Two old shipwrecks lying in shallow water off the north Taranaki coast for the past 150 years have been registered as important historic places.
The paddle steamer Tasmanian Maid and the steam ship SS Alexandra, which both saw service during the New Zealand Wars, have been classified by the Historic Places Trust as rare examples of ships which took part in the aggression between Maori and the British government in the 1860s.
Tasmanian Maid was registered as a category 1 site and the SS Alexandra was registered as a category 2 site.
The ships transported soldiers and supplies up and down the coast and both came to grief within three years of each other. SS Alexandra hit a rock at Pukearuhe, north of New Plymouth in 1865. The Tasmanian Maid sank in 1868 after hitting the Kawaroa Reef, also near New Plymouth
The wreck of Tasmanian Maid, also known as HMS Sandfly, lies in about 10m of water.
The trust said during the ship's brief but eventful career, it operated first as a coastal steamer servicing the Nelson and Marlborough area, and later as a supply and dispatch vessel in the Taranaki campaign of the New Zealand Wars.
It was built in 1856 and later refitted as a gunboat and renamed HMS Sandfly.
It was wrecked after it had been returned to private ownership, and renamed Tasmanian Maid.
The trust said many ships which saw service during the New Zealand Wars went overseas after the war and their fate was not known.
The Tasmanian Maid was regularly visited by divers and had significant archaeological values, said the trust.
"The machinery is still largely intact and various components of the wreck such as the paddlewheels, rudder and hull plates are still easily identified. The remains comprise one of the last remnants of the New Zealand Wars fleet accessible to divers," said the trust on its website.
The wreck of the SS Alexandra lay in about 8m of water at Pukearuhe. The ship was only two years old when it sank.
During its brief life it had an important role in the New Zealand Wars, assisting with the transport of government troops and supplies during the Waikato, Tauranga, and later Taranaki campaigns, said the trust.
