W E L C O M E T O T H E H O C K E N 50c Friends of the Hocken Collections B U L L E T I N N U M B E R 17 : August 1996 75 Years of the Navy

EW ZEALAND, with no frontiers but its Allen, J.H. Naval Policy for NZ, ODT, 1912. coasts, is truly a maritime nation, yet because Colonial Conference 1887. Memorandum on Proposed Nof its domestic history and its role in Com- Scheme for the Increase of the Imperial . monwealth affairs, military emphasis has generally — Minute on Naval Defence (Sir Francis D. Bell). been on the Army. Our Navy has carried on the British Correspondence relating to the Naval Defence of tradition of a ‘Silent Service’. Naval historians, how- and NZ, HMSO, , 1908. ever, have not been so silent and the Hocken Library Howard, N.G. ‘NZ Naval Policy, 1885–1921: A Study has a rich array of books to tell of the ships, men, in National and Imperial Defence’, unpublished MA women and events of the RNZN in its 69 years of thesis, OU, 1954. peace and six of war. Jellicoe, Viscount. Report of of the Fleet . . . on the Naval Mission to the of NZ, The 19th century Russian scare and concepts of imper- AugustÐOctober 1919, Govt Printer, 1919. ial federation and a truly imperial navy influenced early Johnston, W. & A.K. The Navy League Map discussions about the best naval defence for NZ. Illustrating British Naval History, London, 1908 Though loyalty to the imperial idea was demonstrated Laby, T.H. NZ’s Naval Policy, The Dominion, 1913. in 1908 with a proposal to finance the battle- New Zealand for the , it was decided in Start is made 1913 that this country would begin to provide its own New Zealand’s first cruiser, HMS Chatham, arrived in naval force. HMS Philomel arrivedÊin July 1914 as its January 1921, a distinctive four-funnelled coal-burner first unit, but the advent of war the following month chosen because oil bunkering was not then available. meant that, despite some individual exploits, NZ had The RN also lent two sloops, Laburnum and Veronica, no national role in ocean warfare. which were to remain in these waters till 1934Ð35. At The idea of its own Navy was not forgotten, how- the same time the Philomel, lying at Wellington since ever, and in 1919 Admiral Lord Jellicoe arrived here in 1917, was taken to Devonport for alongside-training in HMS New Zealand to report. His plans provided for a time to receive the first classes of NZ ratings who had naval force of 3 , 6 and, for local signed on for 12 years. The NZ Naval Board, created by defence, 8 old or P-boats, 18 minesweeping Order-in-Council on 14 March 1921, consisted mainly trawlers and 4 boom defence vessels. NZ would also of the cruiser’s officers. participate in an eastern fleet based on . Chatham was replaced by the Dunedin in 1924, and Government parsimony put an end to the first part and Diomede was added in 1926 when the Government felt the Washington Conference, removing some of the a pause in payments towards the Singapore base al- naval rivalry with Japan and America, to the second. lowed it to afford the maintenance of a second cruiser. Problems of oil supplies remained and the tanker For an overview, these sources are helpful: Nucula was obtained from the RN. The intended estab- Howard, G. The Navy in NZ, Reed, 1981. lishment of RNVR divisions in the four main ports led — Portrait of the RNZN, A Fiftieth Anniversary to the acquisition of the Wakakura, a Canadian-built Celebration, Grantham House, 1991. wartime trawler, for their training. — Happy in the Service . . . the Women’s RNZ Naval These ships spent much time on the NZ coast, tour- Service, 1942Ð1977, Word Publishing, 1985 ing the Pacific islands or exercising with the Aus- House of Representatives. Appendices to the Journals, tralian Navy. The public saw more of their navy than Govt Print, 1921Ð1996. they do now and the of the cruisers were McDougall, R.J. NZ Naval Vessels, GP Books, 1989. ideal for entertaining civic dignitaries and such sup- McGibbon, I.C. Blue Water Rationale. Naval Defence porters as the Navy League. The practical effect of of NZ, 1914Ð42, Hist. Pub. Br., 1981. naval help was seen in the Napier earthquake. The Ross, J.O’C. The in NZ, Reed, 1967. Veronica had just berthed when the earthquake struck, — This Coast,ÊReed, 1969. lifting the seabed under her, and her radio signals Statistics Dept. NZ Official Year Book, 1921Ð96. brought the two cruisers with much needed assistance. Taylor, T.D. NZ’s Naval Story, Reed, 1948. Between 1934 and 1937 there was a complete change of ships. Two modern cruisers arrived, Achilles For the pre-1921 period: and Leander, and two new sloops, Wellington and Allen, Sir James. NZ and Naval Defence, Dunedin, Leith. The Devonport naval base had been slowly de- 1929. veloping and differences with the Harbour Board over the dry dock had been settled, but progress an understanding was reached without undue harm to was hampered by the Depression and the cost of the discipline. Singapore base. Though some essential surveying of The wisdom of keeping a cruiser and the Monowai the New Zealand coasts had been done by the sloops, in NZ waters was shown by the activities of German the long-term up-dating of charts had been neglected. raiders. After mining the Niagara in the Hauraki Gulf HMS Endeavour arrived in 1937 to remedy this, but on 13 June 1940 the raider Orion sank the cargo ship only 10 charts had been made when the war began. Turakina (perhaps the first gun action in the Tasman, Material on the period 1921Ð39 can be found in the because the captain vigorously defended his ship) and general histories. then, with the Komet, sank the Holmwood and the Rangitane. Early in 1941 mines also sank HMS World War II Puriri, a coaster newly commissioned as a mine- The many books in the Hocken provide all the detail sweeper, for the seriousness of the mine threat had led necessary about the battles of World War II. In 1939 to the building of 12 minesweeping trawlers— 7 at there were 8 officers and 716 men in the NZ Naval Port Chalmers, 4 in Auckland and one in Wellington. ; 14 officers and 172 ratings merchant service The Kiwi, Moa and Tui, ordered before the war, now training in the ; and 78 officers joined the NZ flotilla, along with four more and 610 men in the RNVR. The liner Monowai, being minesweeping trawlers provided by the Admiralty. refitted as an armed merchant cruiser with eight 6in Though the threat of the ocean raider had now passed, guns, required manning and so did the new minesweep- these new vessels helped the RNZN play its role in the ers, the rest of the available manpower serving in the Pacific war. RN or as gun crews on defensively armed merchant- American action in the Solomons led to full in- men. The extent of the NZ commitment can be seen in volvement of the RNZN cruisers, and the fact that of 10,635 men in the RNZN in September Fairmiles (built by NZ shipbuilders). Achilles and 1943, 1,242 officers and 3659 ratings were serving in Leander were damaged and the Moa sunk by bombers, RN ships or the . Those with educa- but the Kiwi and Tui sank two Japanese submarines. tional qualifications went to Britain under Scheme B, Other ships of the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla spent and after a period at sea were posted to HMS King their time on patrol. Alfred, a shore training establishment, where comple- After a Royal Commission in 1942 the Devonport tion of the course brought promotion to Sub-lieutenant naval base dock was lengthened to take American RNZNVR. This met the vast demand for officers who, heavy cruisers, and barracks, a wardroom and a hospital together with the men, served, and died, in every type were built. Some pressure was taken off the base by of ship in every operational theatre. transferring recruit training to Motuihe Island, NZ ships had a proud record. Achilles acquitted itself HMNZS Tamaki. More deep-water berths were pro- well at the River Plate with its young NZ crew vided while tunnels in the hill provided fuel storage and component, as did Leander in the . Later a power sub-station. damaged in the , Achilles was repaired The Women’s Royal NZ Naval Service was formed in Britain and returned to serve in the British Pacific on 9 June 1942 with a potential strength of 700, Fleet. though the peak reached in 1944 was 519. Chief Leander, grievously damaged by a in the Officer Ruth Herrick, given the daunting tasks of Kula Gulf, went to the US for repairs and ended its NZ administration, policy, recruiting and training with connection. Gambia, her replacement, also joined the only an assistant director and a clerk to help, showed British Pacific Fleet. The Monowai, as an armed mer- great ability. Though the purpose was to release men chant cruiser, patrolled Pacific waters and exchanged for sea service, the women effectively handled a wide gunfire with the Japanese I-20 off variety of tasks, often doing a better job than the men before being converted in 1943 to an assault landing they replaced. The true measure of their work was, that ship. A major tragedy on 19 December 1941 was the though disbanded in December 1946, the WRNZNS loss of HMS Neptune, sister ship to Achilles and was given permanent status by a 1949 Act of Leander. She was en route to serve in the RNZN with Parliament. 150 New Zealanders in her crew when she was diverted Even after the war in Europe was over, Gambia, temporarily to the Mediterranean, ran into a minefield Achilles and Arbutus were still involved in operations off Tunisia and could not be reached by her companion against the Japanese and it was fitting that an officer ships. All but one of her crew of 750 died. on the Gambia should have been one of the NZ signa- It was a sad event to mark the transformation of the tories to the Japanese surrender on USS Missouri. The NZ Division into the RNZN, which had occurred six war had not only blooded the young navy, but had weeks earlier, on 1 October. Promotion on the battle- shown that NZ had the industrial and technical ability field has always had a special cachet, and the fact that both to build small ships and to maintain and repair the NZ men and ships had, through their war service, the cruisers. Of the young men who had proved been promoted to become an independent navy was a themselves in warfare, the vast majority returned matter for some pride. There was little real change, as thankfully to a peacetime world, but a few committed the RN continued to supply senior officers for the themselves to a professional future in the service to cruisers and the NZ naval administration. The smaller which they had already contributed so much. ships, however, were all commanded and manned by New Zealanders, with some modification of long- World War II reading: standing British traditions. Captain Roskill, later Adams, B. and Howlett, R. Battle Ground, South author of the official History of the War at Sea, found Pacific, Reed, 1970. when serving in Leander that NZ ratings always wanted Barley, G.A. Caught by a Nazi Raider, NZ Shipping to know the reason for an order. He acknowledged that Co., 1941. Bell, F.J. Condition Red, Actions in the ernment Printer, produced charts of the highest quality. South Pacific Oceanographic research was also carried out by the Tui Cassells, T.C.R. The Fairmile Flotillas of the RNZN, from 1956 to 1967, followed in this important work NZ Ship and Marine Service, 1993. by the USN Charles H. Davis, on loan from 1970 and Clausen, S. Towards Victory—Pictorial Record of renamed Tui. HMNZS Gambia, S Clausen, 1993. To be in a wardroom in the early 1950s was to gain Crawford, J. Atlantic Kiwis, NZ and the Battle of the knowledge of a wider naval world from the RN officers Atlantic, NZ Defence Force, 1993. then on loan. Gradually, however, the need for them — NZ’s Pacific Front Line: Guadacanal-Solomons diminished with the appointment of New Zealanders to Campaign 1942Ð45, NZ Defence Force, 1992. higher posts: first command of a cruiser in 1955; first Feldt, Eric. The Coast Watchers, OUP, 1946. Captain in Charge Auckland, 1956; first Superinten- Gambrill, T. NZ Cruisers in Combat, Dunmore, 1988. dent HMNZ Dockyard, 1958; first Chief of Naval Gillett, R. Australian and NZ Warships, 1914Ð45, Staff, 1960. The navy was often called on to undertake Doubleday, 1983. new tasks. Unexpected activities in 1951 were working Harker, J.S. Almost HMNZS Neptune, Moana Press, in the coal mines, crewing merchant ships and control- 1991. ling port equipment during the Maritime Strike state of — HMNZS Achilles, Collins, 1980. emergency. To support the Trans-Antarctic Expedition, — HMNZS Gambia, Moana Press, 1989 the navy bought the John Biscoe, renaming it — Soldier, Sailor, Priest. Biography of Rev. George Endeavour. It spent five seasons in Antarctic waters Trevor Robson OBE, MC, RNZN, 1879Ð1979, before being replaced by another Endeavour (the ex- Challenge C.F., 1992. USN tanker Namakagon) in 1962. Quite different was Harker, J.S. Well Done, Leander, Collins, 1971. the work carried out by the Hickleton and Santon, Harold, J.N. Big Bird, Little Ship, HMNZS Moa, which in 1965Ð66 took part in anti-infiltration patrols Royal NZ Navy, J.N. Harold, 1993. off . Manpower shortages were temporarily Hopkins, G.F. (comp.) Tales from the Sea, the Royal met by calling on the RNZNVR for assistance. NZ Navy in the Second World War, Royal NZ The ageing of the Loch-class led to the deci- Navy, 1995. sion to order two Type 12 frigates, O tago and Taranaki, Idriess, I.L. & Jones, T.M. The Silent Service, Action in 1957 and the Improved Type 12 frigates, Waikato in Stories of the Anzac Navy, Angus & Robertson. 1963 and Canterbury in 1968. In addition, HMS Lord, W. Lonely Vigil, the Coast Watchers of the Blackpool was hired between 1966 and 1971. These Solomons, Viking, 1977. ships provided a modern anti-submarine force which Underhill, M.L and others. NZ Chaplains in the could show its professional ability in competition with Second World War, War History Branch, 1950. USN units in Pearl Harbour exercises, an important Vaughan, D.L. Report on Coast Watching Radio part of maintaining standards in a small navy. The Stations in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, 1941Ð45. Royalist, however, had a serious boiler breakdown, be- Waters, S.D. German Raiders in the Pacific, ing decommissioned five months early, and between Government Printer, 1949. 1961 and 1967 Royalist, Black Prince and the Loch- — The Official History of the Royal NZ Navy in the class frigates were sold to Asian ship breakers. Second World War, Government Printer, 1956. Other matters of importance were the transfer of Weher, K. The Black Raider, Elek Books. Tamaki, the training establishment, from Motuihe Winton, J. The Forgotten Fleet, Michael Joseph, Island to Takapuna in 1963; the creation of the Min- 1969. istry of Defence in 1964; and the design of a NZ White Ensign, the Queen herself presenting the new colours Post-war at Philomel on 24 March, 1970. The Ministry was in- Peace saw the replacement of the Achilles and Leander tended to improve savings and efficiency, but the with the Bellona and Black Prince, and when 200 men Navy, which had a strong team of civilians in Navy left the service over a pay dispute, officers and men Office, had to greatly increase the number of officers in were recruited from the RN. Six Loch-class administration at the expense of postings to ships. frigates—Hawea, Kanieri, Pukaki, Rotoiti, Taupo and The 1970s saw the despatch of the Otago and then Tutira—bought to counter the submarine threat, the Canterbury to Mururoa as an official protest entered service in 1948Ð49 and played an important against the French nuclear tests—an operation which part for the next 15 years, including involvement in showed the inadequacy of the navy’s support strength, the Korean War and periods in Singapore with the as the Australian Navy had to offer HMAS Supply to Commonwealth Strategic Reserve. When the Cold War provide fuel and food. threat led to the introduction of Compulsory Military To replace the ageing Lachlan in 1974 the Island Training in 1949, Tamaki provided 14 weeks of trader Moana Roa was commissioned as the Monowai training while the four RNZNVR Divisions, re- on 1 July 1975 and sent to Scotland for conversion as established in 1948, gave follow-up training for the a survey ship. And to fishing in our waters next four years. four patrol boats were purchased—Hawea, Pukaki, In 1952, Australia gave the RNZN 4 Bathurst Rotoiti and Taupo; but these 32-metre boats were hard corvettes—Echuca, Inverell, Kiama and Stawell. Also on their crews and soon proved inadequate for the from Australia on loan (before it was purchased in Exclusive Economic Zone declared on 1 October 1977. 1963 for £16,000) was the converted Lachlan, A very important change was the disbanding of the which from 1949 to 1974 carried out the long delayed WRNZNS on 29 July 1977 and the integration of systematic survey of the NZ coast (and, in the winters, women into the navy with more sea-going opportuni- the Pacific Islands). The hydrographic service, working ties in non-combatant ships. In 1978 the RNZNVR closely with the NZ Survey Department and the Gov- was also re-organised into only three branches—sea service, shipping control and support services—con- statement of NZ’s interest in the sea and its responsi- centrating on service rather than training; and to assist bilities in the Pacific and the wider world. in this, new inshore patrol craft, Moa, Kiwi, Wakakura and Hinau, were delivered to the Reserves between Post-war reading: 1983 and 1985. Andrews, G. Australasian Navies, Trident, 1971. Taranaki and Otago, having seen out their time pa- — Fighting Ships of Australia and NZ, Regency trolling the EEZ, were replaced by the frigates House, 1973Ð74. Bacchante (renamed Wellington) and Dido (Southland), — Fighting Ships of Australia, NZ and Oceania, Reed, and in 1988 the tanker Endeavour was commissioned 1980. to support the frigates in the Pacific. Gillett, R. Australian and NZ Warships since 1946, One of the negative results of the Government’s Pacific, 1988. anti-nuclear stance from 1984 onwards was the loss of Kirkwood, H. HMNZS Endeavour, Report of training contact with the RN and the USN, though Proceedings on Second Antarctic Voyage, Govt training has continued with the Australians and also, Print, 1958. under the Five Power Agreement, with Singapore and McLean, D. The Anzac Ships, ANU, 1989. Malaysia. The need to build new frigates led to consid- RNZN. Books About the RNZN, Govt Print, 1963. erable public controversy, the main reasons for going — History and Development of the RNZN, Govt ahead with the Meko design (two ordered at first, with Print, 1960Ð62Ð66Ð73. an option for two more later) being compatibility with — NZ Navy News, periodical, Rodmar Press, Australia and a spin-off for NZ industry. The Mekos 1975Ð. have an advantage over the Leanders in range, economy — Officer Careers in the RNZN, Govt Print. of crew and running costs. — Recruiting Folders, Govt Print, 1971Ð72. The Government’s insistence on economy also led — The RNZN in the Korean War, Govt Print, 1995. to a centralisation of training and support services in — The RNZN Today, Navy Public Relations, Philomel and the commercialisation of dockyard man- 1989Ð90Ð92Ð96. agement under the firm of Babcock. Priority has been — Ships of the RNZN, Govt Print, 1963. given to overseas exercises with our regional partners rather than to showing the in our own ports. Other sources The versatility of the navy widened with the com- In addition to its naval books—far more than can be missioning of the Charles Upham enabling the navy listed here—the Hocken also holds many photographs to transport about 150 troops and equipment as part of of NZ naval vessels, as well as of ships from other a Ready Response Force. However, Southland reached navies which have visited our waters. Consult the the end of its effective life, and the decommissioning Gordon Black Shipping Index in which general photo- of the Tui and the age of the Monowai led to the roles graphs are listed under the various fleets, and individual of research vessels being reviewed, with a recommen- vessels under their HMNZS, HMS etc. headings. dation that a ship be obtained from the US to carry out Little naval material is held in Hocken Archives, as both tasks. New Zealand’s commitment to UN peace- the records of the Navy and its associated organisa- keeping included the deployment of the Wellington tions, being part of government, go to National then the Canterbury to the to monitor the Archives. One fascinating item (85-133) tells how ban on Iraqi trade. Captain Grams spirited the German vessel Erlangen Since 1921 the navy has grown from a cruiser away from Dunedin as the 1939 war was about to start, manned by the RN and the first intake of seaman boys eluded Leander among the sub-Antarctic islands and into an independent navy carrying out the Govern- safely reached Chile. The G.S. Kirby papers (91-76) ment’s independent foreign policies. On the way it include a file on Dunedin naval groups in the 1940s. fought in a world war with distinction, and met the Hocken Pictures has a number of drawings and tasks set it by successive governments with quiet dedi- paintings of 19th century naval vessels, or done by cation. Limited public spending on defence forces is in naval draughtsmen, but little from the period since the line with our traditionally low-key approach to foreign NZ Navy was established. policy, even though Australia in particular has been critical of this attitude at times, and the navy has faced * manpower problems in meeting sudden demands on it. Yet it is ironic that at the very time when the navy has Compiled for the Friends of the Hocken Collections by faced the most demanding financial curbs it is widening Neil Howard, with Hocken Library staff. Edited by its capabilities. The RNZN has been an effective George Griffiths. Designed by Gary Blackman.