The cluster of rocks that is Barrett Reef (often known as ''Barrett's Reef'') is one of the most hazardous

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. It lies on the western side of the entrance of

Wellington Harbour Wellington Harbour ( ), officially called Wellington Harbour / Port Nicholson, is a large natural harbour on the southern tip of New Zealand's North Island. The harbour entrance is from Cook Strait. Central Wellington is located on parts of ...

, on the approaches to the city of

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, at coordinates . The reef is named after Richard (Dicky) Barrett (1807–1847), a whaler and trader. Its

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

name is ''Tangihanga-a-Kupe, (Mourning of Kupe)'', which may refer to the reef's similarity to a line of mourners at a tangi, the sad sound of the water around the reef, or Kupe crying for people he left behind in his travels. The reef is popular with recreational divers.

Dangerous entrance

The reef, much of which is exposed even at high tide, is located to the west of the two-kilometre-wide channel that links

Cook Strait Cook Strait () is a strait that separates the North Island, North and South Islands of New Zealand. The strait connects the Tasman Sea on the northwest with the South Pacific Ocean on the southeast. It is wide at its narrowest point,McLintock, ...

with Wellington Harbour, close to the shore of the

Miramar Peninsula Te Motu Kairangi / Miramar Peninsula is a large peninsula on the southeastern side of the city of Wellington, New Zealand. It is located at the entrance to Wellington Harbour, in Wellington's eastern suburbs. According to Māori legend, it was ...

. The shipping channel lies between the reef and Pencarrow to the east. The area to the west between the reef and Point Dorset on the Miramar Peninsula is known as Chaffers Passage, after the captain of the ''

Tory A Tory () is an individual who supports a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalist conservatism which upholds the established social order as it has evolved through the history of Great Britain. The To ...

'', a ship sent to New Zealand by the

New Zealand Company The New Zealand Company, chartered in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, United Kingdom, was a company that existed in the first half of the 19th century on a business model that was focused on the systematic colonisation of New Ze ...

in 1839. Due to the channelling effect of Cook Strait, which lies between the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

and the

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

, the currents are strong and fickle and gales are common. Add to this the volume of traffic which uses the shipping channel (including several crossings daily of the inter-island ferries to Picton), and it is not surprising that the reef has a lengthy roll-call of

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

History of vessels damaged, stranded, or wrecked on Barrett Reef

* 1848 ''Subraon'', barque, bound for Sydney on Barrett Reef. This vessel was carrying people away from Wellington on account of the Awatere valley, Marlborough earthquake (7.5) 16 Oct 1848; they were fleeing to Sydney. * 1850 Ship, '' Inconstant'' struck Barrett Reef. The vessel was afterwards purchased by John Plimmer and used as a store, called "Plimmer's Ark," where the Bank of New Zealand (now the ' Old Bank Arcade') was later built. * 1866 ''Tui'', iron steamer, wrecked, north end of Barrett Reef. * 1871 ''Lady Bird'', schooner (3-masted), 303 tons stranded on the south end of Barrett Reef. * 1874 ''Earl of South Esk'', wooden barque, 336 tons. Became a total loss * 1874 ''Cynthia'', schooner, 63 tons. Stranded; partial loss. Abreast of north end of Barrett Reef * 1876 ''Hunter'', schooner, 90 tons. Stranded; total loss. Southernmost rock of Barrett Reef * 1876 ''Shepherdess'', schooner, 38 tons, Stranded; partial loss * 1880 ''Malay'', barque, en route from Newcastle. When off Barrett reef the vessel struck a rock, got off and arrived at port making a little water. * 1882 ''Napier'', steamer, 48 tons Barrett Reef, 8 December 1882; got off. * 1883 ''Caberfeidh'', barque, 333 tons, struck outer rock of Barrett Reef. She received but little injury, only a few feet of her false keel having been carried away. *1885 ''Coronilla'', barque, had a narrow escape when she drifted on to the reef. Towed away by ''Tui''. * 1895 ''Wakatipu'', steamer, 1258 tons, and ''Flora'', 838 tons, collided heavily about 200 yards inside the outer rock of Barrett Reef while racing at top speed. The directors dismissed each master even though they both were credited with great skill and each had many years’ experience under his belt. * 1897 ''Clansman'', schooner, 157 tons stranded inside outer reef of on Barrett Reef, 6 October 1897; got off, repaired at Evans Bay Patent Slip. * 1912 ''Haupiri'', steamer, struck Barrett Reef in heavy rain, 17 May 1912; put back to

Evans Bay Evans Bay () is a large bay at the southern end of Wellington Harbour, New Zealand. Located between the Miramar Peninsula and Hataitai, it was the site of New Zealand's first patent slip and served as Wellington's international flying-boat t ...

and repaired. *1915 ''Corinna'', steamer, 812 tons. * 1927 ''Norma,'' fishing launch, struck Barrett Reef and sank. Retrieved from 60 feet of water by the floating crane Hikitia. * 1933 ''Golden Harvest'', steamer, 5644 tons, struck the rocks of Barrett reef and ran aground. Stuck fast for 24 hours, then unloaded onto lighters and retrieved by tugs Toia and Terawhiti to Jubilee Floating Dock in Wellington. * 1936 ''Rangatira'', inter-island ferry, 6,152 ton

* 1947 , liner, 9576 tons. Stranded; refloated and repaired. * 1968 , inter-island ferry, 8,948 tons, 53 lives lost. Wrecked; complete loss. Sources Evening Post, volume=XCIII, issue=48, 24 February 1917, Page 6 Wanganui Chronicle, issue=19883, 27 August 1913, Page 5 Evening Post, volume=CXV, issue=126, 31 May 1933, Page 10

References

{{Reflist Landforms of the Wellington Region Cook Strait Cook Strait Ferry Reefs of the Pacific Ocean Reefs of New Zealand Wellington Harbour

Dangerous entrance

History of vessels damaged, stranded, or wrecked on Barrett Reef

See also

References