She was commissioned in 1941 for minesweeping and anti-submarine roles. From 1948 to 1956 she functioned as a training ship.
On 29 January 1943, with her sister ship Moa, Kiwi rammed and wrecked[1] the Japanese submarine I-1.
At the time Kiwi was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Gordon Bridson who was awarded the DSC and the United States Navy Cross[2] for this action. Leading Signalman Campbell Howard Buchanan (7 April 1920, Port Chalmers – 31 January 1943, Tulagi) manned the Kiwi’s searchlight during the action and remained at his post despite having been mortally wounded. He was posthumously mentioned in despatches and awarded the United States Navy Cross.
Kiwi was the first vessel with this name to serve in the Royal New Zealand Navy and is named after the national bird of New Zealand.
The ship’s company of HMNZS Kiwi, led by Lt-Cdr G. Bridson, on left, marching through the streets of Auckland
| History | |
|---|---|
 New Zealand |
|
| Name | HMNZS Kiwi (T102) |
| Builder | Henry Robb Ltd. Scotland. |
| Commissioned | 20 October 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 20 December 1956 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Bird class minesweeper |
| Displacement | 607 tons standard923 tons full load |
| Length | 168 ft (51 m) |
| Beam | 30 ft (9.1 m) |
| Draught | 15.3 ft (4.7 m) |
| Propulsion | 1,100 ihp (820 kW) oil |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h) |
| Complement | 33-35 |
| Armament | 1 × 4-inch gun, 2 × 1 Hotchkiss, twin Lewis, 40 depth charges |
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