The Calliope Dock accident

The liner Mamari was getting a cleaning. The huge ship had arrived from Australia to load wool before going to London.
But before that she was due to have her hull cleaned and painted and was brought into the Calliope Dock at Devonport in Auckland.
The dock was 33m wide and 170m long, and could take good sized ships. Ships sailed in, the big doors were closed and the seawater drained out.
On November 27, 1906, William Henry Smith was scrubbing (by hand) the hull of the Mamari.
Below him, the water was being pumped out and was down to only a couple of metres.
At the bottom of the dock were chocks made of timber on which the Mamari would rest.
She was just about ready to settle into these. All along the ship, workers were getting stuck in, about 50 men in all, some working from boat decks at water level.
On her deck was Captain Moffatt watching.
The sudden loud noise startled them all. And the water began to rise furiously.
Smith found himself caught in the midst of a whirlpool with huge logs in it. One caught him in the right leg, smashing it and he sank.
All along the ship, men were being swept into the dangerous water, filled with logs and far too close to the huge ship. Some were being pummeled up against the sides.
From around the dock other men came running, reaching out to pull men out of the water.
Some of the chocks that the Mamari was supposed to settle into had shifted, causing the ship to lurch forward and churn up the water.
Smith was rescued - dragged from the now foamy water with a broken leg but as he was he was hit in the head by another piece of timber.
He managed to drag himself out of the water onto dry land.
Orders were quickly given to refill the dock to allow the listing ship to float.
And a roll call of the men began.
Thirty men had been badly injured, two could not be found even when divers went into the unsettled water to look for them.
The ferry steamer Osprey was requisitioned as a hospital ship and medical staff came to help.
The Mamari was put out to sea and anchored in the harbour to allow the dock to be searched.
It took hours to then drain the water again and find the missing men.
An inquiry said the Mamari was too big for the dock and the Auckland harbour board was criticised.
Three men had died, William Craig May, Rupert Clark and John (sometimes James) Mayall.
May and Mayall are buried at Waikumete Cemetery. Clark is buried at O’Neill’s Point Cemetery.​