The Wreck of the Orpheus

A story about the wreck of the Orpheus from the perspective of me being Edward Wing, the signalman for the mouth of the Manakau Harbour

It was 1863. On a sunny day I saw a ship on the horizon. That's funny, I thought, I didn't think there was supposed to be a ship on February the 7th at this time of day. The boat came closer . I put up the 'turn left' flag signal. The boat didn't turn left. I could see the ship was called the HMS Orpheus. Finally the ship turned left. The ship was heading for the sandbar! I put up the 'stop' sign. It didn't. With drips of perspiration, I put the 'go back' sign up. TOO LATE!! The ship hit the sandbar with a crack! I saw people rowing in a rescue boat. It overturned with a big wave. It didn't look like the crew could swim! I couldn't look at the rest so I turned away. A few weeks later it was found that the captain of the Orpheus was using an out of date map and the sandbar was marked in a different place. Also found was the captain, lots of dead soldiers, and a made bed, all washed up on the beach. Sadly, only 52 bodies got buried. I felt very sad - but I guess that's all over now.

For more about the Orpheus click here.