Ten United States Navy personnel were drowned off the Paekākāriki coast near Wellington during a beach landing exercise. A landing craft from the USS American Legion was hit by a huge wave while being towed back out to sea. When the craft capsized, an officer and nine enlisted men died.
Wartime censorship meant that newspapers were not permitted to publicise the American presence in New Zealand. A full account of the incident was not published until one of the survivours, Frank Zalot Jr, submitted his account to the NZHistory website in 2011. Read the full account here.
A memorial to the men who were drowned was unveiled during a Memorial Day ceremony at Queen Elizabeth Park, just north of Paekākāriki, on 28 May 2012.
Image: the memorial at QEII Park.
See coverage of the unveiling of the memorial on TV3 and TV1 news:
Read more on NZHistory
United States Navy tragedy at Paekākāriki – US Forces in New ZealandUS Navy tragedy memorial – Wellington memorialsUS forces in New Zealand – US Forces in New ZealandNew Zealand disasters timeline – New Zealand disasters timelineFrank Zalot - a survivor's tale – New Zealand disasters timeline
External links
How to cite this page
'US Navy tragedy at Paekākāriki', URL: http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/page/us-navy-tragedy-paekakariki, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 25-Aug-2014
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