Rainbow Warrior

The Rainbow Warrior is a schooner operated by Greenpeace. It is named after the Greenpeace flagship of the same name that was sunk by the French secret service in Auckland harbour in 1985.

The three-masted vessel was built from the hull of the deep sea fishing ship Grampian Fame. Built in Yorkshire and launched in 1957 she was originally 44 metres long and powered by steam. She was extended to 55.2 m in 1966. Greenpeace gave the vessel new masts, gaff rigged[?], a new engine and a number of environmentally low-impact systems to handle waste, heating and hot water. She was officially launched in Hamburg on July 10, 1989, the anniversary of the sinking of he predecessor.

The first Rainbow Warrior, a craft of 40 metres and 418 tonnes, was originally the MAFF[?] trawler Sir William Hardy, launched in 1955. She was acquired for £40,000 and was renovated over four months, then re-launched on April 29, 1978 as the Rainbow Warrior. She was named after a Native American prophecy. The engines were replaced in 1981 and the ship was converted with a ketch rig[?] in 1985.

She was sunk just before midnight on July 10, 1985 by two explosive devices attached to the hull by operatives of French intelligence. Of the twelve people on board, one, Fernando Pereira, was drowned when he attempted to retrieve his equipment. She was refloated on August 21, 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 in Matauri Bay[?], Cavalli Islands[?] on December 2, 1987. Two of the six bombers were found, and although they were operating under orders, eventually imprisoned. The others escaped. Most remain in French government service. In 1987, under heavy international pressure, the French government paid $8.16 million compensation to Greenpeace.

External link

• http://www.greenpeace.org.au/rainbow_warrior/index.html