Shipwreck Tales NZ

The Edmund Fitzgerald

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:13:18 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime storyteller John McCrystal for the final instalment of their much-loved Shipwreck Tales series. Together, they revisit the haunting story of the Edmund Fitzgerald the vast Great Lakes ore carrier made famous by Gordon Lightfoot’s song. Exploring the ship’s scale, the brutal Lake Superior storm that overwhelmed her in 1975, the mystery surrounding her sudden loss, and the enduring fascination with one of North America’s most famous maritime tragedies.

The Grafton

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:15:20 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by shipwreck storyteller John McCrystal to explore one of New Zealand’s most remarkable survival stories: the wreck of the Grafton on the remote Auckland Islands. Together, they set the scene of a brutal Southern Ocean landscape, where bad charts, fierce westerlies and freezing conditions turned the islands into a notorious trap for ships. The conversation follows the five-man crew’s extraordinary 19-month ordeal, from building shelter and finding food to engineering their own escape and reflects on the endurance, ingenuity and character revealed when people are pushed to the edge of survival.

The Mikhail Lermontov

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:28:24 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the sinking of the Soviet cruise liner Mikhail Lermontov in the Marlborough Sounds in 1986. What begins as a scenic cruise through New Zealand waters becomes a story of misplaced confidence, maritime judgment, and unanswered questions, as an experienced local pilot guides a luxury liner dangerously close to shore. Hill and McCrystal unpack the decisions that led to the ship striking rocks near Cape Jackson, the difficult rescue that followed, the loss of a life, and the lingering mystery around why such a catastrophic choice was made.

The Kursk

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:58:41 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the devastating story of the Russian submarine Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea in August 2000 with all 118 crew lost. Together, they trace the chain of technical failure, Cold War-era secrecy and delayed rescue efforts that turned a naval exercise into one of the most haunting submarine disasters of the modern age.

The Rose Noelle

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:39:51 GMT

Podcast introduction: In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime writer John McCrystal to revisit the extraordinary 1989 survival story of the Rose Noelle. What begins as a routine voyage from Picton to Tonga becomes one of New Zealand’s most improbable maritime ordeals, as four men endure 119 days adrift in an overturned trimaran. Hill and McCrystal unpack the decisions, personalities, false hopes and astonishing luck behind a shipwreck tale that was so unlikely many people struggled to believe it was true.

The Sydney Cove

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:08:12 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal for a gripping Shipwreck Tales account of the Sydney Cove, one of Australia’s earliest recorded shipwrecks. What begins as a speculative trading voyage from Calcutta to the fledgling penal colony at Port Jackson becomes a brutal survival story: a leaking ship, a desperate beaching on Preservation Island, a failed rescue mission, and a 640 kilometre overland trek along a hostile and unfamiliar coastline. It is a tale of endurance, misjudgment, maritime superstition and cruel twists of fate, ending with rescue for some and tragedy for others.

The Empress of Ireland

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:48:27 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, Canada’s worst peacetime maritime disaster. Often overshadowed by the Titanic, the 1914 tragedy claimed 1,012 lives after a collision in fog on the St. Lawrence River. Hill and McCrystal unpack the events of that night, the conflicting accounts of the two captains, the desperate struggle for survival in freezing water, and the enduring mystery of why one of the deadliest shipwrecks of the modern era remains so little remembered.

The Mary Rose

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:26:08 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime storyteller John McCrystal for a vivid account of one of history’s most famous shipwrecks: the Mary Rose. Together, they explore how Henry VIII’s great Tudor warship was built, how it came to sink so suddenly during the Battle of the Solent in 1545, and why its rediscovery centuries later became one of the most remarkable achievements in marine archaeology. From the engineering ambition of the ship itself to the human stories preserved in its wreckage, the conversation brings the Mary Rose to life as both a military tragedy and an extraordinary time capsule of Tudor England.

The Karluk

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:31:39 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian John McCrystal to recount the extraordinary last voyage of the Karluk. What begins as a Canadian Arctic expedition to map the unknown northern reaches of North America becomes a grim survival story after the ship is trapped, carried across the ice, and eventually crushed near Siberia. Hill and McCrystal trace the expedition’s ambition, poor luck, human tensions, and acts of endurance as the survivors battle darkness, cold, starvation, scurvy, and isolation on Wrangel Island before rescue finally arrives.

The HMS Orpheus

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:23:36 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian and storyteller John McCrystal for a gripping account of the wreck of HMS Orpheus, New Zealand’s worst maritime disaster in local waters. The conversation traces the warship’s final voyage from Sydney to the treacherous Manukau Bar in February 1863, where outdated charts, missed signals and brutal surf combined to deadly effect. McCrystal brings the tragedy to life through the decisions made on board, the desperate attempts at rescue, and the extraordinary courage of the young crew as the ship broke apart in the breakers.

The HMS Birkenhead

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:19:23 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime writer John McCrystal to revisit the 1852 wreck of HMS Birkenhead, a British troop ship whose loss off the coast of South Africa became one of the most enduring stories in naval history. Together, they explore how a routine voyage turned catastrophic, how discipline and sacrifice gave rise to the phrase “women and children first”, and how the tragedy became mythologised as the “Birkenhead Drill” a symbol of courage in the face of almost certain death.

The Royal Charter

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:56:07 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to recount the tragic story of the Royal Charter, an Australian gold rush vessel wrecked within sight of safety off the coast of Anglesey in 1859. What begins as a tale of fortune-seekers returning home with gold becomes a gripping account of storm, survival, loss and legacy from the heroism of local villagers to the disaster’s lasting influence on modern weather forecasting.

The Princess Ashika

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:19:56 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime storyteller John McCrystal for a sobering account of the 2009 sinking of the Princess Ashika in Tongan waters. McCrystal traces the ferry’s troubled history, its deteriorating condition, and the chain of human failures that allowed an unseaworthy vessel to keep carrying passengers. More than a shipwreck story, this is a cautionary tale about ageing Pacific fleets, weak oversight, and the devastating cost when economic necessity, complacency and poor decisions override safety.

The Andrea Doria

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:46:47 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the dramatic 1956 sinking of the Italian luxury liner Andrea Doria after its collision with the Stockholm off the coast of Nantucket. Together, they unpack how two modern, radar-equipped ships could still meet in disaster, tracing the fog, flawed assumptions, human error and moments of panic that led to one of the most famous maritime collisions of the twentieth century. The conversation moves from the terrifying impact and extraordinary survivor stories to the large-scale rescue effort, the captain’s anguish, and the unresolved question of blame.

The story of Alexander Selkirk

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:43:14 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to uncover the remarkable true story of Alexander Selkirk, the Scottish privateer widely believed to have inspired Robinson Crusoe. Marooned on Juan Fernández Island off the coast of Chile in 1704, Selkirk survived four and a half years alone through grit, ingenuity and sheer endurance. From privateering on the Spanish Main to goat-skin clothing, feral cats, near capture by the Spanish and an extraordinary rescue, Hill and McCrystal bring to life a castaway tale that is stranger, harsher and more compelling than fiction.

The Laconia

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:38:33 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal for a powerful account of the sinking of the RMS Laconia in 1942. A wartime disaster that became one of the most morally complex episodes in the Battle of the Atlantic. What begins as the story of a British troopship torpedoed by a German U-boat quickly becomes something far more complicated. Thousands of survivors in the water, prisoners of war trapped below decks, acts of cruelty and courage, and a German submarine commander who attempts a rescue under the Red Cross, only to come under attack himself. Through survivor testimony and historical context, Hill and McCrystal explore how the Laconia incident reshaped the rules of submarine warfare, exposed the brutal ambiguities of war at sea, and left behind enduring questions about duty, compassion, and survival.

The Wilhelm Gustloff

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:32:27 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian John McCrystal for a gripping account of the sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff, the deadliest maritime disaster in history. Set against the brutal final months of the Second World War, the conversation traces the ship’s origins as a Nazi showcase vessel, its desperate transformation into a refugee transport, and the catastrophic torpedo attack that claimed thousands of lives in the freezing Baltic Sea. It is a sobering story of war, flight, human panic and of a tragedy still far less widely known than its scale deserves.

The Medusa

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:33:38 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime storyteller John McCrystal to revisit one of the most infamous disasters in French naval history: the wreck of the Medusa. What begins as a tale of poor command, political favouritism and navigational failure becomes a grim account of abandonment, survival and moral collapse on the makeshift raft that inspired one of history’s most powerful maritime paintings. Hill and McCrystal unpack the tragedy with a mix of historical detail, dark humour and clear-eyed reflection on how leadership failure at sea became a national scandal.

The USS Indianapolis

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 02:30:15 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian John McCrystal for a gripping account of the USS Indianapolis, one of the most harrowing naval disasters of the Second World War. After delivering components for the atomic bomb that would be dropped on Hiroshima, the ship was torpedoed in the Pacific, leaving hundreds of sailors stranded for days in open water. Hill and McCrystal trace the ship’s wartime role, the chaos of its sinking, the horror faced by survivors, and the long fight to clear Captain Charles McVeigh’s name.

The Betsey

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:22:11 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian John McCrystal for a gripping Shipwreck Tales account of the Betsey, a small sealing brig caught in the brutal realities of early 19th-century southern waters. What begins as a routine voyage from Sydney to Macquarie Island becomes a desperate fight for survival, as scurvy, starvation, broken equipment and relentless weather drive the crew towards the New Zealand coast.

The Ross Sea Party

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:13:32 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to explore the lesser-known, darker side of Ernest Shackleton’s Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition: the story of the Ross Sea Party. Tasked with laying vital supply depots for Shackleton’s planned crossing of Antarctica, the party endured poor preparation, brutal weather, isolation, scurvy, shipwreck and loss. What follows is a gripping account of duty, survival and sacrifice, not for glory, but to complete a mission that became tragically pointless.

The Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:24:38 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, John McCrystal revisits one of history’s most extraordinary survival stories: Ernest Shackleton and the loss of the Endurance. What began as an ambitious plan to cross Antarctica became a brutal test of leadership, endurance, and human will after the ship was trapped, crushed, and swallowed by the ice. From the dark Antarctic winter to the desperate open-boat voyage to South Georgia, this introduction sets up the remarkable story of how Shackleton fought to bring his men home alive.

The Essex

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:31:03 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, John McCrystal joins Graeme Hill to recount the extraordinary true story of the Essex: the Nantucket whaler rammed and sunk by a sperm whale in 1820, later inspiring Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick. What begins as a freak collision in the middle of the Pacific becomes a harrowing account of survival, starvation, impossible choices, and the long shadow the ordeal cast over those who made it home.

The Franklin Expedition

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:09:09 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime storyteller John McCrystal for a gripping account of the Franklin Expedition, the doomed 1845 voyage of HMS Erebus and HMS Terror in search of the Northwest Passage. Together they explore Sir John Franklin’s ill-fated Arctic mission, the mystery of why two heavily fortified ships were abandoned, and the disturbing clues left behind: graves, cairns, Inuit oral histories, forensic evidence, possible lead poisoning, starvation, scurvy and cannibalism. It is a haunting shipwreck tale without survivors, where modern science and historical testimony shed light on one of exploration history’s most enduring mysteries while leaving its central questions unresolved.

The story of the Open Bay sealers

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:48:18 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian John McCrystal for a gripping Shipwreck Tale from New Zealand’s wild South Westland coast. They recount the extraordinary ordeal of ten sealers abandoned on the tiny Open Bay Islands in 1810, left to survive for nearly four years after their ship, the Active, vanished without returning. What begins as a brutal but routine sealing expedition becomes a story of hunger, improvisation, failed escapes, fragile hope and remarkable endurance, and a mystery that still lingers over the fate of the missing vessel.

The Strathmore

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:29:52 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime writer John McCrystal for a gripping account of the wreck of the Strathmore, an iron clipper bound for Dunedin in 1875. McCrystal traces the ship’s fatal encounter with the Crozet Islands in the Southern Indian Ocean, the desperate struggle of passengers and crew to survive on a barren rock, and the extraordinary endurance that kept the remaining castaways alive for more than six months before rescue. It is a stark, human story of navigation, disaster, leadership, loss, and survival at the edge of the world.

The Mary Celeste

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:54:05 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime storyteller John McCrystal for a lively retelling of one of the sea’s most enduring mysteries: the disappearance of the crew of the Mary Celeste. Together, they separate legend from evidence, tracing how an abandoned but seaworthy ship found near the Azores in 1872 became a ghost-ship story layered with half-truths, newspaper embellishment, Conan Doyle inspired mythmaking, and increasingly wild theories. What remains is not just a puzzle about a missing captain, family, and crew, but a compelling look at how maritime disasters become folklore and how the plainest explanation can still be the most haunting.

The Mignonette

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:51:49 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the grim and morally complex story of the Mignonette, a small British yacht bound for Sydney in 1884. What begins as a delivery voyage becomes a desperate fight for survival when the vessel sinks in the South Atlantic, leaving four men adrift in a tiny dinghy with almost no food or water. McCrystal traces the ordeal from shipwreck to rescue, and then into the courtroom, where the survivors’ actions forced one of maritime law’s most enduring questions: can necessity ever justify taking an innocent life?

The USS Memphis

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:13:14 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian John McCrystal to unravel the strange fate of the USS Memphis, a once-powerful American naval cruiser wrecked off Santo Domingo in 1916. What begins as a story of an ageing warship, superstition, and naval routine becomes something far stranger: a calm Caribbean afternoon, an unexplained wall of water, and a desperate race to raise steam before the sea overtakes the ship. Hill and McCrystal bring the tale to life with sharp curiosity and vivid detail, exploring whether the disaster was caused by a tsunami, a hurricane-driven storm surge, or simply one of the most freakish waves ever recorded.

The Titanic

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:10:11 GMT

In this episode of Shipwrecked Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the most famous maritime disaster of them all: the sinking of the Titanic. Beyond the familiar story of an iceberg and a doomed maiden voyage, they explore the ambition, technology, class divisions and human decisions that shaped the tragedy. From the ship’s construction in Belfast and the confidence of Edwardian engineering, to the wireless messages, lifeboat failures and rescue efforts that followed. It is a story of hubris, heroism and lasting change in safety at sea.

The Wahine

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:53:47 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit one of New Zealand’s most haunting maritime disasters: the 1968 wreck of the Wahine. Through chilling archival audio, vivid eyewitness detail, and a clear account of the storm, the ship, and the rescue effort, the conversation traces how a routine overnight ferry crossing became a national tragedy, and why the images and memories of that day still sit so heavily in New Zealand’s collective memory.

The Batavia

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:27:31 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal for a gripping account of the wreck of the Batavia, the Dutch East India Company flagship that ran aground off Western Australia in 1629. What begins as a maritime disaster quickly descends into mutiny, violence and a brutal struggle for survival among the stranded passengers and crew. Walk through the ship’s doomed voyage, the leadership failures and conspiracies that preceded the wreck, and the terrifying events that unfolded before rescue finally arrived. It is a dark, extraordinary story of power, desperation, and human behavior pushed to its limits.

The Wairarapa

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 08:43:21 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the tragic 1894 wreck of the Wairarapa, a fast and popular Trans-Tasman steamer bound from Sydney to Auckland. What begins as a routine crossing becomes a disaster of fog, misplaced confidence and dangerous speed, ending on the cliffs of Great Barrier Island. Graeme and John unpack the ship’s final hours, the confusion on board, the desperate struggle for survival, and the extraordinary acts of courage that emerged from one of New Zealand’s most haunting maritime tragedies.

The Tararua

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:09:32 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the wreck of the Tararua, New Zealand’s worst civilian shipping disaster in its own waters. What begins as a routine coastal voyage in 1881 becomes a slow-motion tragedy off Waipapa Point, as passengers and crew find themselves stranded within sight and sound of shore, yet beyond reach of rescue. It is a gripping account of misjudgment, false hope, and the brutal power of the sea.

The Penguin

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:16:55 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by maritime historian John McCrystal to revisit the tragic wreck of the SS Penguin, the Cook Strait ferry that sank off Wellington’s south coast in 1909 with the loss of 75 lives. McCrystal sets the scene of a routine crossing turned fatal by wild weather, uncertain currents, and the limits of early navigation, before exploring the human stories of courage and loss that followed. The conversation also examines the enduring mystery of what the Penguin struck that night, including the compelling theory that it may have collided with the drifting remains of another lost vessel, the Rio Loge.

The General Grant

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:04:37 GMT

In this episode, Graeme Hill is joined by shipwreck storyteller John McCrystal to revisit the haunting story of the General Grant, one of the most famous wrecks of the Auckland Islands. The conversation follows the ship’s disastrous collision with the island’s cliffs and caves, the desperate evacuation, and the extraordinary ordeal of the few survivors who endured 18 months in the sub-Antarctic before rescue. It is a story of treasure, myth, endurance and loss but above all, a powerful human account of survival against impossible odds.

The Invercauld

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:35:48 GMT

In this episode of Shipwreck Tales, Graeme Hill is joined by John McCrystal to revisit the wreck of the Invercauld, a British ship lost on the bleak Auckland Islands in 1864. What begins as a navigation disaster in fog and wild weather becomes a stark survival story, marked by starvation, fractured leadership, grim choices, and the extraordinary resilience of seaman Robert Holding. Set against the eerie contrast of the better-known Grafton castaways elsewhere on the same island, the episode explores how leadership, morale, and human endurance can determine who survives when everything else is stripped away.