W G Harris noted the water running out to sea, and the gangway bumping violently against the wharf before it went over the ship's side.
Napier harbourmaster H White-Parsons was about to leave the ship with the commander of the Veronica, H L Morgan, when the jolt occurred.
On deck, they observed the effect of the quake on Scinde Island (Napier Hill) with wooden houses shaking and chimneys toppling in clouds of dust.
The railway lines on the wharf were curving in the air, sometimes with the sleepers still attached.
Commander Morgan's immediate attention was on securing his ship, which he did.
Hemp hawsers (ropes) replaced the wire stern lines, both anchors were dropped and some tanks flooded to prevent the ship listing.
The Veronica first reported the disaster by Morse code at 10.54am to Commodore Geoffrey Blake via the HMS Philomel at the naval base in Auckland.
The ship's radio valves were wrecked, so Morse code was used until the receiver could be repaired (which appears to have been fixed later that day).
Nearby was the merchant ship Northumberland, outside the harbour in the roadstead, which gave the first general alarm at 11.20am to all stations via their ship's radio.
The crew of the Veronica had been ordered to give assistance by Commodore Blake to the town's CBD on the other side of Napier Hill.
A food store was established at the Hastings Street School, and the men commandeered lorries and went looking for food supplies.
The men assisted with law and order, firefighting, rescues, taking patients to the temporary hospital, cooking more than 2000 meals, and body recoveries. Demolition of dangerous buildings by the sailors started on February 5.
The sailors later reported their job was made difficult due to a lack of co-operation by the local authorities "who are wholly disorganised".
Some of the "locals" the members of the first rescue party from the Veronica came across were also apathetic and the men reported "some were taking photographs of their own houses burning; some were just looking on and doing nothing".
This surprised the sailors, but for the greater part of the townspeople "they had the greatest admiration".
"Deeds of heroism were performed unnoticed every hour, while the camaraderie was wonderful."
When the Veronica messaged urgent medical assistance was required, after seeing the Napier CBD in ruins, Commodore Blake cancelled a naval exercise with the Royal Australian Navy and prepared to send two cruisers, the HMS Diomede and HMS Dunedin, to Napier.
Some refugees were accommodated aboard the sloop on the night of February 3.
Many cats and dogs also jumped aboard the ship, which became somewhat of animal shelter – hundreds of abandoned canaries were also rescued from homes of people who had left the area and were taken to Auckland.
The Veronica left its mooring at Port Ahuriri on February 10.
It was assisted by the Richardson line steamer Koau, with part of the sloop scraping the seabed mud on its departure due to the raised ocean floor.
The crew of the Veronica had all donated a day's pay towards the Earthquake Relief Fund and given away their overcoats to quake refugees.
Napier was indebted to the actions of the Royal Navy, and especially the men of the Veronica.
The sloop was remembered by Napier in many ways in years to come, and the first was the naming of a baby which had been born on January 22.
Mother and baby were still in a maternity home at the time of the quake.
After it struck, they were evacuated to a tent.
The baby was the fourth girl in the family, and her father, Jack Harris, was desperate to find a name for her.
The Veronica's captain, H L Morgan, suggested that they name the baby after the Veronica – so they did.
The family was given a tally – which is a ribbon of the ship's name worn around a crew member's hat.
Veronica Harris would marry Derek Brenner, who on his wife's passing in 2005 gave the tally to the navy.
When the Marine Parade gardens were being planted in 1932, the Napier Borough Council's superintendent of reserves, Charles Corner, sourced plants that were appropriately named Veronica.
In 1961, Veronica Ave in Marewa was named in recognition of the sloop.
The Veronica was sold to be broken up in 1933, and on hearing this Napier's mayor C O Morse asked the Royal Navy for the ship's bell.
Some of his fellow councillors were surprised at this, but C O Morse insisted this practice was not uncommon.
Two bells were handed over in 1934, one went to the people of Napier and the other to the Napier Port. The latter now resides in the old Customhouse at the Iron Pot.
The sloop was broken up in Newport, Wales, in 1935.
The Marine Parade Sunbay, which was completed in 1934, was renamed Veronica Sunbay in 1937.
For many years the ship's bell hung in the Sunbay, and is now displayed and rung there on New Year's Eve, usually by the mayor, following a long tradition.
There is also a ceremony at the annual Art Deco Festival in February each year where the bell is installed with full military ceremony.
Napier has never forgotten the HMS Veronica, and to this day celebrates and commemorates the sloop and its men - especially with the New Zealand Navy at the annual Art Deco Festival held in February each year.
"Thank God for the navy" was a common saying in Hawke's Bay during 1931, and subsequent disastrous earthquakes in our shaky isles have echoed that saying in praise of our navy.
• Michael Fowler is speaking at 10am, Friday, February 16, at the Century Theatre, MTG, on "Post 1931 Marine Parade: The beginning of Napier's Playground". Entry by gold coin donation.
• Michael Fowler (mfhistory@gmail.com) is an EIT accounting lecturer, and in his spare time a recorder of Hawke's Bay's history.
