TE KAHA AOTEAROA MANAWANUI’S TO CANADA BADGE FAREWELL ISSUE 218 FEBRUARY 2018 twitter.com/NZNavy facebook.com/NZNavy CONTENTS NAVY TODAY ISSUE 218 2018 DIRECTORY Published to inform, inspire and entertain serving and former members of the RNZN, their families and friends and the wider Navy community. Navy Today is the official magazine of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Published by Defence Public Affairs, Wellington. Navy Today is now in its twenty first year of publication. Views expressed in Navy Today are not necessarily those of the RNZN or the NZDF. Contributions are welcomed, including stories, photographs and letters. Please submit stories and letters by email in Microsoft Word or the body of an email. Articles up to 500 words welcomed, longer if required by the subject. Please consult the editor about long articles. Digital photos submitted by email also welcomed, at least 500kb preferred. COPY DEADLINES FOR NT 5PM AS FOLLOWS: 11 NT 219 March issue 15 February NT 220 April issue 15 March NT 221 May issue 15 April Subject to change. EDITOR: Andrew Bonallack Defence Public Affairs HQ NZ Defence Force Private Bag, Wellington, New Zealand E: [email protected] DESIGN & LAYOUT: Defence Public Affairs PRINT: As part of a Government multi-agency initiative the NZDF has changed to a single provider for all of its Print Services. This magazine is now printed by Blue Star. Feedback to [email protected] on the 26 28 quality of this publication is welcomed. INQUIRIES TO: Defence Public Affairs E: [email protected] 04 TE KAHA TO CANADA Defence Careers: P: 0800 1FORCE (0800 136 723) www.defencecareers.mil.nz 06 AOTEAROA’S BADGE CHANGING ADDRESS? To join or leave our mailing list, please contact: 13 ROTOITI’S NEW COMMAND E: [email protected] 14 MANAWANUI’S FINAL DAY 19 WAITANGI DAY 26 NO. 6 SQUADRON BREVET 30 SEEPORT FESTIVAL COVER IMAGE: 34 BUYING FIRST HOME The 100-sailor Royal Guard of Honour march on to the Treaty Grounds on Waitangi Day. 36 CHEFS IN WASHINGTON PHOTO: LAC Vanessa Parker CHIEF OF NAVY Rear Admiral John Martin e are on a journey to generate a world class Over the last few Navy for a large maritime nation and 2018 is an weeks we have also Wimportant year in the development of our ability to supported events at compete and prevail, fight and win. We have started 2018 in Waitangi, Auckland a bit of a rush with a succession of large activities that have Anniversary weekend underscored your ability to conduct operations, support and the commemoration public activities and regenerate the crucial naval edge to of the Napier advance our Nation’s interests from the sea. The Fleet Earthquake allowed us Shakedown in mid-January did exactly what it was supposed to showcase our Navy to do – turning our thoughts from holidaying back to the sea to the community. The and the preparations for upcoming operations. feedback about our A new cohort of officers and sailors joined the Navy at the guards, Cultural groups, beginning of the year and are well into their training. Theirs Band and hospitality has is a great gift of service that is willingly given to the Nation come from all quarters and which in turn deserves our strong and committed including Her Excellency leadership. They will be aware of the great adventure that the Governor General, politicians, Iwi, local leaders and the awaits them at sea and in the Navy and on behalf of us all public – and has been extremely positive. Thank you and I welcome to them, their support family, whanau and friends well done! into our Navy Family. Its important that we are engaged, seen to be relevant And adventures abound – some normal and some not so. and considered credible by our community. We operate As usual we have set out on one of our more challenging in a society that expects that our individual and collective tasks, the work up of TE MANA in the East Australian behaviour will be beyond reproach. In 2018, like last year we Exercise Areas. The generation of her combat capability will work to create a Navy that reflects our society. We are is the core task for the whole Naval system. We are all recruiting a diverse range of people. We will celebrate your involved in one way or another, whether in the planning, successes, whether it be conducting anti-drug operations, preparation, maintenance, training or logistic support. The patrolling our EEZ, being recognised for individual readying of TE MANA to conduct operations so that she is excellence. We will takes complaints about poor behaviour able to be called forward should the Government require is seriously and actively address bullying and anti-social a key competency of the RNZN. We wish her all the best. behaviour. We will treat everyone fairly and increase female participation in senior leadership roles. Not quite so usual – TE KAHA has sailed, via Pearl Harbour, and now will be in Canada to undergo the Frigate Finally, I want to assure you that as the senior leader in the System Upgrade. If ever there was an expression of the RNZN, I am championing the need to make an enjoyable government’s commitment to our Naval combat force, it is and respectful place to work. I am not satisfied with our in the decision to upgrade these ships to be able to operate organisational culture and I am looking at all options until the end of their design life. TE MANA will undertake to improve it, including reinforcing those parts of our her upgrade commencing mid-2019. Once upgraded institution that have been weakened. I will prosecute those these ships will form the backbone of the Navy’s combat who fail in the basic precepts of self-leadership and who do capability until their replacements a decade plus from now. not abide by our behavioural expectations. We are willing to change and we are not doing enough. In 2018 I will Our fleet is changing too. MANAWANUI has just been continue to go after aberrant and unacceptable behaviour. decommissioned. She has been a stalwart when it comes Join me to do the same! I will support those who complain, to conducting diving operations and being a home to champion change or find themselves outside our system countless sailors and officers who have served our Navy and I will support those who do likewise. Think about how well. I am looking forward to her early replacement. we can be better and support me and our Navy to do more Meanwhile AOTEAROA is beginning to be fabricated in than talk the talk. South Korea in preparation for her launch in 12 months. Yours Aye A number of operations in support of a variety of government agencies are under way and our job is to help them achieve their mission. Agency partners such as GNS, Department of Conservation, MFAT, Customs and MPI are all enabled by our people with their ships, boats and aircraft. I am proud that we were ready to deploy to Tonga and thankful that our well-regarded services of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief were not A J O MARTIN needed this time. Chief of Navy YOURS AYE 3 TE KAHA’S UPGRADE IN CANADA Aircraft By Andrew Bonallack Surface Ship to Ship Identification Surveillance Radar Data Link System It’s like handing over the keys for your Aircraft Surveillance house to the builders, says TE KAHA’s Surface Radar Air Defence Missile Ship to Ship Identification Executive Officer, Lieutenant Commander Surveillance Radar Data Link System Tuijo Thompson. Surveillance Infra Red Surveillance Radar n 9 February HMNZS TE KAHA took a major step Air Defence Missile forward on her Frigate Systems Upgrade journey Owith Lockheed Martin Canada, departing Auckland for Esquimalt, Canada. Infra Red Surveillance She is destined for Phase 3 of the Upgrade, the installation of the equipment. Phase 1 encompassed the design, while Phase 2 involved the purchasing and building of the Torpedo Detection Navigation Radar equipment, now ready and waiting at the Seaspan shipyardand Decoy System in Esquimalt. This includes new radars, electronic detection equipment, self-defence missile system, missile and torpedo decoys and an upgrade to the hull-mounted sonar. TE KAHA Torpedo Detection Navigation Radar will be ready for tasking from May 2020. TE MANA will and Decoy System follow, with her completion scheduled for May 2021. Naval Laser The upgrade replaces combat system equipment that is now Warning System 20 years old and is difficult to maintain and keep effective against current and emerging threats. The work is similar to frigate upgrades for Canada and the UK, and to Australia’s Naval Laser Anzac-class frigates. Warning System LTCDR Thompson, who has since handed over the XO position to Lieutenant Commander Rob McCaw, says the ship sails with a reduced crew. “We’re not conducting the same level of operations as we would with a south-east Asia or Pacific deployment. Our focus is getting to Canada safely.” Once at Esquimalt, the main focus will be to de-store the ship, as much as possible. “We’ll secure a lot of items, but everything that can be removed, will be removed, even in areas that aren’t being upgraded. There’s going to be cabling through areas, a lot of welding. It’s like handing over the keys Missile Decoy Combat Floating Gun Control to your house to someone else, so everything that’s not Launcher Control Missile Decoy Interface required to be there, will be gone.” System The de-storing will take about two months, then the ship is Missile Decoy Combat Floating Gun Control Sonar formally handed over to Lockheed Martin and the majority of Launcher Control Missile Decoy Interface Upgrade the crew return to New Zealand.