
Memorialising disasters provides a way to commemorate tragedies when there has been a significant loss of life. These dedicated spaces enable us to mourn, honour, remember and re-story. It is necessary to consider how the actions of the time impact on the lessons we take from the event. This research represents two maritime disasters, and the way in which their legacy shapes the ongoing telling of our maritime and disaster histories.
Figure 3. SS Penguin.
Figure 4. Wahine.
On the 12th February 1909, Aotearoa/New Zealand’s worst 20th century maritime disaster occurred when the SS Penguin sank off the most southwestern point of the North Island. Taking passengers from Picton to Wellington, the ferry went down in a severe storm, and 75 lives were lost. The inquiry blamed the calamity on navigational errors and the captain’s disregard for weather warnings 1. While the wreckage has never been found, a memorial plaque is located at Tongue Point, close to where the ship was said to have sunk.
The Wellington City Council erected the plague in 2009, to acknowledge the one hundredth anniversary of the tragedy2.
On 10th April 1968, the Wahine sank in Wellington Harbour. In total 54 lives were lost. Sailing from Lyttelton to Wellington, 100 knots winds and large waves slammed the ship, until it hit a reef, lost its propeller and capsized. Passengers attempted to reach shores on opposite sides of the harbour. Errors of judgment in difficult and dangerous weather conditions contributed to the tragic outcome. The captain ignored weather warnings and decided to try to enter Wellington harbor disregarding the severity of the storm3.
There are three main Wahine memorial sites around Wellington, including the the ship’s mask erected in Eastbourne in 2010.
Figure 1. SS Penguin Memorial, Tongue Point.
Figure 2. Wahine Memorial, Eastbourne.
These disasters were made meaningful through the translation of news and information into stories and emblems of individual human survival and heroism in the face of nature’s wrath and broken technology. While human courage and survival when facing great danger were memorialised, other narratives such as poor judgement, technology blaming and infrastructural deficiencies were hidden and silenced. Memorialisation enables us to progress our practices of resilence because we gain insight into the limits of disaster planning. These memorials show that when we place technology as the cause and solution to disastrous events we avoid facing a harder question.
Why do we put unrealistic faith into equipment and technologies if we won’t heed warnings? Planning depends on people heeding warnings, but as these two shipwrecks attest, decisions were made that went against such warnings. These memories in the landscape matter as they both remind us that life is precious and tenuous, yet dependent on everyday decisions.
References: 1. Collins, B. E. (2000). The Wreck of the Penguin. Wellington, New Zealand: Steele Roberts. 2. The Dominion Post. (2014, Saturday, April 19). A history of Wellington in interesting objects: Commemorative plague for SS Penguin. The Dominion Post. Retrieved from 3. Makarios, E. (2003). The Wahine disaster: a tragedy remembered: Wellington, N.Z.: Grantham House in association with the Wellington Museums Trust, c2003.

3. Memorialising Disasters: The many pathways to remembrance
Blake, D. 1, McManus, R.2, Johnston, D.3
1. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University, 2. School of Language, Social and Political Sciences University of Canterbury, 3. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University .
Memorialising disasters provides a way to commemorate tragedies when there has been a significant loss of life. These dedicated spaces enable us to mourn, honour, remember and re-story. It is necessary to consider how the actions of the time impact on the lessons we take from the event. This research represents two maritime disasters, and the way in which their legacy shapes the ongoing telling of our maritime and disaster histories.
Figure 1. SS Penguin Memorial, Tongue Point.
Figure 2. Wahine Memorial, Eastbourne.
On the 12th February 1909, Aotearoa/New Zealand’s worst 20th century maritime disaster occurred when the SS Penguin sank off the most southwestern point of the North Island. Taking passengers from Picton to Wellington, the ferry went down in a severe storm, and 75 lives were lost. The inquiry blamed the calamity on navigational errors and the captain’s disregard for weather warnings 1. While the wreckage has never been found, a memorial plaque is located at Tongue Point, close to where the ship was said to have sunk.
The Wellington City Council erected the plague in 2009, to acknowledge the one hundredth anniversary of the tragedy2.
On 10th April 1968, the Wahine sank in Wellington Harbour. In total 54 lives were lost. Sailing from Lyttelton to Wellington, 100 knots winds and large waves slammed the ship, until it hit a reef, lost its propeller and capsized. Passengers attempted to reach shores on opposite sides of the harbour. Errors of judgment in difficult and dangerous weather conditions contributed to the tragic outcome. The captain ignored weather warnings and decided to try to enter Wellington harbor disregarding the severity of the storm3.
There are three main Wahine memorial sites around Wellington, including the the ship’s mask erected in Eastbourne in 2010.
Figure 3. SS Penguin.
Figure 4. Wahine.
These disasters were made meaningful through the translation of news and information into stories and emblems of individual human survival and heroism in the face of nature’s wrath and broken technology. While human courage and survival when facing great danger were memorialised, other narratives such as poor judgement, technology blaming and infrastructural deficiencies were hidden and silenced. Memorialisation enables us to progress our practices of resilence because we gain insight into the limits of disaster planning. These memorials show that when we place technology as the cause and solution to disastrous events we avoid facing a harder question.
Why do we put unrealistic faith into equipment and technologies if we won’t heed warnings? Planning depends on people heeding warnings, but as these two shipwrecks attest, decisions were made that went against such warnings. These memories in the landscape matter as they both remind us that life is precious and tenuous, yet dependent on everyday decisions.
References: 1. Collins, B. E. (2000). The Wreck of the Penguin. Wellington, New Zealand: Steele Roberts. 2. The Dominion Post. (2014, Saturday, April 19). A history of Wellington in interesting objects: Commemorative plague for SS Penguin. The Dominion Post. Retrieved from 3. Makarios, E. (2003). The Wahine disaster: a tragedy remembered: Wellington, N.Z. : Grantham House in association with the Wellington Museums Trust, c2003.

4. Memorialising Disasters: The many pathways to remembrance
Blake, D. 1, McManus, R.2, Johnston, D.3
1. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University, 2. School of Language, Social and Political Sciences University of Canterbury, 3. Joint Centre for Disaster Research/School of Psychology Massey University .
Memorialising disasters provides a way to commemorate tragedies when there has been a significant loss of life. These dedicated spaces enable us to mourn, honour, remember and re-story. It is necessary to consider how the actions of the time impact on the lessons we take from the event. This research represents two maritime disasters, and the way in which their legacy shapes the ongoing telling of our maritime and disaster histories.
Figure 1. SS Penguin Memorial, Tongue Point.
Figure 2. Wahine Memorial, Eastbourne.
On the 12th February 1909, Aotearoa/New Zealand’s worst 20th century maritime disaster occurred when the SS Penguin sank off the most southwestern point of the North Island. Taking passengers from Picton to Wellington, the ferry went down in a severe storm, and 75 lives were lost. The inquiry blamed the calamity on navigational errors and the captain’s disregard for weather warnings 1. While the wreckage has never been found, a memorial plaque is located at Tongue Point, close to where the ship was said to have sunk.
The Wellington City Council erected the plague in 2009, to acknowledge the one hundredth anniversary of the tragedy2.
On 10th April 1968, the Wahine sank in Wellington Harbour. In total 54 lives were lost. Sailing from Lyttelton to Wellington, 100 knots winds and large waves slammed the ship, until it hit a reef, lost its propeller and capsized. Passengers attempted to reach shores on opposite sides of the harbour. Errors of judgment in difficult and dangerous weather conditions contributed to the tragic outcome. The captain ignored weather warnings and decided to try to enter Wellington harbor disregarding the severity of the storm3.
There are three main Wahine memorial sites around Wellington, including the the ship’s mask erected in Eastbourne in 2010.
Figure 3. SS Penguin.
Figure 4. Wahine.
These disasters were made meaningful through the translation of news and information into stories and emblems of individual human survival and heroism in the face of nature’s wrath and broken technology. While human courage and survival when facing great danger were memorialised, other narratives such as poor judgement, technology blaming and infrastructural deficiencies were hidden and silenced. Memorialisation enables us to progress our practices of resilence because we gain insight into the limits of disaster planning. These memorials show that when we place technology as the cause and solution to disastrous events we avoid facing a harder question.
Why do we put unrealistic faith into equipment and technologies if we won’t heed warnings? Planning depends on people heeding warnings, but as these two shipwrecks attest, decisions were made that went against such warnings. These memories in the landscape matter as they both remind us that life is precious and tenuous, yet dependent on everyday decisions.
References: 1. Collins, B. E. (2000). The Wreck of the Penguin. Wellington, New Zealand: Steele Roberts. 2. The Dominion Post. (2014, Saturday, April 19). A history of Wellington in interesting objects: Commemorative plague for SS Penguin. The Dominion Post. Retrieved from 3. Makarios, E. (2003). The Wahine disaster: a tragedy remembered: Wellington, N.Z. : Grantham House in association with the Wellington Museums Trust, c2003.