HMS 'Puriri', minesweeper sunk in 1941 (17120216187)

On 14 May 1941, the HMS Puriri – a minesweeper working along the coast of New Zealand – struck a mine off Bream Head in the northern approaches to the Hauraki Gulf. As nzhistory.net.nz notes, Puriri was rocked by a violent explosion, and sank so quickly that no lifeboats could be launched. The ship’s commanding officer, two stewards, a stoker and an able seaman – all of them former merchant seamen serving as naval reservists or under temporary (T 124) naval articles – were drowned, and five others were injured. The 26 survivors were rescued from the water by the Gale, another minesweeper.

The mine it struck was a German contact mine, part of a 228-mine barrage laid on 13–14 June 1940 by the raider Orion. These mines had claimed their first victim, the trans-Pacific liner Niagara, on 19 June that year, fortunately without loss of life.

This newspaper clipping of Puriri comes from a Navy Department file on the sinking, and includes telegrams to the families of those killed.

Archives Reference: N1 Box 143/ 6/26/1 archway.archives.govt.nz/ViewFullItem.do?code=21464349

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