“At 10.45 am I was stepping out for the sick bay on to the tipper deck when suddenly there came a terrific jolt, followed by a dull roar and a series of rapid shakes. I thought at /first that we had been rammed but could see no ship near; after two or three seconds a second terrific vibration worst than the previous one shook the ship for fully half a minute, making it almost impossible to stand. The ship was pitching and rolling as if in a heavy sea and the hills in the distance appeared to befalling away in clouds of smoke, which in reality was not smoke but dust rising hundreds of feet in the air. The din was terrific, railway trucks were capsizing and bouncing tip and down, storehouses were rocking and collapsing tight and left and everywhere were dense clouds of dust. Great fissures appeared in the roadway and the jetty a few yards astern, was heeling over into the sea. The wires securing the ship still held, all water tight doors were immediately closed and we stood and watched the water in the basin in which we lay running out to sea like a mill race. It poured out so fast that within a few minutes the ship was aground; the bottom proved to be of soft mud, in which we sank on an even keel. What would happen next? Would the water return or were we permanently aground? Would it return in the form of a tidal wave and totally destroy the ship? It was a moment of great anxiety. To our relief it flowed steadily back sufficiently to refloat us, but the floor had been raised some feet”.
These are the impressions of LSBA W.G. Harris of HMS Veronica which was alongside at Napier on 3 February 1931 when a major earthquake struck. The ship immediately landed personnel to provide medical assistance and to take a major part in the relief work. The whole of the town centre had been destroyed, including facilities such as the hospital. Many of the buildings which had not collapsed were on fire; however the water mains were broken so the fire brigade could do little to extinguish the flames. All roads were closed by a combination of great fissures in the ground or collapsed bridges and all communications were severed.
The only communication with the outside world was the radio of Veronica. Signals were immediately sent to the Commodore Commanding the New Zealand Station, Rear Admiral G. Blake, at Auckland. Both of the New Zealand cruisers, HM ships Dunedin and Diomede were at Auckland about to depart, Dunedin to the United Kingdom for a refit and Diomede to Australia. Doctors, nurses and relief stores were embarked and within four hours of receipt of Veronica’s signal, were en route to Napier. Overnight preparations were made for landing, the bakers making bread, carpenters making splints and others doing refresher first aid instruction.
Veronica landed parties to assist shortly after the earthquake struck, including a medical party under the ship’s doctor, which set up a base near the Police Station. The first casualties arrived shortly after and were given whatever treatment they required. Later in the day the patients were transferred to a temporary hospital which had been established at the racecourse outside the town. Overnight Veronica accommodated about 200 refugees, mainly women and children. These were fed and made as comfortable as possible using all accommodation. None of the officers or ship’s company went to bed that night.
By 9.00 am the next day relief parties from all ships were ashore and armed marines patrolled the streets and guarded key installations. A communications station was established ashore, as were headquarters, both for the relief workers and the Royal Marines, who took over all Police duties. Food was the immediate priority for many of the local population and the emergency rations taken ashore by the sailors were soon given away. By 10.00 am the first truck marked “Navy Food” was on the road and food kitchens established, By afternoon there was food enough for all who wanted it. While this was taken in hand a hospital was set up at the race course and the men began clearing the streets of debris and demolishing dangerous buildings.
The dead and dying lay in the streets and many of the population were simply stunned by the magnitude of the disaster. One of the most heart rendering tasks undertaken by the Navy was the clearing of the hospital and the nurses home, both of which had collapsed burying patients and nurses. Many of the nurses who had been on the night shift were asleep when the earthquake struck and trapped in their beds.
“It needed more than will power to dig these out, the heat alone of the debris was enough to tax the strongest man’s endurance. The heat of the fires must have been terrific because the whole place had been absolutely gutted and after two days was still red hot in places”.
A large number of the 250 dead were buried in a common grave, the ceremony being conducted by Chaplain G.T. Robson NZNF of HMS Philomel
Most of the naval personnel returned on board each night in order that they could have a good nights rest in preparation for the next day. The exceptions were those such as the guards on key installations which included the Brewery.
After ten days a good basis for recovery was in place and the Navy handed over the relief work to others. Light had been restored, water mains repaired, bridges repaired and communication with the outside world fully established.
Not simply content with carrying out relief work the Navy men subscribed generously to the relief fund to the amount of £530. Many of the contributions were more than a day’s pay and averaged 10 shillings per man. There were many messages of thanks for the Navy’s part in the relief work, including the thanks of Parliament. The proprietors of the New Zealand Herald and the Auckland Weekly News presented the radio operators with silver cigarette lighters for the extra work they had done in transmitting press news and the Auckland Branch of the Navy League presented a silver cup to the New Zealand Squadron which was called The Veronica Cup. When Veronica paid off the ship’s bell and one of the ship’s name plates was presented to the city of Napier.
The Ships
HMS Veronica:
- Flower class sloop
- Dimensions: 80m x 10m x 3.6m
- Displacement: 1,200 tonnes
- Machinery:
- 1 shaft, reciprocating engine,
- 1800 shp = 16.5 knots
- Complement: 104
- Armament:
- 2 x 4” (102mm) guns
- 4 x 3-pdrs
- 2 x 2-pdrs
- On New Zealand Station 1920-1934
HMS Dunedin and Diomede
- D-Class cruisers
- Dimensions: 144m x 14.2m x 5m
- Displacement: 4,700 tonnes
- Machinery:
- 2 shaft geared turbine,
- 40,000 shp = 29knots
- Complement: 450
- Armament:
- 6 x 6” (152mm) guns
- (Diomede forward gun in turret)
- 3 x 4” (102mm) guns
- 4 x 3-pdrs
- 12 x 21” torpedo tubes
- New Zealand service: Dunedin 1924-1937, Diomede 1925-1935