Rainbow Warrior

Built in Aberdeen in 1955 as the research trawler Sir William Hardy, the ship became the Rainbow Warrior in 1978 and the flagship of Greenpeace's campaigns against whaling and nuclear testing. On 10 July 1985, as she prepared to lead a protest flotilla to the French test site at Moruroa, operatives of the French foreign intelligence service mined her hull at her Auckland berth. The second blast drowned photographer Fernando Pereira. The attack on a peaceful vessel in a friendly port became a defining scandal — two agents were convicted in New Zealand, and France eventually paid compensation — and it hardened, rather than broke, the country's nuclear-free stance. Too damaged to sail again, the ship was stripped and scuttled on 12 December 1987 off Matauri Bay near the Cavalli Islands in Northland, within a day's reach of the Poor Knights dive grounds. A stone memorial on the headland overlooks her. Below, jewel anemones have turned the hull into embers.

How she sank: Bombed and sunk by French intelligence agents in Auckland Harbour on 10 July 1985; refloated and scuttled as a memorial reef on 12 December 1987.

Condition: Nearly four decades down in temperate water: intact in outline, richly overgrown, with plating now thinning at the edges.

Penetration: Limited. Openings were cleared before scuttling and short pass-throughs are possible for trained divers, though the aging hull deserves growing caution. Entering any overhead environment requires specific training — a wreck certification at minimum, technical wreck training for full penetration.

Recommended certification: Advanced Open Water

Current: Mild · Visibility: 10–25 m

Marine life: Jewel anemones in carpets of pink and violet, schooling golden snapper under the bow, scorpionfish on the rails, crayfish in the recesses, and passing kingfish.

Hazards: Cool water, occasional swell and reduced visibility after storms, and fragile structure around the openings.

She is a memorial to Fernando Pereira and to a cause; dive her quietly and leave the hull unmarked.

A memorial reef — removal of anything would be vandalism twice over.