Heritage building offers glimpse into Christchurch’s war past

STROLLING AROUND THE HEADLAND above Magazine Bay in Lyttelton recently, I remarked to my walking partner he should visit the museum down near the water’s edge.

The squat grey stone building just around the corner from the Naval Point Yacht Club is a former army powder magazine and holds what’s left of New Zealand’s only remaining spar torpedo boat. Four were made to guard New Zealand’s shores against the fear of a Russian invasion in 1885.

“Nonsense,” he snorted. “Invading Russians, torpedoes, don’t talk rubbish. Like that ever happened.”

It did in fact. In 1885 the Russian Empire stretched from Europe to the Pacific thanks to a stint of empire building that followed the end of the Crimean War in 1856. After some sabre rattling against the Turks and stealing back the Balkans, Russia loomed as a threat to the British, who were desperate to safeguard their Indian empire.

When Russia moved south into Afghanistan there was general panic that this was the first stop on a swoop south through to Australasia.

In a response, Britain declared that the colonies would have to defend their own ports so the New Zealand Government ordered the four torpedo boats.

These coal-fired boats first appeared in the American Civil War. They were designed to travel and seek out their target under darkness.

Each boat carried an explosive charge mounted at the end of a large pole projecting from its bow. Once in range the sailors would lower the torpedo and ram the opponent at full speed. It was highly dangerous for both attackers and victims alike – which probably explains why they never caught on in a big way.

The boats were built in London and arrived aboard the sailing ship Lyttelton. They were based at Auckland, Wellington, and Port Chalmers outside Dunedin.

Torpedo Boat No. 168, known as Defender, came to Lyttelton where it languished in an obscure shed and only made rare appearances in the water because it didn’t work very well.

I hear the story from Captain John Cleaver, a former seafarer who has lived in Lyttelton since 1956. It was under Captain Cleaver’s watchful eye that the search for the remains of Defender gathered momentum and that the magazine building was finally restored in 2002.

The boat had been decommissioned in 1909, towed to Purau and then pulled into the nearby sand dunes and broken in two. Time slowly swept sand over the steel and memories until, by 1958, no sign remained of it.

A 36-minute documentary that runs in the museum tells the story of how the boat was found in 1998, thanks to the efforts of David Bundy of Project Port Lyttelton, restored and then placed in the magazine.

There’s fascinating historical footage that shows the early days of Lyttelton and while the Defender looks a little moth-eaten, the boat, the movie and the knowledge of the volunteers who keep the museum open provide a fascinating glimpse into a little-known past. A past where the spectre of Russian invasion loomed large and 19^th century sailors jousted with explosive-laden lances.

So I’m sure someone owes me an apology. Yes, Benjamin you know who you are.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR – Kim Triegaardt

Kim Triegaardt is a journalist, corporate communications specialist and – as regularly as she can manage – travel writer. Kim’s professional career has taken her around the globe, but she calls the New Zealand city of Christchurch, in the South Island’s Canterbury Region, home. Kim is the founder of the corporate communications company Totally Write, which she continues to operate.

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