SinkF69
June 27th, 2005 at 9:56 am by David FarrarI found out on Sunday that there is in fact a bar on board the former HMNZS Wellington, moored behind Te Papa.
In the helicopter bay, a lovely bar has been set up to help raise funds for SinkF69, the project to sink the frigate near Island Bay – which will make a good diving attraction.
Beer Man, Tory Girl, Angry Man and myself had a very pleasant time on the couches in the helicopter bay drinking Bennett’s Beer and staying warm in front of the heater. Not quite as warm as a toaster, but still very good.
It gets sunk in 104 days, so if you want to have a nice beer on board a frigate, get a move on!
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June 27th, 2005 at 10:22 am
My younger brother is helping to organise a rave on that thing before they sink it. Should be quite good. Got no details about it though.
Vote:June 27th, 2005 at 12:54 pm
A better way to raise money, sent it to the scrap mills in China, scrap metal is getting getting record prices right now, and could be worth $1 million which could be used for a worthwhile cause.
Vote:Like there are plenty of reefs close to the coast, the natural sort. No one in their right mind would dump used tanks in the forest to make homes for the birds and snails, but the ocean again is treated as a dumping ground.
June 27th, 2005 at 2:15 pm
Can they run a bar to raise funds for some new ships do you think?
Vote:June 27th, 2005 at 4:57 pm
The last time the Navy bought a ship under a National government it was the ill fated Charles Upham, which was such a disaster it was sent back to carrying Oranges around the Med. In fact that was the only ship the Nats bought, apart from two used frigates, in the last 25 years. ( what is the obsession with 2nd hand ?)
Vote:And the way they are talking about cutting back on spending doesnt look to good for the future, just like the $1 billion they cut from defence in the 90′s, will it be repeated ?
June 27th, 2005 at 5:16 pm
We took a look around the F69 at the weekend too. It was just sad. We came away thinking there has to be something better to do with the ship than using it as a tawdry beer tent and then sinking it. Ithink I’d rather see it dismantled for scrap; anything with a little dignity.
Vote:June 27th, 2005 at 5:20 pm
Sunken ships make great diving, adn will bring in far morne money than the small amount it woudl bring as scrap metal.
Vote:The HMNZS Tui and the HMNZS Waikato have brought thousands of divers, and millions of dollars to Northland.
G
June 27th, 2005 at 6:13 pm
DPF, the real question is, can you sink the Labour tub in 104 days? What a wonderful irony if the frigging frigate sinks on the same day as the frigging Gunmmint.
Vote:June 27th, 2005 at 8:00 pm
Diving on wrecks is great fun. Many ships that are sunk accidentally are at depths that are challenging for ordinary divers (Scapa Flow, for instance), or just way too deep for anybody. The maximum depth of F69 is going to be 25m, and the interesting bits are a lot shallower. Easy for even a beginning diver.
I toured the ship a few weeks ago. It looks really sad, and has been militarily ineffective for most of its service in the NZ Navy. But it will be a first class dive site, and I know what I’ll be doing next time I visit NZ.
Which hopefully will be in the summer.
Vote:June 27th, 2005 at 8:12 pm
Many ships that are sunk accidentally are at depths that are challenging for ordinary divers (Scapa Flow, for instance)
I’m under the impression that most of the ships sunk in Scapa Flow weren’t sunk accidentally…
Vote:June 28th, 2005 at 1:26 am
Ooops… I was looking for a word to mean “not sunk intentionally in order to form a dive site”. Er… tries to find wriggle room… Royal Oak, depth 32m? Vanguard, depth 33m? Both just outside the range an ordinary diver would want to go, since they’d need proper decompression stops.
Vote:June 28th, 2005 at 8:09 am
I’m of the impression that the Royal Oak is a war grave, and that most of the German ships scuttled there after WW1 were raised then scrapped.
Vote:June 28th, 2005 at 10:03 am
Gordon, I’m not sure how you think dismantling a ship for scrap is more dignifying than resting gently on the seabed creating a home for amazing sealife for many years to come. The Rainbow Warrior & the Waikato are fantastic dives. It’s good to have another wreck to dive that will be safe for all divers. As geoffm says, the wreck will create more revenue (dive charters & toursim) for the country & Wellington than selling for scrap will.
Vote:June 28th, 2005 at 11:15 am
I’m unsure about the Royal Oak’s status. War grave sounds sensible. But there must be enough of the German ships around to warrant the dive tours that are advertised.
I’ve not dived there. It’s too deep and cold for me. The Flow is a grim dark forbidding bit of water. The Orkneys are great tho… one of the best places I’ve ever been.
Vote:June 28th, 2005 at 12:28 pm
Its nonsense to say the wreck will create more money than scrap, Divers dive anyway, and the filling of airbottles is such a tiny industry, far exceeded by what is spent on nail polish alone.
Vote:Current ship scrap prices are US$190 t, say the hull of F69 is 1500t then the numbers give $285,000, in US dollars.
That is the cost lost , plus the costs of sinking add up to say $50,000, then the cost of sinking the tub to have 10 people per weekend “”amused”" is $500,000.
I bet the Symphony orchestra would love that sort of per person subsidy.
Ask World Vision what $500,000 would do ?
June 28th, 2005 at 1:01 pm
I served in “Wellington” 1987-1988. She was obsolete when the Nats bought her off the Brits in 1982, and still that way after an expensive four year refit in Auckland, but lovingly restored. A bit like an old Mark2 Jag that had been polished up and retuned. I don’t know what’s best for old ships – scrapping probably.
Vote:BTW, how many warships will the Nats buy us – will they can Project Protector before or after buying those obsolescent F16s?
June 28th, 2005 at 1:47 pm
Remember Micheal it was National that let the 3rd Anzac frigate option lapse, so the chances of getting anything extra from National is zilch. ( plus labour has actually let contracts an impossibility under national – but the brits do have more used ships for sale !!)
Vote:Any new money will be poured into the airforce, but I doubt it since they have evaded a direct promise to rebuild the fast jet force , and just said if the finances look right, if they dont look right now they never will !
June 28th, 2005 at 5:02 pm
$285,000 scrap value. Assume the cost of sinking the thing is about the same as the loss of scrap value caused by having to tow it half way around the world for scrapping. At $100 a time to dive, this means that you only need 2,850 divers over the lifetime of the vessel to break even. Less if some of those divers are tourists and spend another day and night in Wellington with associated accomodation, meal, and other entertainment costs.
In Darwin, we get 20-30 tourists a weekend out for a dive in soupy crocodile-infested water on some WW2 wrecks that are mostly gone now. (The superstructures were cut off years ago, leaving small sections of hull, coral, bullets, and other WW2 stores in place.)The dive companies take more out during the week. I’d expect the Wellington would be a much better site to dive on… I’m looking forward to it, for sure.
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