Date with history: Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior

The bombing of the Greenpeace ship by French agents did nothing but kill one person and elevate the protest group’s profile, says former crew member Paul Brown

The World Today
2 minute READ

The last voyage of the first Rainbow Warrior began as the most ambitious project any environment group had undertaken but it was to end in tragedy. 

Two limpet mines fixed to the hull of the ship caused the first and only death of a Greenpeace member while on active duty. It was an act of state terrorism, astonishing both in its barbarity and its stupidity. It drew international attention to French nuclear testing in the Pacific and helped transform Greenpeace from a small, underfunded protest group into a global movement.

Subscribe to read all issues

Articles from the current issue are free to read by all, the archive is exclusive to magazine subscribers and our members. Subscribe or become a member to view articles from the archive.