After grabing some food in Port Chalmers and heading out to Aramoana, I found myseld stopping on this small tongue of reclaimed land extending into the bay (known as “the mole” or “the green”), in Deborah Bay.
There is a memorial plaque telling you that this little patch of land did once serve as a mooring for torpedo boats.
Wait Torpedo Boats??? Here in Dunedin.
There is some information pasted onto the nearby green electrical box, which expaims that following the 1880's Russian scare four torpedo boats were ordered in 1882 by the Goverment to be small fast vessels designed to counter the large and lumbering warships that we imagined would soon be invading our harbours. They were equipped with spar torpedoes – essentially a bomb on a long pole intended to be rammed into the hull of an enemy ship and detonated as the torpedo boat sped away.
For more information on the Russian Scare you can find it when searching for the disappearing gun on the peninsular.
Deborah Bay’s torpedo boat was the Taiaroa, and the other three were stationed at Lyttleton, Wellington and Auckland. The first skipper of the Deborah Bay Torpedo Boat Corps, as it was known, was John Densem, who had just been dismissed as captain of the Mountaineer in Lake Wakitipu after running it aground one dark night.
A crew of eight were stationed here, with a barracks above at the corner with Lewis St (previously known as The Tram due to the sawmill tram line which once ran down this way). The Torpedo Corps was disbanded in 1892, having never even glimpsed a Russian vessel, and the barracks still stands as a private residence, although the numerous store sheds have all been demolished save for one small remnant. Even the large one building which served as a church and community hall for many years was finally demolished in 1990.
Wish to attend New Zealand’s next large multi-day event? GCA7ZHD Geo Toroa will be held on NZ’s Labour Day long weekend 26-27th October 2024 right here in Dunedin. Details in the link below;
