Gulf. Wellington successfully detained a number of vessels exporting dates from and attempting to import prohibited cargoes to Iraq. The frigate attended peace talks at Bougainville in July and August 1990. On 23 February 2017, it was announced by NZDF that the New Zealand Operations Service Medal (NZOSM) had been awarded to personnel who were in Bougainville for the Operation BIGTALK peace talks. Sinking HMNZS Wellington was deliberately sunk off the south coast of Wellington, New Zealand, in Houghton Bay, just east of Island Bay, Wellington. Although the ship was due to be sunk at 3pm on 12 November 2005, this was delayed for 24 hours due to weather. The next day, the sinking was delayed by another 30 minutes due to the entanglement of a detonation cable under the frigate. At 3:30pm on 13 November, the ship was scuttled and took a minute and 55 seconds to sink. During a storm in February 2006, the ship broke up and is now lying in two sections on the seabed close to where it was sunk at The depth of her keel is approximately , making the wreck accessible by scuba divers using standard equipment. See also Frigates of the Royal New Zealand Navy References External links Sunken Treasure - TVNZ video segment on the sinking (14:40) Sink F69! (Dive the Trail - Wellington, Waikato, Canterbury) Leander-class frigates of the Royal New Zealand Navy Shipwrecks of the Cook Strait Maritime incidents in 2005 Wellington Ships built on the River Tyne Ships built by Vickers Armstrong