Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and has been in use as a navy base since 1841. [1] The base consists of HMNZS Philomel (the administration centre for the base), the Fleet Support Organisation, and the Fleet Personnel and Training Organisation.
All operational units of the Royal New Zealand Navy are based at Devonport. The Navy's munitions are stored and maintained at Kauri Point Armament Depot in Auckland. Senior naval staff are located at the NZDF headquarters in Wellington. The operational headquarters, and the effective fleet commander, the Maritime Component Commander are both located at Headquarters Joint Forces New Zealand adjacent to Trentham Military Camp in the Upper Hutt suburb of Trentham. Within the Royal New Zealand Navy many land-based facilities and services ensure support for ships and personnel when deployed.
Shore based support is predominantly based at the Devonport Naval Base, Auckland, with a long and varied list of services and facilities, including facilities for training, sports, and cultural activities, dry dock, as well as engineering and flight support and the Navy Hospital (and Hyperbaric Unit).
The Navy’s fleet of ships are maintained by the Maritime Engineering Support Team (MEST). The MEST is based at Devonport Naval Base and is a blended workforce of Navy personnel in the Defence Logistics Command (Maritime) and Babcock New Zealand employees. Babcock New Zealand is the Strategic Maritime Partner for the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF).
The base also has a modern converter system to supply the substantial power even a berthed navy ship requires. As NZ's navy ships use NATO standard 60-hertz power, such converters were needed to enable the base to use power supplied by the national grid. The new converters were installed in the late 2000s for $10 million, and will offer significant savings over using diesel generators, or having the vessels use their own power systems while in port. [2]
The RNZN College is also situated at Devonport Naval Base. Navy training encompasses numerous disciplines, from Recruit Training Squadron, Junior Officer Common Training and Sea Survival Training Squadron to specialised training for Operational, Technical and Trade, and Support Logistics branches.
One of the more famous elements of the base is the Calliope Dock, a drydock built in 1888 and still in use. At that time, it was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, and a strategic asset for the Royal Navy. It was named for Calliope Point, out of which it had been hewn by hand over three years. Coincidentally, one of the two first ships to enter it (as a show of her capacity) was HMS Calliope. Administered at first by the Auckland Harbour Board, the dock was transferred to the navy when the Auckland naval base moved from Torpedo Bay to Devonport, into a swamp area next to the dock. [1] [3] [4]
The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships.
HMNZS Te Kaha (F77) is one of ten Anzac-class frigates, and one of two serving in the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). The name Te Kaha is Māori, meaning 'fighting prowess' or 'strength'.
HMNZS Resolution (A14) was a hydrographic ship of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Originally the United States Naval Ship USNS Tenacious (T-AGOS-17), the Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship was used by the United States to locate and track Soviet submarines from 1989 to 1997, when she was transferred to the RNZN for use as a hydrographic survey ship. She served until 27 April 2012. She was subsequently sold to EGS Group, a private surveying company, and renamed RV Geo Resolution.
The Protector-class offshore patrol vessel is a ship class of two offshore patrol vessel (OPVs) operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) since 2010. The ships are named HMNZS Otago and HMNZS Wellington.
The Lake-class inshore patrol vessel is a ship class of inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) and the Irish Naval Service which replaced the RNZN's Moa-class patrol boats in 2007–2008. All four vessels are named after New Zealand lakes.
HMNZS Waikato (F55) was a Leander Batch 2TA frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). She was one of two Leanders built for the RNZN, the other being the Batch 3 HMNZS Canterbury. These two New Zealand ships relieved British ships of the Armilla patrol during the Falklands conflict, freeing British ships for deployment.
HMNZS Taupo was a Lake-class patrol vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Taupo was commissioned in 1975 and decommissioned in 1991, serving for 16 years.
HMNZS Endeavour (A11) was a fleet oiler for the Royal New Zealand Navy. She was named after James Cook's Bark Endeavour and the third ship in the RNZN to carry that name, though if continuity with the Royal Navy ships of the name HMS Endeavour is considered, she is the twelfth. The previous two ships of the RNZN were Antarctic research support vessels. Endeavour was built in South Korea to a commercial design and commissioned on 8 April 1988, and decommissioned on 15 December 2017.
HMS Philomel, later HMNZS Philomel, was a Pearl-class cruiser. She was the fifth ship of that name and served with the Royal Navy. After her commissioning in 1890, she served on the Cape of Good Hope Station and later with the Mediterranean Fleet.
HMNZS Philomel is the main administrative naval base of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally a training base on board the cruiser it takes its name from, it is part of the Devonport Naval Base in North Shore City, Auckland, New Zealand.
The Calliope Dock is a historical stone dry dock on the grounds of the Devonport Naval Base, in Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand. It was built in 1888 to service ships of the British Royal Navy, and is still in use today.
The Torpedo Bay Navy Museum is the official museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. It opened in 2010, to replace an earlier naval museum. The museum is in Devonport, Auckland.
Rear Admiral David Ian Ledson, is a retired senior officer of the Royal New Zealand Navy and former Chief of Navy (2004–09). He is the Chairman of the Board of Maritime New Zealand, and was named a Companion of the Royal Society of New Zealand in 2009.
Operation Neptune was a programme of commemorative events and activities held in New Zealand throughout the year 2016 to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the establishment of the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1941.
HMNZS Aotearoa, formerly the Maritime Sustainment Capability project, is an auxiliary ship of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Builder Hyundai Heavy Industries delivered the ship to the Navy in June 2020, and she was commissioned into service on 29 July 2020. Full operational capability was expected to be achieved in 2021. It will serve as a replenishment oiler, and has replaced HMNZS Endeavour, the Navy’s last fleet oiler, which was decommissioned in December 2017.
The Maritime Component Commander (MCC) is the officer of Commodore rank who directs all the operational forces of the Royal New Zealand Navy. The current postholder is Captain D.G. McEwan, appointed 1 March 2018. MCC directs all the ships of the Navy and several subordinate captains and commanders, most resident several hundred kilometres to the north at Devonport Naval Base in Auckland.
The Royal New Zealand Navy Band is the musical arm of the Royal New Zealand Navy, serving its musical needs from its headquarters at HMNZS Philomel on Devonport Naval Base, North Shore City, Auckland.
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related to Devonport Naval Base . |
Coordinates: 36°49′49″S174°47′10″E / 36.830241°S 174.786236°E
 Current and historic Royal Navy shore establishments | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current |
| ||||||||||||
| Former |
| ||||||||||||
| General | |
|---|---|
| National libraries | |
