John Currin
HMNZS Breeze (T02) was a coastal cargo boat which was requisitioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and converted into a minesweeper.
Breeze was owned by the Canterbury Steam Shipping Company. She was taken up on 3 March 1942, under protest, to replace the Puriri which had sunk in a minefield. She was a sister ship to Gale.
Operational history
Breeze joined the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla at Tulagi in April 1943. On her arrival she was also formed, with Matai and her sister ship Gale, into the 9th Auxiliary Minesweeping group within the flotilla. They carried out night-time patrol and escort duties under COMSOPAC control. The Japanese were well north by this time, but occasionally made sudden attacks into American strongholds around Guadalcanal.
In July 1943, prior to being fitted with radar, Breeze collided with USS LST-895 off Guadalcanal while patrolling in a monsoon rainstorm. Grazing port to port, she had a boat wrecked.
During convoy escort duty in Ironbottom Sound she was attacked, but not damaged, by dive-bombers.
From time to time the flotilla boats would return to Auckland for refits, usually escorting freighters bound the same way.
By the middle of 1944 the owners were demanding the return of Breeze and her twin Gale. COMSOPAC released her on 10 November 1944.
Fate
She was sold to the Philippines in 1964 and renamed Balabac in 1966.
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via WordPress https://ift.tt/eCY7PWI April 03, 2024 at 04:10PM
HMNZS Gale (T04) was a coastal cargo boat which was requisitioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and converted into a minesweeper. She was the first New Zealand vessel to go into action against Japan.
Gale was owned by the Canterbury Steam Shipping Company. She was one of four ships requisitioned as a consequence of the German auxiliary cruiser Orion‘s minefield and the loss of the liner Niagara, the others being Matai, Puriri and Rata. She was taken over on 10 October 1940 and handed to the dockyard for conversion. She was a sister ship to Breeze.
Operational history
Gale joined the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla in April 1941, sweeping for German mines in the Hauraki Gulf. On 14 May, she rescued the survivors of the Puriri sinking. Later in 1941, the flotilla swept suspected minefield areas such as near Cuvier Island and Farewell Spit. In December 1941 Gale detached to relieve Viti in Fiji. She returned to New Zealand for refit in February 1942.
In June 1942, Gale was deployed to Noumea for port minesweeping duties where she was the first New Zealand vessel to deploy with COMSOPAC, the United States Navy‘s South Pacific Command, then taking over command of the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla. On 5 August, Gale located a missing US amphibious aircraft, rescued the crew, and towed it back to Noumea. The ship subsequently received a US commendation. Gale sailed back to New Zealand on 30 October 1942; she was then assigned to Wellington as a port minesweeper with the Second Minesweeping Group.
In February 1943, Gale rejoined the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla at Tulagi in the Solomons. In April 1943, her sister ship Breeze arrived at Tulagi, at which point Gale, Breeze and Matai were formed into the 9th Auxiliary Minesweeping group. They carried out night-time patrol and escort duties under COMSOPAC control. The Japanese were largely well to the north by this time, but occasionally made sudden attacks into American strongholds around Guadalcanal.
From time to time flotilla boats would return to Auckland for refit, usually escorting freighters bound the same way. By mid-1944, the owners were demanding the return of Gale and her twin Breeze. COMSOPAC released her on 20 September 1944.
Fate
Gale was sold by Canterbury Steam Shipping Company in December 1962[1] to Cia de Transportes Sylvia S.A. of Panama and renamed Jasa. She was scrapped in Singapore in 1970
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via WordPress https://ift.tt/FDC43PJ April 03, 2024 at 03:28PM
NZ Post’s Newest Stamp Release Showcases Young Kiwi Veterans
Wednesday, 3 April 2024, 8:56 am Press Release: NZ Post
NZ Post is honoured to feature six Kiwi veterans who served New Zealand on overseas deployments in the armed forces from the mid 1990s.
All six profiled in the stamp series have been awarded theNew Zealand Operational Service Medal. The medal is given for service that exceeds the normal requirements of peacetime service and involves a credible military threat from the enemy’s military, insurgents, or other hostile forces.
Rebecca Brierton, Ben Peckham, Kelley Waite, Vance Leach, Ange Coyle and David Bennett represent over 42,000 living veterans who have been involved in active service and made personal sacrifices while serving in either the New Zealand Army, the Royal New Zealand Navy or the Royal New Zealand Air Force.
Released today (3 April 2024), NZ Post Head of Collectables Antony Harris says the story behind the stamps is to show that veterans are not just ‘elderly men’.
“They are young, have served in recent conflicts, can be men or women, and come from all walks of life. They could be your neighbour, people you work with, or someone you see in the street,” Harris said.
“They may march in the Anzac Day parades with the older veterans of previous conflicts, but these veterans haven’t retired; though they have left the New Zealand Defence Force, they are now living, studying, and working alongside us, in our communities.”
Harris said NZ Post worked closely with Veterans’ Affairs and the Royal New Zealand Returned and Services’ Association in developing the stamps.
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via WordPress https://ift.tt/BSWdNGe April 03, 2024 at 12:39PM
HMNZS Nora Niven (T23) Converted trawler/Dan Layer 1941–1944
Nora Niven and Simplon were chartered by the Royal Navy during the First World War to be used as minesweepers and In respect of personnel it was acknowledged that the normal crews of the trawlers would have to be utilised, but that for the purposes of naval discipline, the masters should be given a temporary status in the New Zealand Branch of the Royal Naval Reserve.
They were later recognised as having been members of the New Zealand Naval Auxiliary Service.
The Nora Niven was a 90ft steam Trawler launched 17th November 1906. Built by Cochrane & Sons of Selby for the Napier Fish Supply Co of New Zealand this state of the art trawler with an Ice Making machine that could produce 3 tons of ice in 24 hour and cool storage compartments for 80tons of fish. In June 1917, a German surface raider, the SMS Wolf entered New Zealand waters. She laid two small minefields in New Zealand waters and sank two merchant ships. One (the Port Kembla) off Farewell Spit, and another (the Wairuna) off the Kermadec Islands. Two fishing trawlers, the Nora Niven and Simplon, were fitted as minesweepers and took up sweeping duties in these areas. Another brief flurry of activity occurred when Felix von Luckner, imprisoned on Motuihe Island after being captured in the Society Islands, escaped and commandeered a small vessel before being recaptured in the Kermadec Islands.
https://navymuseum.co.nz/explore/by-themes/world-war-one/minesweeping-ww1/
Regarding Second World use read below-
A comprehensive report here
https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-c12.html
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via WordPress https://ift.tt/PK4LubC April 02, 2024 at 01:54PM
Phyllis was built as a whale chaser built for the Norwegians named Star III, and worked from Stewart Island. She was laid up there in 1929, sold to a NZ buyer, renamed Phyllis and used as a trawler.
HMNZS Phyllis at the Devonport Naval Base, perhaps HMNZS Kiwi (T102) inboard
Built: Seattle Construction Co., USA 1912
Type: Danlayer
Pennant No.: T22
Displacement: 148 tons gross, 67 tons net
Length: 96.1 ft./29.3 m Beam: 19.5 ft./ 5.9 m Draft: 2.8 ft./0.8 m
Propulsion: Steam recip., ihp 350, single screw coal fired
Speed: 9 knots.
Armament: 2 x light MG
Complement: 14
Phyllis was built as a whale chaser built for the Norwegians named Star III, and worked from Stewart Island. She was laid up there in 1929, sold to a NZ buyer, renamed Phyllis and used as a trawler.
The ship was purchased from the Canterbury Steam Trawling Co. Ltd.of Christchurch on 3 September 1942 and fitted out at Lyttelton as a danlayer, the intention being to employ her at Auckland. A danlayer is a small vessel employed in minesweeping operations to lay dan-buoys to mark the limits of the channels swept through a minefield.
She was commissioned on 11 January 1943 as HMNZS Phyllis and sailed for Auckland but was delayed by engine trouble in Wellington. Inspection at Auckland revealed numerous defects and she prove unsatisfactory as a danlayer. Repairs were not completed and little or no use was made of Phyllis: she paid off in 28 February 1944 and was sold.
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via WordPress https://ift.tt/X1yjPtl April 02, 2024 at 01:29PM
HMNZS Kaiwaka Built: 1937 W.G. Lowe, Auckland. Type: Danlayer, Pennant No.: T14
Displacement: 169 tons gross, 98 tons net
Length: 88.3 ft./26.9 m Beam: 23 ft./7 m Draft: 7.75 ft./2.3 m
Propulsion: Motor 145 bhp single screw diesel Speed: 10 knots.
Complement: 12
Armament; 1 X light MG, DCs
Kaiwaka was a wooden motor-powered cargo lighter owned by NZ Refrigerating Co. Ltd employed carrying meat to overseas ships off Wanganui.
She was requisitioned on 7 January 1941 for conversion to a danlayer. A danlayer is a small vessel employed in minesweeping operations to lay dan-buoys to mark the limits of the channels swept through a minefield.
She was delivered to the naval authorities on 5 March 1941 and commissioned for service on 21 May 1941 by Lieutenant A. K. Griffith RNZNVR. She was based mainly at Auckland operating with the 25th MS flotilla and occasionally towing targets.
At the beginning of March 1942 Kaiwaka sailed to Suva where she was employed as a danlayer assisting the USN in laying protective minefields in the Nandi area, returning to Auckland on 25 April.
She visited Wellington several times , being temporary port danlayer for two months in 1943.
During October 1943 Kaiwaka and Thomas Currell swept the short lines of mines in the minor channels on either side of Rakino Island in the Hauraki Gulf.
In January-February 1944 she took part in sweeping the independent minefield in the Bay of Islands and in May she assisted with the sweeping of the defensive minefield laid in March 1942 across the main channel in the Hauraki Gulf.
In March-May 1945 Kaiwaka and the minesweepers began a final clearance of the German minefield laid in June 1940 in the approaches to the Hauraki Gulf.
Kaiwaka paid off on 16 September 1945 when replaced by a converted Castle class minesweeper. She was handed over to the Marine Department and refitted but return to her owners was clouded by legal issues over her condition and delayed until 19 July 1947.
HMNZS “Kaiwaka” – a New Zealand auxiliary ship from World War II , and earlier and later – a lighter . In the Royal New Zealand Navy , Kaiwaka served primarily as a buoylayer ( danlayer ), a ship working with minesweepers and minelayers , marking with buoys areas of water to be mined or to be cleared of mines.
History [ edit | edit code ]
The motorized lighter was built at the WG Lowe & Sons shipyard in Auckland in 1937 for the New Zealand Refrigeration Company [1] . The unit had a wooden hull, one deck, was 88.3 feet long, 23 feet wide, its draft was 7.7 feet (26.9 x 7.0 x 2.3 m), and had 169 gt [1] . The drive was diesel engines with a total power of 58 nhp [1] (145 bhp [2] ) with one screw [3] . The maximum speed was 10 knots, the economic speed was 9 knots [3] . At the time of launching the vessel was mistakenly registered as MV Kaiwhaka [3] , in 1938 the name of the vessel was changed to MV Kaiwaka [1] .
Before the war, lightering was used in Wanganui to load New Zealand meat onto ships for shipment to other countries [4] .
On February 7, 1941, the owners of the ship were informed that it would be requisitioned by the RNZN, it was delivered to the Navy on March 5 and was adapted to the role of a buoylayer ( danlayer ) [5] – a ship cooperating with minesweepers and minelayers , marking water areas with buoys to be mined or intended to be cleared of mines [2] . In addition, the ship was equipped with sonar and depth charges – it could also serve as an antisubmarine minesweeper (AS MS – ZOP minesweeper ) [4] . During the war, the crew consisted of 12 people [3] .
She entered service as HMNZS Kaiwaka (T14) on May 21 (or May 25 [2] ) under the command of RNZN reserve captain AK Griffith [5] [4] . The ship was part of the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla, initially based in Auckland , and was sometimes also used to tow targets [3] .
In March 1942, Kaiwaki and Coastguard assisted in laying minefields off Fiji , and the ship returned to Auckland after six weeks . [3] Kaiwaki visited Wellington several times and for two months, until the end of June 1943, he worked there as a buoy maker [3] . In October 1943 and May 1944 he was in the Hauraki Gulf helping to clear minefields that had previously been placed there [3] . The ship was decommissioned in September 1945 [3] .
On November 19, 1945, Kaiwaka was transferred to the Marine Department, where she was refurbished before the planned return to her previous owners, the renovation was completed in March 1946 [6] . Before Kaikaki was taken over, her owners filed for compensation due to the very poor condition of her wooden hull [6] . The case was finally settled with the payment of compensation in the amount of 50,000 pounds and on September 19, 1947, Kaiwaka, together with the motor lighters “Thistle” and HMNZS “Tuirangi”, as well as the lighters Agnes and Florence, were returned to their previous owners and into the civil service [6] .
After the war, Kaiwaka did not return to Wanganui and changed owners many times; initially she worked as a lighter in Gisbourne , but the port built there in 1967 meant that she was no longer needed [6] . In March 1968 she was sold to a private owner from Tauranga and before 1973 she was sold again, a helicopter landing platform was built on her stern, the ship was then anchored in Fiordland [6] . In 1974, 1977 and 1986 Kiwaka was recorded in Omamaru , Auckland and Matauwhi Bay [6] .
In 1972, the ship took part in a protest against French nuclear tests in the Pacific
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via WordPress https://ift.tt/rq02TIR March 31, 2024 at 04:17PM
SS/HMNZS Thomas Currell (AK1438, AK1, T11) was a Strath-class trawler built for the United Kingdom for use as a fishing trawler. She was purchased by Sanford Ltd in 1921 for use in New Zealand. She would be used as a minesweeper during World War II, and is currently wrecked at Port Hutt, Chatham Island.
Early operational history Originally built as the Enrico, she was built by R Williamson & Son, located at Workington for use as a fishing trawler.[1] In 1921, Sanford was expanding its fleet of fishing vessels, having heard of several trawlers in the United Kingdom, Sanford sent several representatives to look over the vessels.[1] The Enrico seemed to fit the needs of the company
via WordPress https://ift.tt/PzD7BCs March 31, 2024 at 01:57PM