In July, 1985 Greenpeace’s flagship, the Rainbow Warrior, docked in Auckland ahead of a journey to Morura protests against a planned French nuclear test in the region. On the 10th July, French secret service divers attached two limpet mines to the ship. 

The first mine was detonated at 11.38pm and blasted a car-sized hole in the side of the ship. The intention had been to cripple the ship so that it would be evacuated before the second mine was detonated. While the ship was initially evacuated, a number of crew members returned to the ship to investigate and film the damage.

At 11.45pm the second mine was detonated causing the rapid flooding and sinking of the vessel and the drowning of one of the crew, photographer Fernando Pereira.

The two agents pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to ten years in prison. They spent just over two years confined to a French Pacific island of Hao before being freed by the French government.

To add insult to injury, the French would go on to knock New Zealand out of the Rugby World Cup at the quarter finals stage in 1999 (their earliest ever exit from the tournament) and at the semi-final stage in 2007.

The Rainbow Warrior was re-floated but  was deemed irreparable and scuttled on the 12th  December, 1987 in Matauri Bay to serve as a dive wreck and fish sanctuary.

Today we headed up to to Matauri Bay in Northland and walked to the top of the hill to view the impressive memorial to the sinking. It is an impressive monument to this audacious action by the French government in another country sovereign territory.