1932 Doris Disaster Memorial Fundraiser

He’s 91 and is hoping that a promised memorial for the dad he never met gets built before he dies, but it’s not looking likely.

Ray Cooper’s father Eddie was just 28 when he drowned in Napier’s inner harbour on the calm, dark evening of December 28, 1932.

He was one of 10 to die in the ‘’Doris Disaster’’, Hawke’s Bay's worst maritime disaster, which occurred when Napier was rebuilding following the devastating Hawke's Bay earthquake the previous year.

Twenty-six local children lost their dads that day.

Ray was aged three, the second oldest of four sons, when the accident occurred. He has no memory of his dad. He and his brothers shifted around with their mum Florence for a while before being placed in an orphanage.

He began working at 14, eventually becoming a bricklayer and plasterer. He married Ngaire and they raised four kids.

“Mum never talked about dad, ever, until the day she died. The kids at school would talk about what they’d done with their dads, but it was a non-event for us,” he said.

He met a man who had worked with his dad on the wharf once. He told Ray his dad was always whistling or singing. He was singing the night he died, the man told him.

The 10 men died when their launch, Doris, collided at 11.30pm with a lighter, Te Atu, at the entrance to the inner harbour.They were among 31 waterside workers who were returning from work.

The Doris went down. The men on board had been working in freezing chambers aboard a ship and were dressed in heavy clothing. Other vessels rushed to rescue them but only 21 survived.

Those who died were Walter Andrews, 39, Robert Aplin, 58, Alexander Boyd, 51, Eddie Cooper-Brown, 28, Harold Johnson, 40, Thomas Kitt, 39, Norman Low, 38, Jethro Metcalf, 48, John Wilson, 67, and James Woods, 60, lost their lives.

An investigation found that Doris’s skipper, Erik Mentzer, was directly responsible for attempting to cross the Tu Atu’s bow.

A memorial to the dead men sits near the Hawke's Bay Earthquake Memorial at Napier's Park Island Cemetery.

About four years ago the Napier City Council decided the disaster was not widely known or commemorated and that a memorial near the site was in order. After calling for artists’ proposals the council settled on a design by David Trubridge.

In mid-2017 the council said the memorial, a sculpture, would be erected at Perfume Point, near the site of the collision.

But coming up to four years on, there is still no memorial.

“It’s all a bit sad really. It might have been a while ago, but was a significant event and everyone seems to agree a memorial at the site was appropriate. I’d love to see it before I die,” he said.

His three kids, 13 grandkids and four great-grandkids would love to see it too, he said.

A council spokeswoman said the project had stalled because no community fundraising had occurred.

The estimated cost of the total project was $178,000 in 2018. Council had committed $30,000 and spent $18,150 on design and investigations.

“Due to the high cost of the project, options were investigated to reduce engineering and construction costs, however these would largely be influenced by total funds raised,” she said.