Down to the Sea.Pub

Down to the sea in ships: The warme experiences of Sub Lt. John Monaghan RNZN 1 Anzac Day 2021. John Monaghan (le) and Tony Goodwin Foreword Selwyn Village has an entertainment group. Twice a month they have outside people, very talented, come and perform for the residents on a Sunday aernoon. In late September 2 19, we had the Waitakere Voices Choir. I looked forward to hearing them, so wandered up to the Theatre, and found a seat next to Valerie Monaghan. We didn't know each other, but it's easy to talk in this atmosphere of musical en(oyment. )ow the conversa*on came around to her husband John, I don't know. ,ut what she said led me to ask, -Could I meet John, his life sounds remarkable.. And so to this ar*cle. Tony Goodwin July 2020 2 Early Years. Joining the Navy Ian John Archibald Monaghan was born at 1lasgow on the 2 th 3ecember 1922, one of six children. Nearly seven years later, the Monaghans decided to emigrate to New 5ealand, and landed at Wellington on 11 th 3ecember 1929. “My father wa a policeman in Gla gow and wa urpri ed to $nd in New &ealand, no police dog . (e wa u ed to them in Gla gow.) The New 5ealand police dog sec*on wasn't established un*l 1957. 8ollowing schooling at St Patrick's College, John began his studies at Victoria :niversity. ,y 192 however he became restless at studies while so many young men were preparing for war. So in January 1921 he (oined the 1st Wellington Infantry Regiment. Yet, his love for the sea led him to want to enter naval service. “I wanted to join the Na,y but you needed your parent . permi ion to join if you were under 21 becau e if you were a igned to a hip, you could be ent away at any /me. My parent would not agree. In tead, in late 1011, I wa con cripted into the N& Army and wa ba ed at Moa 2oint with the 3ic4er Machine Gunner for my ba ic training. There were 18 of u in one hou e and we lept on thin traw ma6re e (pallia e ) but it wa a good life for a young man. “7e pent Chri tma 1011 there but we /ll got to ee our familie when we had lea,e. A memorable e,ent occurred one night while I wa on guard duty9 I almo t hot my foot o: with my own ri;e. “I joined the N& Na,y in Augu t 1012. Thi wa not ea y, my Mother wa again t it, and the Army refu ed me permi ion to a6end an inter,iew. So I contacted the Na,y to ay I could not get permi ion to a6end the inter,iew, and the next morning I wa granted lea,e> String had been pulled.) From basic training, to the front lines of war On 10 th August 1922, John entered )MN5S Tama4i , as a hos*li*es only [)O? ra*ng under 27th Intake Ordinary Seamen -Scheme ,. AoBcer materialC for his three months basic training. “Life at Tama4i wa dictated by the rou/ne of the 15 year old eaman boy entrant A we (O had to conform to their rou/ne. The day tarted with 2.T. at C 30am and ended at 0 30 pm with light out. Only one long wee4end lea,e wa granted o,er thi period.) )MN5S Tama4i Aknown as The Rock D moEo: -Ake Ake Gia Gaha,. -8orever ,e Strong.C was established in 3ecember 192 at the old 1overnment Huaran*ne sta*on on Motuhie Island. ,oth regular force and hos*li*es only ra*ngs were trained here before being sent to their various dras. ,y the end of the war, 0 (MN&S Tama4i, road to the top. 7 trainees had been through the establishment. The Motuihe site remained in service following the end of hos*li*es, and was instrumental in the naval aspect of the Compulsory Military Training Act, Compulsory Naval Reservists ACNRsC. The site was closed down in 195I, and )MN5S Tama4i moved to Narrow Neck on the North shore. 8ollowing basic training, John moved to )MN5S 2hilomel for 7 weeks torpedo and gunnery courses. “7e had the night life of Auc4land at our di po al. Lea,e wa o,ernight, o our $r t mo,e wa to ecure a bed for the night A the “Sallie ) were alway a good bet. Next call would be to the “Albion) (otel where we al o boo4ed a [non existent? bed for the night. That 4ept the police happy when they chec4ed for any aer hour trading [7pm closing for liHuor sales?. The re t of the e,ening wa well catered for by a number of er,ice club around the CED.) )MN5S 2hilomel was a -Pearl Class. Light Cruiser, constructed in 1I9 . In 1912 she was loaned to the N5 3ivision RN and took part in convoy escort du*es with the transport of troops of the 1st N5E8 before seeing further service in the Mediterranean. In 1921 she became the training and accommoda*on ship for trainees at the 3evonport Naval ,ase, where her name lives on. She was scuEled at sea in 1929. “ 7hile awai/ng dra to (MN&S Achille , my wor4ing day wa pent pain/ng 2hilomel.) 2 (MN&S Achilles. Dra&ed to (MNZS Achilles 8ollowing his *me at Philomel, the 7 th 8ebruary 1920 saw John draed to )MN5S Achilles for her return to the :G for ma(or repairs. Achille was aEached to :S Task 8orce 77, 1uadalcanal, and on 5 th January 1920 was involved in shore bombardment of Munda Island, when she came under aEack from Japanese bombers. One bomb struck L Turret, destroying it and killing 10 men outright Aone being a seaman boyC. The ship received temporary repairs before returning to Auckland and taking on replacement crew Aincluding JohnC before depar*ng for Portsmouth, via the Panama canal, for repairs and modernisa*on. In June an explosion in the double boEom tanks killed 12 dockyard workers and put back the repairs for a number of months. She eventually re-commissioned in May 1922 and returned to New 5ealand to (oin the ,ri*sh PaciNc 8leet. “Eob (alcrow and I had been friend in the Army and he had been called into the Na,y a cla ahead of me. (e wa draed to Achilles and wa 4illed when F turret wa hit. 7ith a hea,y heart, I became hi replacement. (i mother wa a 77I widow [John )alcrow aged 22, Stoker 1 st class. GIA serving in )MS Invincible at Jutland?. 7e le Auc4land 18 th February 1011, ailing to EoraEora, a beau/ful Tahi/an I land, and the only other European pre ence wa a ;eet oiler. Later in the war it became a major American upply ba e. 7e then ailed on through the 2anama Canal, Eermuda, cro ed the Atlan/c to 2ort mouth. 7e arri,ed at night9 the next morning I recall loo4ing out and eeing we were along ide (MS Victory . “ “I pent the next month at 2ort mouth chipping paint from the hull (a the aying goe , if it mo,e grea e it, if it doe nIt, paint it). The paint wa o thic4 it came o: in mall lab , $lling the ba in where we were moored. You couldnIt get away with that nowaday .) 5 )ith the Ro al Nav (MS Trent John was transferred to the Royal Navy on loan and draed to )MS Trent on the 7 th May 1943. From the beginning of 1941, New Zealand oﬃcers and ra*ngs were on transfer or loan to the RN and by warOs end in 1925, a total of 7 saw service in all theatres of war. Altogether 571 RN5N personnel lost their lives during World War 2. )MS Trent [G220? was a river class frigate commissioned for service in 8ebruary 1920, and entered Tobermory, Isle of Mull for working up. Tobermory was home to the training base )MS Western Isles under the command of the legendary Vice Admiral Sir 1ilbert Stephenson, the so-called PTerror of TobermoryP. Trent had an evenQul war. On the 17 th April she (oined Western Approaches command, where she began escort duty with Atlan*c and Mediterranean convoy defence. In June she was escort for troop ships as part of -Opera*on )usky,. the Allied landings at Sicily. 8ollowing service on the East Indies sta*on, she was transferred to the Royal Indian Navy in 1927 and was broken up in 1975. John served on Trent from her Nrst commission as an Ordinary Seaman, then promoted to Able Seaman 0rd July 1920. -I wa the Na,igatorI yeoman on the Trent during the “(u 4y) opera/on. Thi mo tly con i ted of alter- ing mine$eld on the hipI chart . The re t of my watche I pent on the wheel or engine telegraph . My ac/on ta/on wa on the hip. open bridge a ob er,er for the Captain and gunnery oLcer. Thi meant I had an unob tructed ,iew of all that wa happening. My func/on wa to draw the oLcer . a6en/on to A River-cla frigate . 7 thing they might not ha,e no/ced. On a con,oy to Gibraltar in mid June 1013, Trent wa detailed to e cort 10 hip up to the 2ortugue e coa t to Li bon.

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