# Tuaikaepau

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tuaikaepau
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Tuaikaepau.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuaikaepau
> Source revision: 1327263380
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

Tongan cutter wrecked in 1962

[23°55′19″S 179°05′34″W / 23.92194°S 179.09278°W / -23.92194; -179.09278](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?pagename=Tuaikaepau&params=23_55_19_S_179_05_34_W_)

Tuaikaepau History Name Ilex (1902–c.1942) Tu'uakitau (c.1942–1957) Tuaikaepau (1957–1962) Builder Logan Brothers Launched 1903 Fate Wrecked 1962 General characteristics Type Cutter Tonnage 20 tons Length 51 ft (16 m)

***Tuaikaepau*** was a twenty-ton [cutter](/source/Cutter_(ship)), 51 feet (16 m) length, [clipper](/source/Clipper) bow, keeler, designed by [Archibald Logan](/source/Archibald_Logan) and built by [Logan Brothers](/source/Logan_Brothers) of [Auckland](/source/Auckland), [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand) and launched in 1903.[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

In July 1962 the *Tuaikaepau* was under sail between [Tonga](/source/Tonga) and Auckland, carrying a crew and passengers totalling 17.[1][2]

On 7 July 1962[1] the *Tuaikaepau*, under the command of captain David Fifita,[3] hit the outer edge of the Southern [Minerva Reef](/source/Minerva_Reef).[4][2]

They all survived having spent the night clinging to the hull and at day break saw what would be their saviour: the hull of a Japanese fishing boat, Number 10, *Noshemi Maru*, K30, which had been wrecked in 1960, two years earlier. In the hull of the Japanese fishing boat they built a [still](/source/Still) from which they were able to make fresh water. They found a match and lit a fire to run the still. The fire was kept burning almost constantly with wood from the hull of the wreck in which they were living.[5]

By the end of August it was decided that the only hope of rescue was to build a small boat and sail to [Fiji](/source/Fiji), which they promptly did with tools found in the hull of the Japanese boat and from the wreck of *Tuaikaepau*. The makeshift outrigger canoe, with the captain and two others on board,[6] reached [Kadavu Island](/source/Kadavu_Island) with the news that there were 13 survivors shipwrecked on the reef,[7] although the captain's son, one of the two crewmembers, died just before arriving at Kadavu, drowning while swimming ashore.[8]

On Monday 16 October, an [RNZAF](/source/RNZAF) [Sunderland flying boat](/source/Sunderland_flying_boat) from Laucala Bay, Fiji, flown by Group Captain J.D. Robbins, dropped supplies to them.[9] The next day, Tuesday 16 October, the same Sunderland landed in the lagoon and rescued the ten survivors (of whom five were by now bedridden) and one body, departing Minerva at 3:30 p.m. and reaching Suva by dark. The Tongans were taken to Suva's Colonial War Memorial Hospital, but the only real health issues were dehydration and, for one, the onset of [tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis). They were then taken to Nuku'alofa, where they were welcomed and acclaimed by the population and Queen [Sālote Tupou III](/source/S%C4%81lote_Tupou_III).[10]

## Bibliography

- Ruhen, Olaf (1963). *Minerva Reef: Fourteen desperate weeks with the castaway Tongans*. Sydney, Australia: Minerva Bookshop Ltd.

- Feuiaki, Fine (1992). *Minerva reef = Hakau Minerva: the Tuaikaepau's tragic voyage*. Nuku'alofa, Tonga: Friendly Islands Bookshop.

- Titchener, Paul (1978). *Little Ships of New Zealand* (Hardback). Wellington: A.H & A.W. Reed. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-589-01068-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-589-01068-9).

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Theoria_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Theoria_1-1) [*Theoria to Theory*](https://books.google.com/books?id=sBcWAAAAMAAJ). Gordon and Breach Science Publishers. 1968.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Titchener1978_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Titchener1978_2-1) Paul Titchener (1978). [*Little Ships of New Zealand*](https://books.google.com/books?id=dBfwAAAAMAAJ). A. H. & A. W. Reed. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-589-01068-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-589-01068-3).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** [*The American Neptune*](https://books.google.com/books?id=mmnVAAAAMAAJ). Peabody Museum of Salem. 1964.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [*Pacific Islands Monthly*](https://books.google.com/books?id=71HjAAAAMAAJ). Pacific Publications. 1969.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Lolohea, Alice (8 June 2020). ["Tuaikaepau: Tonga's forgotten shipwreck"](https://tpplus.co.nz/community/tuaikaepau-tongas-forgotten-shipwreck/). *TP+*. Retrieved 9 December 2022.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [*From the U.S. Government Printing Office, Best Sellers*](https://books.google.com/books?id=0a7Qz9EylXcC). The Office. 1963.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Office1963_7-0)** Great Britain. Colonial Office (1963). [*Fiji Annual Report*](https://books.google.com/books?id=INIVAAAAIAAJ). H.M. Stationery Office.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Captain's Son Gave Life to Save Wrecked Tongans"](https://books.google.com/books?id=CzpVAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA8). *The Age*. Australian Associated Press. 18 October 1962. p. 15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Bentley1969_9-0)** Geoffrey Bentley (1969). [*RNZAF: a short history*](https://books.google.com/books?id=sZ-4AAAAIAAJ). Reed.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-:2_10-0)** Simmons, James C. (1998). [*Castaway in Paradise: The Incredible Adventures of True-Life Robinson Crusoes*](https://books.google.com/books?id=2XjQ2rNrgHUC&pg=PA183). Sheridan House, Inc. pp. 183–199. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-1-57409-066-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-57409-066-6). Retrieved 9 December 2022.

v t e Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1962 Shipwrecks 6 Jan: KRI Matjan Tutul 11 Jan: B-37 7 Feb: Chickasaw 9 Feb: OS-18 8 Mar: USS Howorth 16 Mar: Venezuela 27 Mar: Palmyra 5 May: Quest 23 May: Forager 15 Jun: Nyon 6 Jul: Tuaikaepau 7 Jul: USS Fullam July (unknown date}: USS Ira Jeffery 2 Sep: Kowloon Dock 7 Oct: Beater 29 Oct: Matelots Pillien et Peyrat 16 Nov: USS Aspro 18 Nov: RFA Green Ranger 23 Dec: Gernik 31 Dec: Gwendoline Steers Unknown date: USS Amesbury Other incidents 11 Jan: S-350 8 Mar: Hai Ou 21 Mar: HMS Rothesay, TCG Gür 28 Mar: Créole 3 Apr: Inchmay 9 Apr: USS Thomas A. Edison, USS Wadleigh 1961 1963

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Tuaikaepau](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuaikaepau) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuaikaepau?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.