NZGSS Hinemoa was a 542-ton New Zealand Government Service Steamer designed specifically for lighthouse support and servicing, and also for patrolling New Zealand’s coastline and carrying out castaway checks and searching for missing ships. It operated in New Zealand’s territorial waters from 1876 to 1944.
Captain John Fairchild used the steamer to survey the Bounty Islands and Antipodes Islands in 1886,[1] and the Herekino Harbour and the Whangape Harbour entrance in 1889.[2] In 1891, while under the command of Captain Fairchild, the Hinemoa searched New Zealand’s subantarctic and outlying islands for traces of the missing ships Kakanui and Assaye. While no trace was found of the former, the Assaye was suspected foundered off The Snares.[3]
The Hinemoa provided assistance to the Sub-Antarctic Islands scientific expedition of 1907, a substantial scientific expedition sponsored by the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, where important observations on the natural history of the islands were made. They were published as a two-volume work in 1909, edited by professor Charles Chilton.[4] The five members of the 1908 Kermadec Islands Expedition were transported to Raoul Island on the Hinemoa in December 1907 and returned to New Zealand on the same vessel in November 1908.
It had a sister ship, the GSS Stella, which carried out similar duties over the same time period.[6] After its decommissioning in 1944, it was rejected for scrapping due to an oversupply at the time.[7]
A 1919 photo album from the ship was found in a Danish antique shop and brought to Canterbury Museum in 2023. It is unknown how or when the album came to Denmark.[ This Hinemoa (1876-1944) was a Government Steam ship of 542 tons, built by Scotts Shipbuilding & Engineering Co, Greenock in 1876, for the NZ Government’s lighthouse service and Islands patrol. She originally had three masts, but the mainmast was removed c1880-1889. In Dec 1900 – Jan 1901, she was used for a cruise to NZ’s sub-Antarctic islands by the Governor-General, Lord Ranfurly. Used as a Government survey ship for the Sub-Antarctic Scientific Expedition to Campbell Island and the Auckland Islands in 1907 during which the crew rescued the survivors of the Dundonald. She was sold to a Southland company in 1925 for pleasure cruises to Milford Sound. Purchased in 1942 by RNZN and converted into a sullage (waste oil) barge for use by American ships under repair at Wellington. Dismantled in 1944 and sunk in Pegasus Bay, 60 miles NEof Lyttelton.
New Zealand is not exactly known as a major military power.
For decades the country has relied on its geographical isolation and the reassuring presence of the Australian Defence Force on its western flank, rather than building up its own forces.
But as the world becomes more perilous and uncertain, all that is changing rapidly.
Yesterday afternoon NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon unveiled perhaps the most significant boost to NZ’s defence spending in years — promising to almost double defence spending over the next eight years.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon believes the world has become a much more dangerous place. (Reuters: Kim Hong-Ji)
That will mean another $9 billion in new spending over the next four years, with more money being ploughed into developing a “modern, combat-capable” New Zealand Defence Force.
So what does New Zealand want to achieve with its new defence capability plan? What is driving this strategic shift and what are the implications for Australia and the broader Pacific region?
Why is New Zealand doing this?
Largely because New Zealand’s government believes the world has become a much more dangerous place.
Much of the strategic anxiety centres around China, which has been building up a huge navy and a formidable military arsenal.
Defence Minister Judith Collins opened her press conference on the new plan by specifically pointing to China’s intercontinental ballistic missile launch in the Pacific last year, as well as the Chinese naval taskforce which conducted live fire exercises in the Tasman Sea in February.NZ says China held second live-fire drill
Photo shows A grey navy ship sailing in the ocean
Sailors on the New Zealand Navy frigate Te Kaha observe live rounds being fired from a Chinese vessel’s main gun, a day after a similar exercise was conducted between Australia and New Zealand with little notice.
“Distance certainly is no longer any protection for New Zealand, not when we have an intercontinental ballistic missile launched in the South Pacific, not when ships with enormous strike power come into our backyard,” she said.
“This reality requires us not only to work with others who share our values and interests to reduce the possibility of conflict but also to prepare ourselves should the worst happen.”
The broader strategic chaos around the globe is also feeding into anxiety in Wellington.
New Zealand isn’t a treaty ally of the United States but much like Australia, it’s also worried about the Trump administration withdrawing from the Asia-Pacific.
All this at a time when New Zealand’s military strength has been steadily atrophying, with defence job cuts, three naval vessels idling because there are insufficient sailors to crew them, and the catastrophic sinking of the survey vessel HMNZS Manawanui off Samoa last year.
Last month Judith Collins said she wanted to take the NZDF “out of intensive care” and into the “ward”.
She struck a slightly more optimistic note yesterday, saying the new investments would get NZDF “out of the intensive care unit and not just growing, but growing where we need it to go”.
How much more are they spending?
New Zealand will jack up its defence spending from just over 1 per cent to about 2 per cent of GDP over the next eight years.
That means about $9 billion in new funding over the next four years, with more beyond that: the Prime Minister Christopher Luxon calls the current commitments a “floor not a ceiling”.
It’s not an earth-shattering sum.
For a point of comparison, Australia (which has a much larger economy than New Zealand) is already moving defence spending up beyond 2 per cent and will spend about $62 billion next financial year.
But for New Zealand — with an economy smaller than Queensland’s — it’s a significant announcement.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force’s C-130J-30 arrives at Base Auckland. (Facebook: NZ Defence Force)
It’s a particularly heavy lift right now because New Zealand’s economy has been struggling, and new cash is hard to come by.
It will also send an important signal to the country (and the region) that New Zealand is serious about investing more heavily in its own defence.
That is, of course, if the promises made by the prime minister and the defence minister are delivered.
Both NZ’s military top brass and others will be scrutinising the approaching budget to make sure the dollars which have been promised appear on the bottom line.
How will the money be spent?
There’s a long list of things that New Zealand wants to do (and buy) to make its defence more lethal and more capable.
Under the plan, two of the military’s ageing transport planes will be replaced, and a new fleet of maritime helicopters will be purchased to operate on its naval vessels.
More money will be ploughed into upgrading NZ’s two frigates, although there will be no replacement vessel for the HMNZ Manawanui.
New Zealand will also develop more sophisticated “strike capabilities” by deploying new missile systems which can target enemy forces — although it’s not yet clear if it will arm its frigates and reconnaissance planes with them, or develop new land based systems instead.
Chinese military actions in Tasman sea ‘unprecedented’ and ‘provocative’ | The World | ABC NEWS
There’s also a healthy investment in bolstering recruitment, in an effort to build up NZDF numbers once again.
On top of this, the military will look at buying drones (or “uncrewed aerial systems”) to deliver more bang for their buck.
Defence Minister Judith Collins said the plan would deliver “enhanced lethality” and a “deterrent effect” for the NZDF.
And the Luxon government hopes it will be able to develop a defence force which is able to pose more of a threat to any potential aggressors — as well as being able to do more to help in the face of natural disasters and other calamities.
What does it mean for the region?
New Zealand’s announcement is not going to send massive reverberations through the region and it’s hardly going to drastically alter the balance of power.
On a global scale, the new money is loose change.
New Zealand’s military forces will remain relatively small when compared to larger players like Australia, let alone behemoths like the US or China.
But that doesn’t mean the announcements won’t have an impact.
Australia has long complained about New Zealand refusing to pull its weight on defence spending, and Canberra will be happy to see this money flowing.
Judith Collins said she wanted to take the NZDF “out of intensive care” and into the “ward”. (Reuters: Caroline Chia)
Judith Collins has talked about the NZDF being a “force multiplier” for Australia, which remains its only military ally.
The new plan also emphasises building “interoperability” (the capacity of a defence force to seamlessly operate with that of another country) with the larger Australian military.
These phrases can stir a bit of opposition in New Zealand, which has a long and proud tradition of slightly ornery independence on defence and foreign policy.
But as the region faces an ever darker strategic outlook, both Australia and New Zealand are likely to instinctively pull closer together and share military resources.What Trump presidency means for Australia’s neighbours
Photo shows Donald and Melania Trump wearing floral necklaces.
Donald Trump has taken radical new stances on Greenland and the Panama Canal. What do experts predict he’ll do in the Pacific?
And these investments means that if Australia needs to call on New Zealand for help — whether for a natural disaster, to monitor a Chinese naval vessel in the region or to deal with a real military threat — then Wellington will have more to offer.
For the Pacific, the picture might be slightly more complex.
The Luxon government insists Pacific nations are delighted with the plan, and no doubt they’ll be glad to see NZDF building up capabilities which could help them deal with some of the escalating climate crises looming in the near future.
But the Pacific is also deeply worried about the way all powers, great and small, currently seem intent on ploughing more and more money into their increasingly lethal militaries.
New Zealand is a long way from the worst offender here, but yesterday’s announcement is another dashboard indicator blinking red — and another sign that the region is facing its most perilous times in recent memory.
The Indian Navy’s stealth frigate INS Tarkash participated in a PASSEX with the Royal New Zealand Navy’s Anzac-class frigate Te Kaha on 04 Apr 25 in the Gulf of Aden. This exercise marked the culmination of the New Zealand led CTF 150 Joint Focused Operation ANZAC Tiger (27 Mar – 04 Apr 2025), a Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) operation in which INS Tarkash was mission deployed.
The PASSEX involved a range of interoperability drills, including cross-deck landings, cross boarding, Sea Rider exchanges, and tactical manoeuvres, all integrated with communication procedure exercises. This provided a valuable opportunity for the two navies to exchange best practices, further strengthen their bilateral maritime cooperation and enhance interoperability.
Conducted in the strategic Indian Ocean Region, this event underscores the strong and enduring relationship between India and New Zealand, reaffirming the Indian Navy’s role as a key and preferred security partner committed to regional maritime stability.
The first of the Royal Navy’s Type 23 frigates to be disposed of, the former HMS Monmouth, was towed out of Portsmouth this morning to be scrapped in Turkey.
Conceived as a Cold War submarine hunter, HMS Monmouth was the sixth ship of the class and was built by Yarrow shipbuilders on the Clyde, commissioning in 1993. The ‘Black Duke’ served all over the world, from the North Atlantic to the Gulf and circumnavigated the globe in 2007.
Monmouth’s last major deployment was in 2018 when she accompanied HMS Queen Elizabeth on the Westlant deployment to the US. She sailed for the final time in April 2019 and was laid up, ahead of her planned LIFEX refit. This was eventually abandoned as a cost-saving measure and she is the only ship of her class never to have had a mid-life upgrade.
She languished in Devonport, briefly serving as a harbour training ship. She was used by the replacement crews preparing to take over the Type 23 frigate forward-deployed in the Gulf. There we briefly rumours she might be sold to Greece as part of a deal to sell the Hellenic Navy Type 31 frigates but this was always extremely unlikely, given her poor material state. She was subsequently towed to Portsmouth in 2021 and handed over to DSRO for the final stripping of equipment.
She never received a proper decommissioning ceremony and was officially withdrawn from RN service on 30 June 2021. The ship’s bell was handed over to the mayor of Monmouth in Wales for safekeeping, having been on board for the 28 years the ship was in commission, during which time she sailed more than half a million miles and visited over 200 ports. At least 2,000 sailors served on board this ship during its lifetime.
Seen in happier times – conducting gunnery exercise, Westlant18.
The long list of Royal Navy warships and RFAs that have been disposed of in the last two decades have mostly ended up at the Leyal scrapyard at Aliaga on Turkey’s Aegean coast, and Monmouth is no exception. The UK does not have a facility where ships can be dismantled, mainly due to health, safety and environmental regulations making it financially unviable, despite the rise in the price of scrap steel in the last decade.
Monmouth is the first of all the Type 23s to be scrapped (The 3 older Type 23s sold to Chile are still going strong). Disposing of a warship that is over 30 years old would not be at all remarkable if there was a replacement ready to take her place in the fleet. Ex-HMS Montrose, currently on the trots in Portsmouth harbour, will likely be next to the scrapyard, followed eventually by HMS Westminster, Argyll and Northumberland.
The agreement, described as a “protocol of intentions,” was signed on Wednesday and comes during the bicentennial year of diplomatic relations between Brazil and the United Kingdom.
The acquisition of the Albion-class landing platform docks (LPDs) would, say the country, significantly bolster Brazil’s capacity for amphibious operations, disaster relief, and humanitarian response.
The vessel will join helicopter carrier HMS Ocean, sold years ago, to the Brazilians.
According to an official update from Brazil’s Navy news service, the ships are being sought not only for their strategic military utility but also for their ability to support domestic civil operations. “We have seen the need for Navy ships to support the population in the various calamities that have occurred due to climate variations, such as the floods that occurred in São Sebastião in 2023 and in Rio Grande do Sul in 2024,” said Admiral Edgar Luiz Siqueira Barbosa, Director General of Navy Material.
He added that Brazil has long valued British-built naval assets. “Several British ships, throughout the existence of the naval fleet, have been incorporated into the MB. They are quality ships, so we already have this good experience.”
HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark, built in the late 1990s and early 2000s, were among the Royal Navy’s most capable amphibious vessels, designed for transporting large numbers of troops, vehicles, and cargo.
Both ships are equipped with flight decks able to support heavy helicopter operations and were constructed with the projection of force and humanitarian assistance missions in mind.
The potential transfer aligns with long-standing speculation that at least one of the LPDs may be withdrawn from service as part of evolving UK defence priorities. The Royal Navy has maintained a rotating state of high readiness between the two sister ships, with only one typically active at any given time.
This announcement was made during the 15th edition of LAAD Defence & Security – Latin America’s premier defence and security exposition – which runs from April 1–4 at Riocentro in Rio de Janeiro. The Brazilian Navy has used the event to showcase its strategic programmes and capabilities, including interactive technology exhibits and simulations for public engagement.
The Royal Navy has not yet publicly commented on the deal, nor has the UK Ministry of Defence confirmed the timeline or conditions for the potential transfer of the vessels. However, the signing of the protocol of intentions suggests that negotiations are in an advanced stage.
USS Nimitz (CVN-68) leaving San Diego Bay on March 26, 2025. Screen shot via San Diego Web Cam
The Navy’s oldest aircraft carrier departed San Diego Bay on Wednesday for what is expected to be its last deployment, USNI News has learned.
The 49-year-old USS Nimitz (CVN-68) pulled away from the carrier pier at Naval Air Station North Island after arriving in San Diego on Monday. The carrier left Wednesday morning local time with sailors manning the rails, according to ship spotters. The carrier left last week from its homeport in Bremerton, Wash., to travel to San Diego for final preparations before flying on Carrier Air Wing 17 and joining with its escorts.
In addition to CVW 17, Destroyer Squadron 9 is embarked on Nimitz overseeing guided-missile destroyers USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54), USS Gridley (DDG-101), USS Wayne E. Meyer (DDG-108) and USS Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee (DDG-123). Lenah Sutcliffe Higbee is joining the strike group on its maiden deployment after commissioning in 2023.
Following the carrier’s deployment, Nimitz is set to shift homeports to Naval Station Norfolk, Va., in 2026 ahead of its planned decommissioning, USNI News reported earlier this month. The carrier last deployed in 2023 for seven months to the Western Pacific. Nimitz’s departure follows the reassignment of San Diego-based carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN-70) from its current Pacific deployment to the Middle East.
The seniormost blue-water cutter, the USCGC Reliance (WMEC-615), has been in service almost continuously since she was commissioned on 20 June 1964, with the only break being regular yard periods and a 20-month Major Maintenance Availability from April 1987 to January 1989.
Constructed across a 22-month period for the sum of $4,920,804 by the Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corporation, the country has gotten its money’s worth out of Hull 615.
The lead ship of her class of 16 cutters, she originally carried a CODAG propulsion system and a 3″/50 gun forward as well as weight and space reserved for ASW weapons to serve as a patrol escort in the event of WWIII.
This black and white photo shows newly the commissioned Reliance (WMEC-615) with an HH-52 Sea Guard helicopter landing on its pad and davits down with one of its small boats deployed. Notice the lack of smokestack and paint scheme pre-dating the Racing Stripe or “U.S. Coast Guard” paint schemes. She has a 3″/50 forward as well as 20mm cannons for AAA work and weight and space for Mousttraps, a towed sonar, and Mk.32 ASW tubes, although they were never fitted. U.S. Coast Guard photo.
After her $16 million MMA in the late 80s, she lost her 3-incher, replaced with an early model manned MK38 25mm chain gun, while her engines were replaced with twin Alco diesels. Keep in mind that the MMA was supposed to just add 10-to-15 years to her lifespan, with a planned retirement along those lines in 2009-2015.
Post MMA
The crew of U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Reliance (WMEC 615) interdicts a low-profile vessel carrying more than $5 million in illicit narcotics in the Eastern Pacific Ocean, Feb. 15, 2024. Patrolling in support of Joint Interagency Task Force-South, the Reliance crew stopped two drug trafficking ventures, detaining six suspected traffickers and preventing nearly 4,000 pounds of cocaine and 5,400 pounds of marijuana, worth more than $57 million, from entering the United States. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy of Reliance)
She has earned at least four Coast Guard Unit Commendations, a Coast Guard Meritorious Unit Commendation, multiple Joint Meritorious Unit Awards, and numerous USCG “E” ribbons. She has put out oilrig fires, saved at least four ships adrift on the sea, served on the Campeche Patrols for three years, picked up thousands of Haitian and Cuban migrants in the Florida Straits, bagged over 400 tons of MJ and $50M worth of cocaine, and just generally been a floating mensch.
Reliancejust completed a 60-day patrol in the Florida Straits, Windward Passage, and Gulf of America, and managed to have a short video captured of her underway in the Gulf.
At some point in the coming years, she will be replaced by the future USCGC Reliance (WMSM-925), a Heritage-class 360-foot Offshore Patrol Cutter (OPCs), and will be the fifth vessel to bear the distinguished name going back to 1861.
Perhaps the old girl will be retained as a museum, with the new National USCG Museum in New London being a good candidate.
18:59, Tue, Mar 18, 2025 | UPDATED: 18:59, Tue, Mar 18, 2025
HMS Vanguard spent 204 days at sea, according to reports (Image: Getty)
Submariners have returned from what is believed to be the longest deployment of a nuclear-armed submarine in Royal Navy history. A Vanguard-class boat reportedly returned to its Faslane base on Monday after 204 days under the waves, according to Navy Lookout.
The vessel, thought to be HMS Vanguard, has a crew of around 130 who wouldn’t have seen sunlight or fresh air for almost seven months during the mammoth deployment. The Royal Navy itself says life in the Submarine Service, also known as the Silent Service, “isn’t for the faint-hearted”. “You’ll be pushed to your limits, but you’ll be rewarded for it too,” the Navy says on its website.
Yesterday Royal Navy frigate HMS Somerset and minehunter HMS Cattistock, together with an RAF aircraft, monitored a Russian convoy of two warships and two merchant vessels passing close to the UK.
On Sunday RFA Tideurge shadowed the Russian destroyer RFS Severomorsk heading west through the Channel. The destroyer later met up with a Russian convoy coming from the Mediterranean. On Monday the group passed eastward through the Dover Strait with HMS Somerset closing the Severomorsk and a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft monitoring the group from above. HMS Cattistock also was involved in the operation, arriving in Harwich today.
This is probably the final ‘Syrian Express’ convoy, the group sailed from Tartus on 2nd March and is returning to Russia with evacuated military equipment. The group comprised the Udaloy-class destroyer, a Rapoucha-class landing ship, RFS Shabalin and the cargo ships MV Sparta IV and MV Siyane Severa. This is routine work for the Royal Navy and the transport convoys are unlikely to pose much of a threat.
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria in December 2024 resulted in a temporary increase in the number of Russian ships in the Channel and North Sea, with each movement monitored by the RN in a combined effort with the French, Belgian and Netherlands navies. This is a reminder to the Russians that their military will not be allowed close to the UK without a strong response and will be closely watched.
RFA Tidesurge seen passing west through the English Channel monitoring the Russian destroyer on 16th March (Photo: Dover Strait Shipping – FotoFlite).The Udaloy-class destroyer, RFS Severomorsk is another Russian antique that entered service in 1987.HMS Cattistock and RFS Alexander Shabalin. Launched in 1979, HMS Cattistock is the older of the two ships.HMS Somerset up close with the Severomorsk and Wildcat airborne. Photo taken from RAF P-8A Posiedon.
On Wednesday, March 12th, the delivery ceremony for the minesweeper “Noumi” and the presentation of the Self-Defense Force Flag were held at the Tsurumi Plant of the Japan Marine United Corporation Yokohama Office. JMSDF photo.
