WhaleBoat Lake Waikaremoana
Whale boat Waikaremoana..During 1869, the Armed Constabulary under the Command of Colonel Whitmore sent a force commanded by Lieutenant Herrick to Lake Waikaremoana in an attempt to quash rebellion by a Maori tribe called the Hauhau led by a chief called Te Kooti. On one side of the lake were the Hauhau occupying two Pa sites and on the other was Herrick and his men. Herrick decided it would be too difficult to attack the Pa from around the lake and began the construction of two whale-boats with which he hoped to conduct a water assault. The whale-boats took about six weeks to to be made and were 12 m long with a beam of 3 m.
Herrick was about to begin his assault, but on the 19th of June he received a message from Whitmore stating that Te Kooti had fled to Taupo. His job was to destroy the Pa sites and prevent reoccupation by Te Kooti and the Hauhau. Before this was achieved, the Stafford Government was defeated. Sir Donald McLean the new Defence Minister with a policy of pacification, ordered Herrick to withdraw on 27 June. The whale-boats were taken out onto the lake filled with rocks and sank to prevent the whale-boats from falling into the hands of the Maori. A survey was conducted in 1981 by Major Tony Howell, and a report (Howell and Fry, 1981) was submitted to the Historic Places Trust stating that one of the whale-boats had been almost completely removed by divers over the years and that the second boat was in poor condition. These images are of the second boat.
Read MoreHerrick was about to begin his assault, but on the 19th of June he received a message from Whitmore stating that Te Kooti had fled to Taupo. His job was to destroy the Pa sites and prevent reoccupation by Te Kooti and the Hauhau. Before this was achieved, the Stafford Government was defeated. Sir Donald McLean the new Defence Minister with a policy of pacification, ordered Herrick to withdraw on 27 June. The whale-boats were taken out onto the lake filled with rocks and sank to prevent the whale-boats from falling into the hands of the Maori. A survey was conducted in 1981 by Major Tony Howell, and a report (Howell and Fry, 1981) was submitted to the Historic Places Trust stating that one of the whale-boats had been almost completely removed by divers over the years and that the second boat was in poor condition. These images are of the second boat.
