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Harrogate commander praised as 'hero' following New Zealand ship crash

Friday, 11 October 2024 at 11:51

Commander Yvonne Gray from Harrogate is in the New Zealand navy. (Image: NZ Defence Force)

A Harrogate woman in charge of a New Zealand navy vessel that sunk has been praised for saving the lives of her crew.

Commander Yvonne Gray was in charge of the HMNZS Manawanui - a £60million vessel - when it ran into a reef off the coast of Samoa last Saturday (5th October).

And Commander Gray has since been praised for saving lives after all 75 members of the crew were rescued.

They were rescued at 5:35am the morning after the incident before smoke began pouring from the ship and it started to lean.

Within 12 hours, the ship had sunk - the first ever loss of a ship by the New Zealand navy during peacetime.

But the decision-making of Commander Gray has been described as “life-saving.”

Rear-Admiral Garin Golding, chief of the Royal New Zealand Navy, said:

“She made the decision and it was the right decision.

"Evacuating a ship at night is an incredibly complex and dangerous task."

A former Harrogate resident, Commander Gray attended Bilton Grange Primary School and Granby High School.

She signed up the Royal Navy in 1993 before moving to New Zealand in 2012 after 19 years of service.

In a NZ Defence Force statement, she said her team “responded in exactly the way I needed them to”:

“They acted with commitment, with comradeship and, above all, with courage.”

New Zealand’s Defence Minister Judith Collins says a Court of Inquiry will establish how the Navy ship crashed into a reef.

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