- Rainbow Warrior (1978)
The "Rainbow Warrior" (sometimes unofficially "Rainbow Warrior I") was a former UK
Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) trawler later purchased by the environmental pressure groupGreenpeace . She was active in supporting a number of Greenpeace protest activities againstseal hunting ,whaling andnuclear weapons testing during the late 1970s and early 1980s. She was sunk whilst in harbour inNew Zealand by operatives of the French intelligence service (DGSE) on10 July 1985 , killing one of the activists.Early career
The "Rainbow Warrior" was built in 1955, in
Aberdeen ,Scotland as a trawler named "Sir William Hardy", and entered service with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. She served until 1977 when she was put up for sale by the Ministry. She was acquired by Greenpeace at a cost of £40,000 and underwent a four month refit. She was re-launched onApril 29 1978 as "Rainbow Warrior", the first ship to serve with Greenpeace. Further modifications followed, with the replacement of the engines in 1981 and the fitting of sails in aketch rig in 1985.With Greenpeace
In early 1985 "Rainbow Warrior" was in the Pacific campaigning against nuclear testing. At the beginning of the year she evacuated some Marshall Islanders who were living on an
atoll polluted by radioactivity from past American nuclear tests at thePacific Proving Grounds .She travelled to
New Zealand to lead a flotilla ofyacht s protesting against Frenchnuclear testing at theMururoa Atoll in theTuamotu Archipelago ofFrench Polynesia . During previous nuclear tests at Mururoa, protest ships had been boarded by Frenchcommando s after sailing into the shipping exclusion zone around the atoll. For the 1985 tests Greenpeace intended to monitor the impact of nuclear tests and place protesters on the island to illegally monitor the blasts. The French Government infiltrated theCanada -based organisation and discovered these plans.The Bombing
The "Rainbow Warrior", then captained by
Peter Willcox , was sabotaged and sunk just before midnight NZST (1pm BST, 8am EDT) onJuly 10 1985 by two explosive devices attached to the hull by operatives of the French intelligence service (DGSE). One of the twelve people on board, photographerFernando Pereira , returned to the ship after the first explosion to attempt to retrieve his equipment, and was killed when the ship was sunk by the second larger explosion.A murder enquiry began and a number of the French agents were tracked and arrested. The revelations of French involvement caused a political scandal and the French minister of defence
Charles Hernu resigned. The captured French agents were imprisoned, but later transferred to French custody and subsequently released. After facing international pressure France agreed to pay compensation to Greenpeace, and later admissions from the former head of the DGSE revealed that three teams had carried out the bombings. In addition to those successfully prosecuted, a two-man team had carried out the actual bombing but their identities have never been officially confirmed. [ [http://www.nzherald.co.nz/index.cfm?c_id=1&ObjectID=10333480 'Third team' in Rainbow Warrior plot - 02 Jul 2005 - NZ Herald: New Zealand National news ] ]The wreck of the "Rainbow Warrior" was refloated on
21 August 1985 and moved to a naval harbour for forensic examination. Although the hull had been recovered the damage was too extensive for economic repair and the vessel was scuttled inMatauri Bay in theCavalli Islands ,New Zealand on2 December 1987 , to serve as a dive wreck andfish sanctuary . The move was seen as a fitting end for the vessel. Indeed, the hull is now covered with a large colony of vari-coloured sea anemones. [ [http://www.geocities.com/shipwrecks_magazine/rainbow.htm Bombing of the Rainbow Warrior ] ] The masts were salvaged and now stand outside theDargaville Museum. A second ship, named "Rainbow Warrior" after the first vessel, was acquired in 1989."Rainbow Warrior" in the arts
Several fictionalized films have been made about the ship including "
The Rainbow Warrior Conspiracy " (1989), "The Rainbow Warrior" (1992), and two French films "Operation Rainbow Warrior " and "Le Rainbow Warrior " (both 2006). In addition, a number of musicians and bands have referenced the original "Rainbow Warrior" and the sinking, including the Belgian bandCobalt 60 , theNew Zealand bandThe Bats and the Argentinian metal bandRata Blanca .Geffen Records released a double album, "Greenpeace Rainbow Warriors", in 1989 and included songs from artists such asU2 ,INXS ,The Pretenders ,Talking Heads ,Peter Gabriel , andWhite Lion .Swedish band Europe also had made a demo called 'Rainbow Warrior' on their 'Le Baron Boys' release, though whether it refers to the ship or not is unknown. A number of books have also been written, including "Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior", produced the year after the sinking and written by shipboard authorDavid Robie . [ [http://www.southpacificbooks.co.nz/robie.asp South Pacific Books ] ]References
External links
* [http://www.greenpeace.org/international/about/ships/the-rainbow-warrior Official Greenpeace page on the Rainbow Warrior]
* [http://www.rainbow-warrior.org.nz New Zealand website on the Rainbow Warrior]
* [http://www.greenpeace.org.au/rainbow_warrior/index.html Australian Greenpeace website on the Rainbow Warrior]
* [http://www.greenpeace.org/international/rainbow-warrior-bombing/ 20th anniversary of the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior (on Greenpeace site)]
* [http://www.greenpeace.org/international/rainbow-warrior-bombing/rw-then-and-now Specifications of the Rainbow Warrior (on Greenpeace site)]
* [http://www.kauricoast.co.nz/Feature.cfm?WPID=70 "The Rainbow Warrior Affair"]
* [http://www.police.govt.nz/operation/wharf/ New Zealand police report on "Operation Wharf", the Rainbow Warrior homicide inquiry]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1529039,00.html "Felling of a Warrior"] ,15 July 2005, "The Guardian " - article on 20th anniversary of Rainbow Warrior bombing including updates on further developments in the case.
* [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/foi/story/0,9061,1554612,00.html "How Rainbow Warrior was played down"] ,23 August 2005, "The Guardian".
* [http://www.asiapac.org.fj/PJR/issues/back95/95rainbow.html "A photographer's date with a nuclear death"] , "Pacific Journalism Review ", 2(1), November, 1995 - A reflective article 10 years after the bombing.
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