New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy

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New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy
HMS Philomel (1890).jpg
The cruiser HMS Philomel, "Cradle of the Navy"
Active1921–1941
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
Branch Naval Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg Royal Navy
Type Fleet
Engagements

The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy also known as the New Zealand Station was formed in 1921 and remained in existence until 1941. It was the precursor to the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally, the Royal Navy was solely responsible for the naval security of New Zealand. The passing of the Naval Defence Act 1913 created the New Zealand Naval Forces as a separate division within the Royal Navy.

Contents

History

Admiralty House, Auckland, used from 1902 to 1903 when it became the Glenalvon Hotel: it was demolished in 1915 Admiralty House, Auckland.jpg
Admiralty House, Auckland, used from 1902 to 1903 when it became the Glenalvon Hotel: it was demolished in 1915

At its establishment in 1848, the Australia Station encompassed Australia and New Zealand. [1] Under the Australasian Naval Agreement 1887 the colonial governments of Australia and New Zealand secured a greater naval presence in their waters, agreed that two ships would always be based in New Zealand waters and agreed contributions to funding that presence. [2]

In 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia became independent of the United Kingdom. The Australian Squadron was disbanded in 1911 and the Australia Station passed to the Commonwealth Naval Forces. The Australia Station was reduced to cover Australia and its island dependencies to the north and east, excluding New Zealand and its surrounds, which was transferred under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, China and called the New Zealand Naval Forces. [3]

On 1 January 1921, the New Zealand Naval Forces, which had formerly been under the command of the China Station, were renamed the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. [4] Funded by Wellington and increasingly manned by New Zealanders, it operated 14 ships over a period of 21 years, including the cruisers HMS Achilles and HMS Leander, the training minesweeper HMS Wakakura, and the cruiser HMS Philomel which was recommissioned as a base training establishment. [5]

The Commodore's appointment was abolished and forces brought directly under the New Zealand Chief of the Naval Staff from October 1940. [6] The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy became the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from 1 October 1941, in recognition of the fact that the naval force was now largely self-sufficient and independent of the Royal Navy. [7]

Ships of the New Zealand Division

Sortable list covering the period from the inception of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1921 to the formation of the Royal New Zealand Navy on 1 October 1941.

Name Pnt TypeClass Commissioned DecommissionedNotes
HMNZS Achilles SLV AllanGreen.jpg HMS Achilles 70 Cruiser Leander class 193619411941–1946 was HMNZS Achilles in the RNZN
HMS Auckland (L61) IWM FL 1201.jpg HMS Auckland L61 Convoy sloop Egret class 19381939Nominated only.
HMS Chatham AllanGreen2.jpg HMS Chatham Cruiser Town class 19201924Replaced by Dunedin in 1924
HMS Diomede As Built.jpg HMS Diomede D92 Cruiser Danae class 19261935Replaced by Achilles in 1936
HMS Dunedin a.green.jpg HMS Dunedin D93 Cruiser Danae class 19241937Replaced by Leander in 1937
1917 HMS Laburnum.jpg HMS Laburnum T48 Convoy sloop Acacia class 19221935 Flower-class sloop
British light cruiser HMS Leander (75) underway at sea in 1945.jpg HMS Leander Cruiser Leander class 193719411941–1944 was HMNZS Leander in the RNZN
HMS Leith.jpg HMS Leith L36 Convoy sloop Grimsby class 19341939Acquired by the Royal Danish Navy in 1949 and renamed HDMS Galathea. [8] Circumnavigated the world in 1950–52 doing deep-sea oceanographic research.
RFA Nucula L61 Fleet oiler 19241937oil hulk 1937–1947
HMS Philomel 1890 IWM Q 42688.jpg HMS Philomel Cruiser Pearl class 19211941"Cradle of the Navy." 1914–1921 was HMS Philomel in the NZ Naval Forces. 1941–1947 became HMNZS Philomel in the RNZN
StateLibQld 1 149387 Puriri (ship).jpg HMS PuririT02 Minesweeper Converted merchant ship1941194114 May 1941 struck a German mine nine miles (14 km) northeast of the Whangarei heads and sank with the loss of five crew members. [9] [10]
HMS Torch (1894) AWM A02550.jpeg HMS Torch Convoy sloop 192119241914–1921 was HMS Torch in the NZ Naval Forces. Also called a gunboat. Wrecked in Chatham Islands.
HMS Veronica T67 Convoy sloop Acacia class 19201934 Flower-class sloop
HMS Wellington FL21547.jpg HMS Wellington U65 Convoy sloop Grimsby class 19351947Survives as a museum ship moored on the River Thames, London.
WakakuraInLyttleton.jpg HMS Wakakura T00 Minesweeper Castle class 192619411941–1945 was HMNZS Wakakura in the RNZN

Commanders

HMS Diomede and HMS Dunedin berthed in Wellington, ca 1928 HMS Diomede and Dunedin in Wellington.jpg
HMS Diomede and HMS Dunedin berthed in Wellington, ca 1928

Officers who commanded the New Zealand Division/Station include: [11]

RankNameTerm began
Commodore Alan Hotham March 1921
Commodore Alister Beal, CMG, DSOAugust 1923
Commodore George Swabey, DSO18 June 1926
Commodore Geoffrey Blake, CB, DSO19 July 1929
Rear Admiral Fischer Watson, DSO26 February 1932
Rear Admiral The Hon. Edmund Drummond, MVOMarch 1935
Commodore Irvine Glennie June 1938
Commodore James Rivett-Carnac December 1938
Commodore Henry Horan, DSCDecember 1939
Commodore Edward Parry May 1940

Transition to the Royal New Zealand Navy

When Britain went to war against Germany in 1939, New Zealand promptly declared war and expanded its naval forces. In recognition that the naval force was now largely self-sufficient and independent of the Royal Navy, the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy became the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) in 1941.

In 1941 there were: [12]

The prefix "royal" was granted by King George VI on 1 October 1941, and ships thereafter were prefixed with HMNZS (His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship).

Notes

  1. Dennis 2008, p. 54.
  2. "Australian Naval Defence and the 1887 Colonial" (PDF). Sheffield Hallam University. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  3. Dennis 2008, p. 53.
  4. McGibbon 2000, pp. 45–46.
  5. McGibbon 2000, p. 353.
  6. New Zealand Electronic Text Centre, Appendix Vi — Members Of New Zealand Naval Board|Appendix VI: Members of the New Zealand Naval Board
  7. "The Royal New Zealand Navy". New Zealand History. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
  8. "Danish Naval History: HDMS Galathea". Navalhistory.dk. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  9. Tonson, A.E. HMS Puriri 1938, NZ Navy, article in Naval Historical Review – March 1983
  10. HMNZS Puriri Archived 24 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Senior Royal Navy Appointments Archived 11 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Royal Navy History" . Retrieved 12 August 2016.

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References