The Draupner wave (or New Year's wave) was the first rogue wave to be detected by a measuring instrument. The wave was recorded in 1995 at Unit E of the Draupner platform, a gas pipeline support complex located in the North Sea about  southwest from the southern tip of Norway.
The rig was built to withstand a calculated 1-in-10,000-years wave with a predicted height of  and was fitted with state-of-the-art sensors, including a laser rangefinder wave recorder on the platform's underside. At 3 pm on 1 January 1995, the device recorded a rogue wave with a maximum wave height of . Peak elevation above still water level was . The reading was confirmed by the other sensors. The platform sustained minor damage in the event.
In the area, the SWH was about , so the Draupner wave was more than twice as tall and steep as its neighbors, with characteristics that fell outside any known wave model. The wave caused enormous interest in the scientific community.