RNZAF Skyhawks Sank A Tongan Freighter in 1978

[Dave Homewood]

From The Press, dated 16 June 1978:

Big air strike to sink gutted Tongan ship

The Royal Mew Zealand Air Force has been assigned the task of sinking the burnt-out Tongan freighter Kamphaan.

The practice “strike,” using Skyhawk fighter aircraft equipped with bombs and rockets, will be made tomorrow about 80km off Banks Peninsula. The decision to use the hulk of the Kemphaan for target practice was confirmed from Wellington last evening by the director of public relations for the Ministry of Defence (Lieutenant-Colonel D. W. S. Moloney). He said it was an ideal opportunity for the Ohakea-based R.N.Z.A.F. strike pilots to test their skills on a “live” target.

“We hope she will go down quickly and without too much fuss,” he said. The exercise would be a full-scale one, possibly using an R.N.Z.A.F. Orion to guide the Skyhawks to their target.

The Lyttelton Harbourmaster (Captain J. A. Barbour) said that the ship would be sunk 89km south-east of the Heads in 570 fathoms of water. It would take from 10 to 11 hours to tow the Kemphaan to her grave depending on.the weather. Plans were to have the vessel in the target area at daybreak tomorrow.

The Lyttelton Harbour Board's tug Canterbury would move at least five miles away before the Air Force moved in.

“A careful watch will be made to protect local environmental interests by ensuring that there will be no remaining residue in the sea,” said Captain Barbour.

The Receiver of Wrecks (Mr J. D. Wisker) said that he would watch the sinking. One final offer was being considered last evening “but it will have to be finalised before the tug takes the Kemphaan in tow. Otherwise, in everybody’s interests, the sinking will take place,” he said.

The R.N.Z.A.F. proposal had been one of many carefully examined during the week. Methods of disposal had been narrowed down by the deterioration of the cargo of 200 tonnes of mutton flaps. “Most of the meat cartons and other cargo are water-logged and will immediately sink,” said Mr Wisker. “The ship’s fuel oil is a light diesel rather than heavy crude and that will disperse very quickly because of the dispersion additives in that type of fuel.”

A spokesman for Friends of the Earth, Mr T. Goodhall, also said that the meat and the oil would dissipate quickly and would not be a problem.

The 500-tonne Kemphaan caught fire off Banks Peninsula about 5 a.m. last Sunday and three crewmen paddled a dinghy 20km to shore to raise the alarm.

The crippled ship was later towed to Lyttelton and beached at Purau Bay.

One seaman died in the fire and another died yesterday.

[Dave Homewood]

From The Press, 19 June 1978:

Kemphaan sent to ocean floor

Skyhawk jets sank the burnt-out freighter Kemphaan as planned on Saturday, with a low-altitude rocket strike, followed by a bombing run. Eight Skyhawks from No. 75 Squadron at Ohakea made the strike at 2.20 p.m., about 85km off Lyttelton Heads. Heavy cloud hung low over the wreck when the aircraft arrived after the 30-minute flight from their base.

An R.N.Z.A.F. Orion dropped a marker flare about 16km away, where the tug which had towed the crippled freighter out to sea was standing by, and then the strike began. About 40 rockets riddled the wreck as the aircraft flew in only 20m above the water.

According to the strike leader (Squadron Leader S. White), the first run was intended to cripple the ship, simulating a strafing run on an armed warship.

“All it was designed to do was put some holes in the side. A run like that is normally only designed to wreck the superstructure, and if it is a warship to take its radar,” he said.

Although the aircraft carried 93 rockets between them, only half were fired on the strafing run, after which the Skyhawks climbed rapidly to 3000 m.

Observers in the escorting aircraft reported that the freighter began to list after the initial strike. As the Skyhawks flew back over the Kemphaan they dropped 24 bombs; four were reported to have hit the vessel. One was seen to blow away much of the bow, and another smashed the superstructure at the stern.

At that stage, the badly damaged ship rolled over and sank by the stern. Squadron Leader White said that she went down “just like the old Titanic.”

“The bow stuck up in the air,” he said.

The Skyhawks did not make another run to inspect the position because of the low cloud, but the escorting aircraft remained in the area.

The tug Canterbury, which had remained on station 16km away, steamed back to where the Kemphaan had gone down to ensure that no debris remained.

According to the Lyttelton Harbourmaster (Captain J. A. Barbour), who was aboard, nothing of the air strike could be seen from the tug, apart from a few water-spouts. The Kemphaan must have gone down cleanly, he said, because no flotsam remained.

Civilian shipping and aircraft had been warned to stay clear of the area, and the Orion also maintained a watch for craft which might have strayed near.

News media' photographers and film crew were not permitted aboard the Orion, and the R.N.Z.A.F. subsequently reported that no film or photographs were available for technical reasons.

The Kemphaan had begun its final journey soon after midnight on Saturday— more than 14 hours before the air strike. Firemen had pumped out the water which held her to the mud of Purau Bay on Friday, and she floated free at high tide late that evening. Although the stricken ship had developed a slight list, towing began almost immediately. The waters where _ the Kemohaan had been beached nearly a week before were too shallow for the tug Canterbury, and the Kemphaan was towed out to meet her by the pilot boat Wairangi and a fishing boat.

The air strike was to be delayed by almost five hours, however, because a moderate swell slowed the towing, and led to the parting of the tow line. The line took about an hour to replace, and members of the Canterbury’s crew of nine were forced to reboard the unmanned Kemphaan.

The two vessels arrived at the chosen site, where the seabed drops sharply at the edge of the Continental Shelf, about 12.30 p.m.

Only six days before, the Kemphaan had sailed from Timaru on her way to Tonga. About 5 a.m. on Sunday she caught fire off Banks” Peninsula, and the crew ’was forced to abandon ship. Three of the crew paddled a dinghy 20km to shore to raise the alarm.

One seaman died in the fire, and another died subsequently of burns. The cripple 1 ship was later towed to Lyttelton and beached at Purau.

[davidd]

My big brother salvaged the (surviving) radar gear off this vessel after it was beached in Purau bay, apparently the only valuable equipment to survive the fierce fire which destroyed the aft part of the ship (including the bridge, all accommodation and the main parts of the radar equipment. The rotating scanner was mounted on a separate location further forward on the ship, thus surviving the heat which consumed everything else. Will have to ask my brother if he recalls the ultimate fate of the scanner some day (it was purchased off the insurer I believe and had only a day or so to carry out their salvage). The ship was on a list, so my brother had a scary time clambering up on the rigging to remove the item (apparently nobody else was keen on the idea!) Also looking forward to the official description of the sinking of this ship (which was carried out under very marginal conditions I believe).

Oh, I see the (above) article was posted whilst I was typing this message, thanks Dave!