Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy

Royal New Zealand Navy

The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...

, located at Devonport, New Zealand

Devonport, New Zealand

Devonport is a harbourside suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, at the southern end of a peninsula that runs southeast from near Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, forming the northern side of the Waitemata Harbour...

 on Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

's North Shore

North Shore, New Zealand

North Shore City was the name of a city that existed in the Auckland region of New Zealand from 1989 until 2010. The city had a population of making it the fourth most populous city in New Zealand prior to November 2010...

. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and was a navy base from as far back as 1841. The base consists of HMNZS Philomel

HMNZS Philomel

HMNZS Philomel is the main administrative naval baseof 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.-History:...

 (the administration centre for the base), the Fleet Support Organisation, and the Fleet Personnel and Training Organisation.

Operation

All operational units of the Royal New Zealand Navy

Royal New Zealand Navy

The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...

 are based at Devonport. Senior naval staff are located at the NZDF headquarters in Wellington

Wellington City

Wellington City Council is a territorial authority in the Wellington region of New Zealand. Wellington city extends as far north as Linden, and includes the rural areas of Makara and Ohariu. It is New Zealand's third-largest city, behind Auckland and Christchurch.Wellington attained city status in...

. The operational headquarters is located at Trentham Military Camp in the Upper Hutt

Upper Hutt

Upper Hutt is a satellite city of Wellington. It is New Zealand's smallest city by population, the second largest by land area. It is in Greater Wellington.-Geography:Upper Hutt is 30 km north-east of Wellington...

 suburb of Trentham. Within the Royal New Zealand Navy many land-based facilities and services ensure support for ships and personnel when deployed.

Facilities

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)

Navy Hospital, Devonport

The Navy Hospital, historically the Royal New Zealand Navy Hospital is the hospital of the New Zealand Navy. It is located in Devonport, on Devonport Naval Base in Auckland...

.

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.

RNZN College

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.

Calliope Dock

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

Southern Hemisphere

The Southern Hemisphere is the part of Earth that lies south of the equator. The word hemisphere literally means 'half ball' or "half sphere"...

, and a strategic asset for the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

. 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 the HMS Calliope

HMS Calliope (1884)

HMS Calliope was a Calypso-class corvette of the Royal Navy which served from 1887 until 1951. Like all the remaining frigates and corvette extent in 1887, she was re-classified as a third-class cruiser in the year she was completed, and exemplified the transitional nature of the late Victorian navy...

. 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.

External links

• HMNZS PHILOMEL (official base website)
• Navy Museum (official museum website)
• Auckland Naval Base Murders (from the crime.co.nz website)