April 10 1968, is the date of New Zealand's worst ever maritime disaster, when the ferry the "Wahine", sank just off Wellington Harbour.

On Tuesday it was the 50th anniversary of this disaster.

Read Room 3's stories about this piece of NZ history!

The Wahine. A Newspaper Report by James Chen

"Breaking news! The year is 1968 and the Wahine ferry is sinking"
The boat trembled and crashed through the waves in the storm.
51 people died on the day. A few more people died later.
Many people survived, we don't know how people could survive the terrible storm.

Wahine Disaster. A Personal Narrative by Yasmin Anderson

"Attention! Attention! This is your Captain speaking. Passengers, we are going to sink!
Patrick, get the life jackets. Max, help the people get to shore.
I will get the luggage with Steve."
"Captain, the boat is nearly sinking. What do we do?"
"Give everyone a life jacket, and swim to land!" I said.
"Oh no! The Wahine is about to sink!"
Splash! I jumped into the crashing waves. I knew I needed to swim to shore.
Will I make it?

Wahine Disaster. A Recount by Dante Havenga.

In 1968, NZ's worst disaster happened. The ferry sank. It was called the Wahine.
53 people died. Some people jumped off the boat and swam to shore.
There was a terrible storm.

Wahine Disaster. A Personal Narrative by Langiotoutai Limuloa

Whoosh!!! Boom!!! Boom!! Boom!!!
Screams and shouting everywhere.
I am on the Wahine.
 "Help! My baby won't follow me! Go to the lifeboats! Come on! Hurry up! The boat is sinking!
Everybody jump!
"Splash!

The Wahine Disaster. A Personal Narrative by Tyler Redmond.

I was brutally injured when the ship sank.
It was on the 10th of April, 1968, and the Wahine sank for an unknown reason.
This is what happened. I was in the jacuzzi with my mum when an alarm sounded. It was telling us the ship was sinking.
I immediately changed into my clothes and pulled on my goggles.
Mum did the same. We got out of our cabin. Just at that moment, oil started spilling out.
We jumped into the waves and swam to shore. Mum unfortunately had to be carried out of the waves. I was able to crawl onto the sand. We were safe!