The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser HMS Philomel, which by 1921 had been moored in Auckland as a training ship. A slow buildup occurred during the interwar period, and then in December 1939 HMS Achilles fought alongside two other Royal Navy cruisers at the Battle of the River Plate against the German ship, Graf Spee.
The Naval Service is the maritime component of the Defence Forces of Ireland and is one of the three branches of the Irish Defence Forces. Its base is in Haulbowline, County Cork.
The Moa-class patrol boat was a class of patrol boats built between 1978 and 1985 for the Royal New Zealand Navy by the Whangarei Engineering and Construction Company. They were based on an Australian boat design.
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 Royal New Zealand Navy has several long-term projects to retain and update its capabilities for the future.
The Lake-class inshore patrol vessel is a ship class of inshore patrol vessels (IPVs) of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) which replaced the RNZN's Moa-class patrol boats in 2007–2008. All four vessels were originally named after New Zealand lakes. Two of the ships were sold to Ireland in 2022.
Project Protector was a Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) procurement project that was undertaken during the 2000s. At the start of the decade, the New Zealand government tasked the New Zealand Defence Force to develop an equal combat, peacekeeping, and disaster relief capability, in which the RNZN was to focus on conducting sealift operations and patrols of the Economic Exclusion Zone. A series of reviews found that the RNZN was lacking in these capabilities, and Project Protector was established to acquire three new ship types: a single multi-role sealift ship, two offshore patrol vessels, and four inshore patrol vessels. After a two-year information-gathering and tender process, an Australian company, Tenix Defence, was selected as the primary contractor.
The Peacock class is a class of patrol corvette built for the Royal Navy. Five were constructed, and by 1997 all had been sold to the Irish Naval Service or the Philippine Navy.
HMNZS Rotoiti (F625) was a Loch-class frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN), which had formerly served in the British Royal Navy as HMS Loch Katrine at the end of World War II.
HMNZS Hawea (F422), formerly HMS Loch Eck (K422), was one of six Loch-class frigates that served in both the Royal Navy (RN) and the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). The ship was laid down by Smiths Dock on 25 October 1943, launched on 25 April 1944 and commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Loch Eck on 7 November 1944.
HMNZS Hawea is a Lake-class inshore patrol vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Hawea was constructed between 2004 and 2007, and commissioned on 1 May 2009. She performs border and fisheries protection patrols.
HMNZS Pukaki was a Lake-class inshore patrol vessel inshore patrol boat of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Pukaki was launched in Whangārei Harbour on 6 May 2008. Its primary duties included border and fisheries protection patrols, surveillance, boarding operations and search and rescue response. Decommissioned in 2019, it was sold to Ireland for use by the Irish Naval Service in 2022. Together with its sister Rotoiti, Pukaki was renamed and commissioned into Irish service, as LÉ Gobnait, in September 2024.
HMNZS Taupo is a Lake-class inshore patrol vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Taupo was delivered to the Ministry of Defence on 28 May 2009 and commissioned into the Royal New Zealand Navy on 29 May 2009. Taupo is the third ship of this name to serve in the Royal New Zealand Navy and is named after Lake Taupo. Two of the Lake-class were sold to the Irish Naval Service in 2023 and were commissioned 4 September 2024.
The Lake-class patrol vessel was a class of patrol vessels built in 1974 for the Royal New Zealand Navy by the British boat builders Brooke Marine.
HMNZS Pukaki was a Lake-class inshore patrol vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Pukaki commissioned in 1975, deleted in 1991 and sold as a private launch.
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.
Commissioned patrol boats of the Royal New Zealand Navy from after World War II.
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.
HMS Loch Achanalt was a Loch-class frigate of the Royal Navy that was loaned to and served with the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. Ordered from Henry Robb, Leith, on 24 July 1942 as a River-class frigate, the order was changed, and ship laid down on 14 September 1943, and launched by Mrs. A.V. Alexander, wife of the First Lord of the Admiralty on 23 March 1944 and completed on 11 August 1944. After the war she was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy and renamed Pukaki.
New Zealand 
Ireland 
