https://ianskipworth.com/photo/d7002011/Puriri_memorial/DSC_1102.jpg
The Gale which was a mile and a half or more ahead of us came back and lowered a boat and picked us up. One of the Cruisers (Achilles)was returning to base and she sent over a boat. They transferred most of our people onto her.
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 For updates on our On This Day series and news from Archives New Zealand, follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ArchivesNZ Material from Archives New Zealand Caption information from www.nzhistory.net.nz/page/nz-minesweeper-sunk-hauraki-gulf
Puriri was owned by the Anchor Shipping and Foundry Company. She was one of four ships requisitioned as a consequence of the German auxiliary cruiser Orion’s minefield and the loss of the liner Niagara, the others being Matai, Gale and Rata. Puriri was taken over on 20 November 1940 and handed to the dockyard for conversion.
On 27 November 1940, Puriri put to sea urgently to assist the cruiser HMNZS Achilles in the search for the raiders Orion and Komet, which had sunk the liner Rangitane. She returned to port three days later and resumed conversion.
She was commissioned on 19 April 1941, and assigned to the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla, which was assigned to sweep German mines in the Hauraki Gulf.
Fate
On 13 May 1941, the launch Rawea attached a buoy to a German mine that had been caught in a fishing net eight miles north-east of Bream Head.[2] Puriri and HMNZS Gale were sent to deactivate it, and arrived in the area the next day. Gale sailed past the mine without seeing it, but Puriri, also not seeing the mine, struck it at 11 am. The explosion caused the ship to immediately sink at 35°46′15″S 174°43′00″ECoordinates: 35°46′15″S 174°43′00″E and now lies at a depth of 98m.[3]
Of the 31 aboard, five (including the commanding officer Lt D. W. Blacklaws) were killed or drowned, and three seamen were injured, one seriously. Gale rescued the 26 survivors, 5 officers and 19 ratings.[4]
The cargo boat Breeze was requisitioned as a replacement for Puriri.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMNZS_Puriri_(T02)
