Lloyd Wareham Penwarden

Colleen Killeen lost her father and uncle in the sinking of the Ranui - one of Tauranga's worst disasters. Mrs Killeen's father, Ivan Penwarden, and uncle, Lloyd Penwarden, were among the 22 who died when their fishing charter, the Ranui, sunk at the entrance to Tauranga Harbour. "We were here on holiday. My dad worked for the Ministry of Works in Mangakino," Mrs Killeen said. "A friend of Dad's came around to see him and Mum said they'd gone out on a fishing trip and they were due back about six o'clock. They said they'd go down there and meet him and when they got there all hell had broken loose. It was one of Tauranga's worst disasters." Mrs Killeen, who was 11 at the time, recalled her grandmother breaking the news to her and her six siblings. "I think Mum was in too much of a shock to tell us. I remember my grandmother telling us," she said. "I remember her just saying that Dad wouldn't be coming home and Uncle Lloyd wouldn't be coming home either. It took a while to sink in. I remember going home; it was a bit funny." Almost 64 years on Mrs Killeen still often thinks about the tragedy. "Every 28th of December we go and put flowers on the rock that's around there. On the 60th anniversary we had invited people around there and we had a little service. I go around there often," she said. "It was just a freak accident, really." Source: The day 'all hell broke loose' by Amy Wiggins (New Zealand Herald, 17 Sep, 2014) https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=1132...

• Just after 5.40pm on 28 December 1950 a freak wave slammed into 45ft passenger launch Ranui when she was returning from a holiday excursion to Mayor Island off Tauranga in the Bay of Plenty. 23 people died.
• PENWARDEN Lloyd Wareham 30 Brother of Mr I Penwarden New Plymouth Mechanic