Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

Sinking of Rainbow Warrior
Rainbow Warrior pictured in Scheveningen in 1979
Date10 July 1985 (1985-07-10)
Location
36°50′32″S 174°46′18″E / 36.84222°S 174.77167°E / -36.84222; 174.77167
Caused byRetaliation for protests by Greenpeace against French nuclear testing
GoalsTo sink Rainbow Warrior
MethodsBombing
Resulted inRainbow Warrior sunk, 1 person killed
Parties
Lead figures

Skipper Peter Willcox
First Mate Martini Gotje

Prime Minister David Lange

Units involved
Casualties and losses
None
1 death
None

The sinking of Rainbow Warrior, codenamed Opération Satanique,[1] was a state terrorism bombing operation by the "action" branch of the French foreign intelligence agency, the Directorate-General for External Security (DGSE), carried out on 10 July 1985. During the operation, two operatives sank the flagship of the Greenpeace fleet, Rainbow Warrior, at the Port of Auckland on her way to a protest against a planned French nuclear test in Moruroa. Fernando Pereira, a photographer, drowned on the sinking ship.

The sinking was a cause of embarrassment to France and President François Mitterrand. They initially denied responsibility, but two French agents were captured by New Zealand Police and charged with arson, conspiracy to commit arson, willful damage, and murder. It resulted in a scandal which led to the resignation of the French Defence Minister Charles Hernu, while the two agents pleaded guilty to manslaughter and were sentenced to ten years in prison. They spent a little over two years confined to the Polynesian island of Hao before being freed by the French government.[2]

France was also forced to apologise and had to pay reparations to New Zealand, Pereira's family and to Greenpeace.


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  1. ^ Bremner, Charles (11 July 2005). "Mitterrand ordered bombing of Rainbow Warrior, spy chief says". The Times. London. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 16 November 2006.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference UN was invoked but never defined (see the help page).