Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
This is—or rather, was—the HMNZS Manawanui, the NZ$147 million dive and hydrographic vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. It was captained by Commander Yvonne Gray, a British-born, trained school teacher who served in the British Navy before moving to New Zealand with her wife in 2012. By 2022, she was in command of the ill-fated Manawanui.
Less than two years later, in Samoa in October 2024, the ship ran aground on a known reef. Under her command, the crew allegedly failed to notice the autopilot was still on—it somehow slipped everyone’s mind, including the captain’s. It is further alleged that she was absent from the bridge despite being within a single nautical mile of a known navigational hazard. Due to the grounding, the ship caught fire and sank. It now sits at the bottom of the ocean, a permanent reminder of New Zealand naval incompetence.
It is the first New Zealand naval vessel to be unintentionally sunk since World War II, and the first ever to be lost in peacetime. As there were only nine ships in the fleet at the time, the country lost more than a tenth of its naval strength in a single day—without a single missile or torpedo being fired.
As compensation for the massive environmental impact of the sinking—which leaked hundreds of thousands of litres of diesel into Samoan waters—the country’s public broadcaster, RNZ, reported: “New Zealand pays Samoa $6M over grounding of HMNZS Manawanui.”
But don’t worry; during the disaster, the good Commander bravely gave the order to abandon ship. Soon after the debacle, New Zealand’s first female Defence Minister, Judith Collins, praised Gray’s leadership, saying: “Nobody lost their lives. That is actually something of a triumph, frankly, given the very, very difficult circumstances.”
Your Ex, a prominent New Zealand LGBT media outlet, even declared: “Sexism and Homophobia Can’t Diminish Commander Gray’s Heroic Actions.” Yes, she’s a hero—a hero that should be memorialised in New Zealand naval history.
Except our hero has recently been court-martialled. The New Zealand Herald announced: “Commander Yvonne Gray and two other Navy officers charged over sinking of Manawanui.” They note that Commander Yvonne Gray, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Gajzago, and an unnamed third officer will face court martial.
It is alleged that Commander Gray negligently permitted the ship to be lost, by being absent from the bridge while within a nautical mile of a known reef.
According to this article by Stuff: “Human error was ruled as the cause of the ship’s grounding, and eventual loss due to ‘catastrophic fires,’ capsizing, and sinking. The court also found there was no one on board who was qualified enough to carry out the hydrographic surveying that the ship was tasked with doing.” So basically, the NZ$147 million vessel was just an expensive cruise ship sailing around the ocean without anyone on board who could actually do anything. Well, they successfully sank the ship—I suppose that counts as “doing something.”
But it’s not all bad news. Hundreds of millions of dollars of New Zealand taxpayer money may be underwater, but the Samoan fish seem to be happy. Pacific Media Network desperately looked on the bright side, reporting: “Manawanui: Marine life thrives as sunken navy ship becomes new artificial reef.”
So there you go. The good captain has done the world’s marine life a favour by destroying an ugly natural reef and replacing it with a $147 million taxpayer-funded fish playground. New Zealand shouldn’t be court-martialling her; they should be nominating her for an environmental award—after all, it’s not every day you donate a tenth of your navy to the local sea turtles.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
This is—or rather, was—the HMNZS Manawanui, the NZ$147 million dive and hydrographic vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. It was captained by Commander Yvonne Gray, a British-born, trained school teacher who served in the British Navy before moving to New Zealand with her wife in 2012. By 2022, she was in command of the ill-fated Manawanui.
Less than two years later, in Samoa in October 2024, the ship ran aground on a known reef. Under her command, the crew allegedly failed to notice the autopilot was still on—it somehow slipped everyone’s mind, including the captain’s. It is further alleged that she was absent from the bridge despite being within a single nautical mile of a known navigational hazard. Due to the grounding, the ship caught fire and sank. It now sits at the bottom of the ocean, a permanent reminder of New Zealand naval incompetence.
It is the first New Zealand naval vessel to be unintentionally sunk since World War II, and the first ever to be lost in peacetime. As there were only nine ships in the fleet at the time, the country lost more than a tenth of its naval strength in a single day—without a single missile or torpedo being fired.
As compensation for the massive environmental impact of the sinking—which leaked hundreds of thousands of litres of diesel into Samoan waters—the country’s public broadcaster, RNZ, reported: “New Zealand pays Samoa $6M over grounding of HMNZS Manawanui.”
But don’t worry; during the disaster, the good Commander bravely gave the order to abandon ship. Soon after the debacle, New Zealand’s first female Defence Minister, Judith Collins, praised Gray’s leadership, saying: “Nobody lost their lives. That is actually something of a triumph, frankly, given the very, very difficult circumstances.”
Your Ex, a prominent New Zealand LGBT media outlet, even declared: “Sexism and Homophobia Can’t Diminish Commander Gray’s Heroic Actions.” Yes, she’s a hero—a hero that should be memorialised in New Zealand naval history.
Except our hero has recently been court-martialled. The New Zealand Herald announced: “Commander Yvonne Gray and two other Navy officers charged over sinking of Manawanui.” They note that Commander Yvonne Gray, Lieutenant Commander Matthew Gajzago, and an unnamed third officer will face court martial.
It is alleged that Commander Gray negligently permitted the ship to be lost, by being absent from the bridge while within a nautical mile of a known reef.
According to this article by Stuff: “Human error was ruled as the cause of the ship’s grounding, and eventual loss due to ‘catastrophic fires,’ capsizing, and sinking. The court also found there was no one on board who was qualified enough to carry out the hydrographic surveying that the ship was tasked with doing.” So basically, the NZ$147 million vessel was just an expensive cruise ship sailing around the ocean without anyone on board who could actually do anything. Well, they successfully sank the ship—I suppose that counts as “doing something.”
But it’s not all bad news. Hundreds of millions of dollars of New Zealand taxpayer money may be underwater, but the Samoan fish seem to be happy. Pacific Media Network desperately looked on the bright side, reporting: “Manawanui: Marine life thrives as sunken navy ship becomes new artificial reef.”
So there you go. The good captain has done the world’s marine life a favour by destroying an ugly natural reef and replacing it with a $147 million taxpayer-funded fish playground. New Zealand shouldn’t be court-martialling her; they should be nominating her for an environmental award—after all, it’s not every day you donate a tenth of your navy to the local sea turtles.
MUSIC
Allégro by Emmit Fenn
