The Poor Knights Islands are located off the town of Tutukaka; around three hours drive north of Auckland. This small town has a picturesque harbour and is surrounded by stunning coastal scenery, it also happens to be the location where two ex New Zealand Royal Navy ships, the HMNZS Tui and the HMNZS W
aikato have been
sunk for divers.The driving force behind getting these ships sunk as dive sites and artificial reefs was Jeroen Jongejans, the current President of the New Zealand Underwater Association and a director of Dive Tutukaka, the largest diving operation in New Zealand. Jeroen is very passionate about diving, the dive industry and the marine environment. He was deeply involved in the long battle to get the Poor Knights Islands fully protected as a marine ‘no-take’ sanctuary. While his involvement with the New Zealand Underwater Association sees him tackling a diverse range of issues affecting divers and the dive industry, including the continuing need to protect the marine environment. Meeting Jeroen before our dives on the wrecks gave us a chance to talk about his work and the ships.
The HMNZS Tui was built for the US Navy and launched in 1962. The 62m long hydrographic vessel was originally named the USS Charles H Davis and was also used for spying. In 1970 she was leased to the New Zealand Royal Navy and renamed the HMNZS Tui. After being decommissioned, she was gifted to Tutukaka Coast Promotions, a company formed by Jeroen, for one dollar by the US government. The HMNZS Tui was then cleaned and prepared for sinking, with several access holes cut into the ship, allowing safe penetration to all parts of the interior.
With great fanfare she was sunk on 20th February 1999. You can view the video of the sinking at Dive Tutukaka, as three cameras were on board the vessel as she went down, giving spectacular views of the ship filling with water. The HMNZS Tui now sits in 34m of water on her port side.
The HMNZS Waikato was built in 1966 in Belfast. A Leander Class frigate, she is 113.4m long with a 12.5m wide beam. After twenty-two years of active service she was decommissioned in 1998 and Tutukaka Coast Promotions won the tender for the ship, allowing them to sink the frigate as an artificial reef and dive site. The HMNZS Waikato was sent to the bottom on 25th November 2000 and now rests in 29m, with a slight list to her port side.
Dive Tutukaka operate five fast and comfortable dive boats to the Poor Knights and the wrecks each day. We met up at the shop at 8.30am for our day of diving the wrecks.
The morning dawned a lovely sunny March day, with light winds and only a small swell. Our first dive was to the HMNZS Tui, which lies north of Tutukaka. In no time at all we were tied up to the bow mooring line (mooring lines are attached to the bow, stern and mid ships) and receiving a pre-dive briefing about the ship.
Once in the water we found the visibility to be around 10m and the water temperature 19C. Heading down the mooring line we were impatience for our first view of the ship. Suddenly she appeared, the bow looming into view as the ship starting to take shape before us.
We slowly swam along the top of the ship (which is now the side) peering into the bridge area and then the hole where the funnel once stood. The funnel now lies beside the ship, and we could just see it in the distance. We continued along to the stern, photographing handrails, bollards and other points of interest. The stern section has started to collapse as the ship sits on a rocky reef and not on the sandy bottom where she was suppose to settle.
The wreck has created a haven for marine life, the hull encrusted with beautiful jewel anemones, bryozoans, sponges, hydroids and kelp. Our torches illuminated a number of bright pink Jason nudibranchs feeding on the hydroids. The fish life around the wreck is quite impressive, with reef fish like leatherjackets, wrasse, morwong, goatfish, scorpionfish, demoiselle, marblefish and cute little triple fins. One hatch was full of golden snapper, while larger snapper where swimming around the hull.
We swam back to the bow across the top of the ship (formally the side) peering into a number of access holes. We briefly entered one of these holes for a quickly look around inside, and could see the potential for many more fascinating forays into the ship if our bottom time wasn’t up.
Being so close to Tutukaka Harbour, we headed back to the dive shop between dives to get a coffee and warm up in the autumn sunshine. After changing tanks it was down the coast to dive the HMNZS Waikato. There are four mooring lines attached to this large ship, at the bow, stern, midship and at the helicopter hanger, where we were tied up.
Descending, the ship quickly appeared in the greenish water, with the highest point of the ship only 8m below the surface. We landed at the helicopter hanger, ducking under the hanger deck for a quick look around. We then swam past the funnel and bridge area, poking our heads in for a brief view.
Just forward of the bridge the bow has snapped off, a stress fracture formed at this point when the ship hit the bottom bow first. A storm later ripped the whole bow off, depositing this section 20m away from the main hull. This presents the diver with an unexpected bonus, as it allows you to view a complete cross section of the ship, exposing all three levels.
We swam over to the bow, which lies on its side, as our main point of interest was here, the gun turret with twin 115mm guns. These guns are an impressive sight, and make for very dramatic photos. We continued to the bow, passing several large bollards.
At 113m in length, the HMNZS Waikato is a huge ship and we found there was too much to see on just one dive. It is possible to penetrate the entire length of the hull, some 85m, with the numerous access holes allowing in light and providing plenty of exits.
Even though it has been down almost two years less than the HMNZS Tui, we found the invertebrate life and fish life even better on the HMNZS Waikato. The jewel anemones were stunning, with pink, white, purple, orange and yellow varieties covering handrails and other parts of the ship.
Reef fish are very abundant, and we also saw kingfish, snapper and a school of koheru. We even spotted a number of crayfish tucked up in the recesses of the wreck. Returning to the helicopter hanger we decided to explore here further, rather than continue to the stern.
Even with the limited visibility this was an impressive dive and we know we will have to return for more exploration of both ships.