Early naval vessels of New Zealand
Encyclopedia
A range of naval vessels
were used in New Zealand
from its early settlement years to the formation of the New Zealand Naval Forces
in 1913. In the mid-19th century, these vessels included frigate
s, sloop
s, schooner
s, and steam-driven paddlewheel boats. In 1846, five years after New Zealand was first proclaimed a colony, it bought its first gunboat. In the 1840s and 1850s, steam boats were used to survey the ports and the coastline. In the 1860s, New Zealand established the Waikato flotilla, its first de facto navy.
By the late 19th century, New Zealand was using cruisers and torpedo boats. In the 1880s, in response to the Russian scares, coastal defences were established, a mine-laying steamer was ordered, and spar torpedo boats began patrolling the main ports. In 1911, New Zealand funded the construction of a battlecruiser, and in 1913, the New Zealand Naval Forces
were created as a separate division within the Royal Navy
.
The history of New Zealand
goes back at least seven hundred years when it was discovered and settled by Polynesia
ns. New Zealand was originally settled by Polynesians between 1000 and 1300 CE, with some evidence suggesting earlier settlement. They arrived in ocean going canoes, or waka
. The descendants of these settlers became known as the Māori, forming a distinct culture
centred on kinship links and land.
The earliest war boats to operate in New Zealand were the large decorated war canoes or waka taua of the Māori. These could be over 30 metres long and were manned by up to 100 paddlers. Waka taua are no longer used in warfare, but they are still built and used for ceremonial purposes.
, sealing
and trading
ships. In 1841 New Zealand became a British colony
followed by a period of Land Wars
. New Zealand gradually became more self-governing
and achieved the relative independence of a dominion in 1907.
The first European known to reach New Zealand was the Dutch
explorer Abel Tasman
, who arrived in his ships, Heemskerck and Zeehaen, in 1642. Over 100 years later, in 1769, the British naval captain James Cook
of HM Bark Endeavour
made the first
of his three visits.
In 1788 the colony of New South Wales
was founded with a commission that technically included responsibility for New Zealand. In practice this had little consequence, since the New South Wales administration was not really interested in New Zealand. From the 1790s the New Zealand coast was increasingly visited by explorers, traders and adventurers. They traded European goods, including guns and metal tools, for food, water, wood, flax
and sex. European settlement increased through the early decades of the 19th century, establishing trading stations and buying land from the Māori. However different concepts of land ownership led to increasing conflict and bitterness. Missionaries were also settling, attempting to convert
Māori to Christianity and control European lawlessness.
In 1839, the New Zealand Company
announced plans to establish colonies in New Zealand. This alarmed the missionaries, who called for more British control. Captain William Hobson
was sent to New Zealand to persuade Māori to cede their sovereignty
to the British Crown. On 6 February 1840, Hobson and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi
at Waitangi
in the Bay of Islands
. The true meaning and intent of the Treaty remains an issue to the present day.
By 1840 several Royal Navy ships were engaged in hydrographic
surveys directed by the Admiralty
. Captain Owen Stanley
, on HMS Britomart, drew up an Admiralty chart
of the Waitemata
. The Britomart was a Cherokee class
brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. In this survey, he named Britomart Point
after his ship. Stanley was a talented painter, but he seemed to suffer from a temporary lack of invention when he named another prominent point the Second Point. Today this is called Stanley Point.
A detailed survey of the New Zealand coast was essential for economic development and in 1848 HMS Acheron
, a steam paddle sloop, began the "Great Survey". HMS Pandora took over and continued until 1856, when the harbours and most of the coast had been freshly surveyed. In the 1890s until 1905, HMS Penguin
updated the surveys.
, mainly from the United Kingdom
, increased markedly. New Zealand became a colony in its own right on 3 May 1841, and the New Zealand Constitution Act
of 1852 established central and provincial governments.
As more Pākehā arrived, the pressure on Māori to sell land increased. Māori initially had welcomed Pākehā
for the trading opportunities, but it soon became clear that they were being overwhelmed. The Iwi
(tribes) were losing their land and autonomy. Some tribes became nearly landless and others were fearful. For Māori land was not just an economic resource but the basis of their identity and a connection with their ancestors. Land was held communally and was not given up lightly. Pākehā did not understand this and accused Māori of holding onto land they did not use properly.
This competition for land was the primary cause of the New Zealand Land Wars
in the 1860s and 1870s, where the Taranaki and Waikato
regions were invaded by colonial troops. The Māori lost much of their land leaving a legacy of bitterness.
In the early years of European settlement, New Zealand's naval defence consisted of occasional visits by ships of the Royal Navy based on New South Wales. There was no base in New Zealand.
In the quarter century from 1845, some twenty Royal Navy
ships took part in actions between Māori and Pākehā, with the colonial government taking up some commercial ships in supporting roles. Another contribution came on loan from Australia
, in the form of the Victorian
naval screw steam sloop
Victoria
, in the first Taranaki conflict
of 1860-61. They and the East Indiaman Elphinstone
provided gun and crew, to form militia units for fighting ashore. The ships served mainly as communication, transport and supply links between places of conflict but, more importantly perhaps, also served as real symbols of British
authority in areas where conflict was close to breaking out, or already had.
Since roads were few and poorly formed, the sea, with all its hazards was often the only practical means of communication. Royal Navy ships and their well-trained and disciplined crews were the mainstay of battles and skirmishes.
The boat was a longboat
which had been recovered from the wreck of the barque
Tyne, near Sinclair Head, Wellington
on 4 July 1845. No name for the boat is mentioned in any sources. Carpenters from HMS Calliope converted her into a gunboat. She was lengthened, fitted with a 12 pdr
carronade
at the bow, and equipped also with a small brass gun as protection against musket
shot.
The Calliope took the boat to Porirua in July 1846. The gunboat was used for some time at Porirua on patrol duty, manned mainly by crew from the Calliope. In December it was transferred to Wanganui
, again aboard Calliope. At Wanganui a young crew member accidentally wounded a Māori chief with a pistol. The Māori wanted the surrender of the youth, which was refused, and this was the direct cause of the Gilfillan murders. The gunboat saw more action in Wanganui until, damaged by its own gun recoil, it was disarmed in late 1847.
In March 1860 the First Taranaki War
started, and the colonial government requested help from Royal Navy and other ships based in Australia. In June 1860, HMS Pelorus
, the flagship of the Australian Squadron of the Royal Navy, participated in the attack on Puketakauere pa
during the First Taranaki War. Later that year, the crew landed at Kairau to support British troops under attack from Māori and in January 1861 a gun crew from the ship helped defend the British redoubt at Huirangi against the Māori.
In 1862, HMS Orpheus
replaced Pelorus as flagship of the Australian Squadron. In February 1863, while delivering naval supplies and troop reinforcements to Auckland, Orpheus was wrecked on the sandbars at the entrance to Manukau Harbour
. Of the ship's complement of 259, 189 died in the disaster. It was New Zealand's worst maritime tragedy.
In 1856, the Australian Colony of Victoria
had received its own naval vessel, HMCSS Victoria
. In 1860 Victoria deployed also to assist the New Zealand colonial government. When Victoria returned to Australia the vessel had suffered one fatality and taken part in several minor actions.
The following tables cover the ships (seagoing and river gunboats) which were purchased, requisitioned or purpose built for the New Zealand Colonial Government, for duties connected with the land wars
in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty
and Taranaki
, during the decade from 1860.
In addition, the Royal Navy operated HMS Curacoa
, Esk
, Fawn
and Miranda
out of Auckland
, plus Eclipse
and Harrier
on the Manukau
. This maintained a Royal Navy presence in these regions during the 1863-64 Waikato conflict, both as warships and in providing personnel for the fighting on land (the Naval Brigade) and for operating the Waikato flotilla.
Though there was no official New Zealand navy the ships were run as a naval force and transport service, and in that sense constitute the first New Zealand navy. However the flotilla was largely manned by Royal Navy personnel.
drains Lake Taupo
, New Zealand's largest lake, and then runs 400 kilometres though the Waikato Plains
until it empties into the sea at Port Waikato
. The river and its tributary Waipa River
, joining at Ngaruawahia
, took the British forces right into the heart of the war. Some of the river ships went up as far as (now) Cambridge
on the Waikato and almost to Pirongia
on the Waipa (using present place names).
The 300-ton Pioneer, built in Sydney, is the first warship purpose-built for the New Zealand Government. She served the whole Waikato war. She was followed by two more purpose-built boats, the sister ships Koheroa and Rangiriri.
) where the gunboats and barges were built and repaired. The dockyard and other depots were closed down and the flotilla dispersed after the land wars ended in 1867.
Submarine mining was the laying of defensive mines on the seabed about port entrances. In 1898 the New Zealand forces commander advised the government that Ellen Ballance was dangerous for laying out mines in anything approaching bad weather. He recommended that two "proper" submarine minelaying steamers should be acquired, one for Auckland and one for Wellington. This was approved, and in October 1900 the construction of two enlarged Napier of Magdala
type vessels were ordered. These were named Janie Seddon and Lady Roberts.
Ellen Ballance went to Lyttelton soon after being replaced by Janie Seddon, and then to Otago Harbour in October 1905 as transport to RNZ Artillery gun emplacements such as Ripapa Island
and Taiaroa Head
.
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A further consequence of the Russian scares was the ordering of four standard design second-class spar torpedo
boats, one for each port. These were built in 1883 by John Thornycroft & Co
, London. They displaced 12 tons and measured 18.2 x 2.3 x 1 m (63 x 7.5 x 3.2 feet). Steam power was from a locomotive boiler, an engine of 173 hp (130 kW) and single shaft giving a speed of 17 knots (33.3 km/h).
Their main weapon was an 11 m (36 ft) spar, which armed with an explosive device at the tip, was projected well forward over the bow. The idea was that the boat would then proceed at high speed towards the side of an enemy warship.
A Nordenfelt gun
was also fitted. Because they were so narrow and shallow the boats could not operate in anything like rough water. Also with plating just 1.6 mm thick, using one of these boats for an attack was perhaps as hazardous for the crew as the target. They were obsolete well before completion, and only the last two had the up-to-date Whitehead "fish" torpedo fitted when built.
In 1884 torpedo boat units were formed to operate them. They were organised in a similar way to the artillery "Navals" with appropriate naval uniforms. They were at first called the Torpedo Branch of the Armed Constabularly. Then in June 1887 they were gazetted as a permanent militia and given the formal, but more manageable title, Torpedo Corps.
Because they had galvanized plating the torpedo boats could not stay in the water, and had to be kept on slipways. Each Torpedo Corps had its own quarters and boatshed. Their main role soon became training, and by 1900 they were well out of date.
An event that was to have an important bearing on New Zealand naval policy in later years was the official opening on 16 February 1888 of the Calliope graving dock. This was constructed over three years by the Auckland Harbour Board at Calliope Point on the Devonport shore.
Designed to take vessels up to 500 feet (152.4 m), the dock was the largest in the southern hemisphere. In 1892 the Admiralty acquired from the Harbour Board 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of reclaimed land adjacent to the dock so they could develop naval workshops.
This policy of subsidising Imperial navy forces allowed the Admiralty to retain central control over the navies, yet for New Zealand it guaranteed a cruiser presence in their waters. It also allowed New Zealanders direct entry into the Royal Navy. This arrangement suited both parties and remained in force for the next twenty years. The 1902 Imperial Conference modified the Naval Agreement and New Zealand's annual subsidy increased to £40,000. The subsidy was further increased in 1908 to £100,000.
. Over the next 14 years, 527 boys trained in her, 25 of them going on to naval service and most of the others into the merchant marine.
The boat was originally a three masted auxiliary barquentine, square rigged on the foremast, fore-and-aft on the after masts. Her hull was composite; carvel teak planking on steel frames.
In 1909 Great Britain was in the middle of a naval and political crisis; Germany had expanded her naval programme and was speeding up the building of ships of all classes. On 22 March 1909 the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Sir Joseph Ward
, made an offer to fund "one first-class battleship, and if need be, two" as a gift to the Royal Navy. This offer was accepted by the British Government and the battlecruiser
HMS New Zealand
was built by Fairfield for £
1,783,190.
The New Zealand was commissioned on 23 November 1912 with three New Zealand officers. After being inspected by the King, she sailed on a ten month world cruise, arriving in Wellington
in April 1913. For ten weeks she called at every port and was inspected by an estimated half a million peoplenearly half the population of the country.
She was 590 feet (179.8 m) long, weighed 19,000 tons, and had four propellers connected to turbine engines of 44000 hp which drove her at 26 knots (51 km/h). New Zealand took part in all three major naval actions in the North Sea: at Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank
and Jutland
. She also contributed to the sinking of two cruiser
s.
Throughout these battles the captain wore a Māori piupiu (a warrior's skirt of rolled flax) and a greenstone tiki
, given to the ship by an old chieftain in 1913 with the injunction that they were always to be worn by the captain of the New Zealand when she was fighting. The seamen showed much faith in these Māori mascots. According to lower deck legend, the gift included the prophecy that the ship would one day be in action and be hit in three places, but her casualties would not be heavy (this turned out to be true).
The New Zealand was scrapped in 1923. Her 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns came to New Zealand and were used at Fort Dorset and Godley Head. The piupiu also came back to New Zealand and is now in the possession of the Royal New Zealand Naval Museum.
Naval ship
A naval ship is a ship used for combat purposes, commonly by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose...
were used in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
from its early settlement years to the formation of the New Zealand Naval Forces
New Zealand Naval Forces
New Zealand Naval Forces was the name given to a division of the Royal Navy. The division was formed in 1913 and it operated under this name until 1921, when it became the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy....
in 1913. In the mid-19th century, these vessels included frigate
Frigate
A frigate is any of several types of warship, the term having been used for ships of various sizes and roles over the last few centuries.In the 17th century, the term was used for any warship built for speed and maneuverability, the description often used being "frigate-built"...
s, sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
s, schooner
Schooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
s, and steam-driven paddlewheel boats. In 1846, five years after New Zealand was first proclaimed a colony, it bought its first gunboat. In the 1840s and 1850s, steam boats were used to survey the ports and the coastline. In the 1860s, New Zealand established the Waikato flotilla, its first de facto navy.
By the late 19th century, New Zealand was using cruisers and torpedo boats. In the 1880s, in response to the Russian scares, coastal defences were established, a mine-laying steamer was ordered, and spar torpedo boats began patrolling the main ports. In 1911, New Zealand funded the construction of a battlecruiser, and in 1913, the New Zealand Naval Forces
New Zealand Naval Forces
New Zealand Naval Forces was the name given to a division of the Royal Navy. The division was formed in 1913 and it operated under this name until 1921, when it became the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy....
were created as a separate division within 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...
.
Polynesian settlers
History of New Zealand
The history of New Zealand dates back at least 700 years to when it was discovered and settled by Polynesians, who developed a distinct Māori culture centred on kinship links and land. The first European explorer to discover New Zealand was Abel Janszoon Tasman on 13 December 1642...
goes back at least seven hundred years when it was discovered and settled by Polynesia
Polynesia
Polynesia is a subregion of Oceania, made up of over 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are termed Polynesians and they share many similar traits including language, culture and beliefs...
ns. New Zealand was originally settled by Polynesians between 1000 and 1300 CE, with some evidence suggesting earlier settlement. They arrived in ocean going canoes, or waka
Waka (canoe)
Waka are Māori watercraft, usually canoes ranging in size from small, unornamented canoes used for fishing and river travel, to large decorated war canoes up to long...
. The descendants of these settlers became known as the Māori, forming a distinct culture
Maori culture
Māori culture is the culture of the Māori of New Zealand, an Eastern Polynesian people, and forms a distinctive part of New Zealand culture. Within the Māori community, and to a lesser extent throughout New Zealand as a whole, the word Māoritanga is often used as an approximate synonym for Māori...
centred on kinship links and land.
The earliest war boats to operate in New Zealand were the large decorated war canoes or waka taua of the Māori. These could be over 30 metres long and were manned by up to 100 paddlers. Waka taua are no longer used in warfare, but they are still built and used for ceremonial purposes.
European settlers
The first European explorer came to New Zealand in 1642. From the late 18th century, the country was increasingly visited by British, French and American whalingHistory of whaling
The history of whaling is very extensive, stretching back for millennia. This article discusses the history of whaling up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986....
, sealing
Seal hunting
Seal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
and trading
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
ships. In 1841 New Zealand became a British colony
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
followed by a period of Land Wars
New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
. New Zealand gradually became more self-governing
Self-governing colony
A self-governing colony is a colony with an elected legislature, in which politicians are able to make most decisions without reference to the colonial power with formal or nominal control of the colony...
and achieved the relative independence of a dominion in 1907.
The first European known to reach New Zealand was the Dutch
Dutch Empire
The Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Dutch Republic and later, the modern Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, but based on military conquest of already-existing...
explorer Abel Tasman
Abel Tasman
Abel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
, who arrived in his ships, Heemskerck and Zeehaen, in 1642. Over 100 years later, in 1769, the British naval captain James Cook
James Cook
Captain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
of HM Bark Endeavour
HM Bark Endeavour
HMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771....
made the first
First voyage of James Cook
The first voyage of James Cook was a combined Royal Navy and Royal Society expedition to the south Pacific ocean aboard HMS Endeavour, from 1768 to 1771...
of his three visits.
In 1788 the colony of New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
was founded with a commission that technically included responsibility for New Zealand. In practice this had little consequence, since the New South Wales administration was not really interested in New Zealand. From the 1790s the New Zealand coast was increasingly visited by explorers, traders and adventurers. They traded European goods, including guns and metal tools, for food, water, wood, flax
New Zealand flax
New Zealand flax describes common New Zealand perennial plants Phormium tenax and Phormium cookianum, known by the Māori names harakeke and wharariki respectively...
and sex. European settlement increased through the early decades of the 19th century, establishing trading stations and buying land from the Māori. However different concepts of land ownership led to increasing conflict and bitterness. Missionaries were also settling, attempting to convert
Christianization
The historical phenomenon of Christianization is the conversion of individuals to Christianity or the conversion of entire peoples at once...
Māori to Christianity and control European lawlessness.
In 1839, the New Zealand Company
New Zealand Company
The New Zealand Company originated in London in 1837 as the New Zealand Association with the aim of promoting the "systematic" colonisation of New Zealand. The association, and later the company, intended to follow the colonising principles of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who envisaged the creation of...
announced plans to establish colonies in New Zealand. This alarmed the missionaries, who called for more British control. Captain William Hobson
William Hobson
Captain William Hobson RN was the first Governor of New Zealand and co-author of the Treaty of Waitangi.-Early life:...
was sent to New Zealand to persuade Māori to cede their sovereignty
Sovereignty
Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...
to the British Crown. On 6 February 1840, Hobson and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi
Treaty of Waitangi
The Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....
at Waitangi
Waitangi
Waitangi is the name of various places, towns, and settlements in New Zealand. The two most notable of these are:* Waitangi, Northland* Waitangi, Chatham Islands...
in the Bay of Islands
Bay of Islands
The Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
. The true meaning and intent of the Treaty remains an issue to the present day.
Surveying the coast
The first general charting of the New Zealand coast was done with great competence by Cook on his first visit in 1769. The chart was published in 1772 and remained current for 66 years.By 1840 several Royal Navy ships were engaged in hydrographic
Hydrography
Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...
surveys directed by the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
. Captain Owen Stanley
Owen Stanley
Captain Owen Stanley FRS RN was a British Royal Navy officer and surveyor.-Life:Stanley was born in Alderley, Cheshire the son of Edward Stanley, rector of Alderley and later Bishop of Norwich...
, on HMS Britomart, drew up an Admiralty chart
Admiralty chart
Admiralty charts are nautical charts issued by the United Kingdom Hydrographic Office and subject to Crown Copyright. Over 3,000 charts are available and cover virtually the entire world in various levels of detail depending on the density of traffic and hazards...
of the Waitemata
Waitemata
Waitemata can be:*Waitemata Harbour, a large bay in New Zealand*Waitemata City, a local government body on the shores of Waitemata Harbour, now part of Waitakere....
. The Britomart was a Cherokee class
Cherokee class brig-sloop
The Cherokee class was a 10-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops are sloops-of-war with two masts rather than the three masts of ship-sloops...
brig-sloop of the Royal Navy. In this survey, he named Britomart Point
Point Britomart
Point Britomart is a former headland in the Waitemata Harbour, Auckland, New Zealand. Located between Commercial Bay and Official Bay, it was later quarried away to produce fill for land reclamation in Mechanics Bay, and no physical trace remains at street level in what is today an area of the...
after his ship. Stanley was a talented painter, but he seemed to suffer from a temporary lack of invention when he named another prominent point the Second Point. Today this is called Stanley Point.
A detailed survey of the New Zealand coast was essential for economic development and in 1848 HMS Acheron
HMS Acheron (1838)
HMS Acheron was a Hermes-class wooden paddle sloop of the Royal Navy. Between 1848 and 1851 she made a coastal survey of New Zealand, the first such survey since Captain Cook.-Career:...
, a steam paddle sloop, began the "Great Survey". HMS Pandora took over and continued until 1856, when the harbours and most of the coast had been freshly surveyed. In the 1890s until 1905, HMS Penguin
HMS Penguin
Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Penguin. A penguin is a flightless aquatic bird. was a 20-gun post ship. She was originally launched in 1731 as Dolphine, then renamed Firebrand, and finally renamed Penguin in 1757. The French captured her in 1760. was an 8-gun sloop building...
updated the surveys.
Land wars
From 1840 immigrationImmigration to New Zealand
Immigration to New Zealand began with Polynesian settlement in New Zealand, then uninhabited, in the tenth century . The role of Moriori settlement is currently disputed, with some suggesting that the Moriori arrived in New Zealand before the Maori, and were distinct from Maori, & others favouring...
, mainly from the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, increased markedly. New Zealand became a colony in its own right on 3 May 1841, and the New Zealand Constitution Act
New Zealand Constitution Act 1852
The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the colony of New Zealand...
of 1852 established central and provincial governments.
As more Pākehā arrived, the pressure on Māori to sell land increased. Māori initially had welcomed Pākehā
Pakeha
Pākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
for the trading opportunities, but it soon became clear that they were being overwhelmed. The Iwi
Iwi
In New Zealand society, iwi form the largest everyday social units in Māori culture. The word iwi means "'peoples' or 'nations'. In "the work of European writers which treat iwi and hapū as parts of a hierarchical structure", it has been used to mean "tribe" , or confederation of tribes,...
(tribes) were losing their land and autonomy. Some tribes became nearly landless and others were fearful. For Māori land was not just an economic resource but the basis of their identity and a connection with their ancestors. Land was held communally and was not given up lightly. Pākehā did not understand this and accused Māori of holding onto land they did not use properly.
This competition for land was the primary cause of the New Zealand Land Wars
New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
in the 1860s and 1870s, where the Taranaki and Waikato
Waikato
The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...
regions were invaded by colonial troops. The Māori lost much of their land leaving a legacy of bitterness.
Royal Navy
In the quarter century from 1845, some twenty 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...
ships took part in actions between Māori and Pākehā, with the colonial government taking up some commercial ships in supporting roles. Another contribution came on loan from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, in the form of the Victorian
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
naval screw steam sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
Victoria
HMS Victoria (1855)
HMVS Victoria was a 580-ton combined steam/sail sloop-of-war built in England in the 1850s for the colony of Victoria, Australia....
, in the first Taranaki conflict
First Taranaki War
The First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861....
of 1860-61. They and the East Indiaman Elphinstone
HMS Elphinstone
No ships of the Royal Navy directly bore the name HMS Elphinstone. However there were three ships named Elphinstone of the East India Company and the Royal Indian Marine which had close associations with the Royal Navy. They are named after Lord Elphinstone.*Elphinstone was an 18-gun sloop. She was...
provided gun and crew, to form militia units for fighting ashore. The ships served mainly as communication, transport and supply links between places of conflict but, more importantly perhaps, also served as real symbols of British
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
authority in areas where conflict was close to breaking out, or already had.
| Royal Navy ships involved in the first land wars | ||||
| Name | Type | Armament | Built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calliope | 6th rate frigate Sixth-rate Sixth rate was the designation used by the Royal Navy for small warships mounting between 20 and 24 nine-pounder guns on a single deck, sometimes with guns on the upper works and sometimes without.-Rating:... |
28 guns | 1837 | |
| Castor HMS Castor (1832) HMS Castor was a 36-gun fifth rate frigate of the Royal Navy. .Castor was built at Chatham Dockyard and launched on 2 May 1832. She was one of a two ship class of frigates, built to an 1828 design by Sir Robert Seppings, and derived from the earlier Stag class. The Castor class had a further of... |
5th rate frigate Fifth-rate In Britain's Royal Navy during the classic age of fighting sail, a fifth rate was the penultimate class of warships in a hierarchal system of six "ratings" based on size and firepower.-Rating:... |
36 guns | 1832 | |
| Driver HMS Driver (1840) HMS Driver was a Driver-class wood paddle sloop of the Royal Navy. She is credited with the first global circumnavigation by a steamship when she arrived back in England on 14 May 1847.-Construction and commissioning:... |
paddle sloop | 12 guns | 1840 | First steam powered ship in NZ waters |
| Hazard HMS Hazard Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Hazard:*HMS Hazard was a 14-gun sloop launched in 1711. She was wrecked in 1714 off Boston, New England.... |
sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the... |
18 guns | 1837 | |
| North Star HMS North Star Three ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS North Star, named after the pole star:*HMS North Star was a 20-gun sixth-rate launched in 1810. She was broken up in 1817.... |
6th rate frigate | 28 guns | 1824 | |
| Racehorse HMS Racehorse Ten ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Racehorse:*HMS Racehorse was an 8-gun privateer captured from the French in 1757. She was on Arctic discovery in 1773. Captured by the American Andrea Doria in 1776 and destroyed by the Royal Navy in 1777 at Delaware Bay.*HMS Racehorse was a... |
sloop | 18 guns | 1830 |
| Royal Navy ships involved in the second land wars | ||||
| Name | Type | Armament | Built | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cordelia HMS Cordelia Four ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Cordelia, named after the legendary Queen of the Britons:*HMS Cordelia was a 10-gun Cherokee-class brig-sloop launched in 1808. She was sold in 1833.... |
screw sloop | 30 guns | 1856 | |
| Curacoa HMS Curacoa Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Curacoa, after the island in the Caribbean Sea more usually spelled Curaçao:, a 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1809. She was reduced to 24 guns in 1831 and broken up in 1849., a wood screw frigate launched in 1854... |
screw frigate | 31 guns | 1854 | |
| Eclipse HMS Eclipse Eight ships of Britain's Royal Navy have been named HMS Eclipse:, a 12-gun, 169 ton gunboat launched at Blackwall on 29 March 1797 and sold in October 1802., a 12-gun French brig originally called Venteux captured by the Royal Navy 1803. Renamed Eagle soon after capture, her name was changed on 26... |
screw sloop | 4 guns | 1860 | |
| Esk HMS Esk HMS Esk may refer to one of the following Royal Navy ships named Esk after a Celtic word meaning a river:, a 20-gun post ship launched in 1813. She was sold in 1829., a wood screw corvette launched in 1854. She was broken up in 1870., an iron screw gunboat launched in 1877. She was sold in 1903., a... |
screw corvette | 21 guns | 1860 | Sold 1903 |
| Falcon HMS Falcon Twenty-two ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Falcon. They are named after an exceptionally fast bird of prey.*HMS Falcon was a "ballinger" dating from 1334... |
screw sloop Cherokee class brig-sloop The Cherokee class was a 10-gun class of brig-sloops of the Royal Navy. Brig-sloops are sloops-of-war with two masts rather than the three masts of ship-sloops... |
17 guns | 1854 | Sold 1920 |
| Fawn HMS Fawn Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Fawn:*HMS Fawn , a 16-gun brig-sloop, originally the French ship Faune, she was captured in 1805 by Goliath in the English Channel... |
screw Propeller A propeller is a type of fan that transmits power by converting rotational motion into thrust. A pressure difference is produced between the forward and rear surfaces of the airfoil-shaped blade, and a fluid is accelerated behind the blade. Propeller dynamics can be modeled by both Bernoulli's... sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the... |
17 guns | 1856 | Sold 1884 |
| Harrier HMS Harrier Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Harrier:*HMS Harrier , an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop launched in 1804 and lost around March 1809, presumed foundered off the Île de France.... |
screw sloop | 17 guns | 1854 | |
| Miranda HMS Miranda (1851) HMS Miranda was a 14-gun wooden screw sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1851 and sold for breaking in 1869. Two of her crew were awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery during the Crimean War.-Design:... |
screw corvette | 14 guns | 1851 | |
| Niger HMS Niger Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Niger after the Niger River, whilst another was planned.*HMS Niger was a 33-gun fifth rate launched in 1759, converted to a prison ship in 1810 and renamed Negro in 1813... |
screw sloop | 14 guns | 1846 | |
| Orpheus HMS Orpheus (1861) HMS Orpheus was a Jason-class Royal Navy corvette that served as the flagship of the Australian squadron. Orpheus sank off the west coast of Auckland, New Zealand on 7 February 1863: 189 crew out of the ship's complement of 259 died in the disaster, making it the worst maritime tragedy to occur in... |
screw corvette | 22 guns | 1861 | Wrecked 1863 on the Manukau Harbour Manukau Harbour Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.-Geography:... sandbars |
| Pelorus HMS Pelorus (1857) HMS Pelorus was a 2,330 ton displacement, 21 gun corvette launched on 5 February 1857 from the Devonport dockyard. It was captained at first by Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, then by Henry Boys, and later William Henry Haswell.... |
screw corvette | 20 guns | 1857 | |
| HMCSS Victoria HMS Victoria (1855) HMVS Victoria was a 580-ton combined steam/sail sloop-of-war built in England in the 1850s for the colony of Victoria, Australia.... |
steam sloop | 8 guns | 1855 |
Since roads were few and poorly formed, the sea, with all its hazards was often the only practical means of communication. Royal Navy ships and their well-trained and disciplined crews were the mainstay of battles and skirmishes.
First gunboat
In 1846 the Colonial Records of Revenue and Expenditure listed the purchase of a gunboat for Porirua Harbour for 100 pounds 17 shillings and 6 pence. This modest acquisition was the first boat purchased by a governing authority in New Zealand for use as a vessel of war.The boat was a longboat
Longboat
In the days of sailing ships, a vessel would carry several ship's boats for various uses. One would be a longboat, an open boat to be rowed by eight or ten oarsmen, two per thwart...
which had been recovered from the wreck of the barque
Barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts.- History of the term :The word barque appears to have come from the Greek word baris, a term for an Egyptian boat. This entered Latin as barca, which gave rise to the Italian barca, Spanish barco, and the French barge and...
Tyne, near Sinclair Head, Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
on 4 July 1845. No name for the boat is mentioned in any sources. Carpenters from HMS Calliope converted her into a gunboat. She was lengthened, fitted with a 12 pdr
12-pounder gun
12-pounder gun or 12-pdr, usually denotes a gun which fired a projectile of approximately 12 pounds.Guns of this type include:* A cannon sized for a 12 pound ball, see Naval artillery in the Age of Sail*Canon de 12 de Vallière French canon of 1732...
carronade
Carronade
The carronade was a short smoothbore, cast iron cannon, developed for the Royal Navy by the Carron Company, an ironworks in Falkirk, Scotland, UK. It was used from the 1770s to the 1850s. Its main function was to serve as a powerful, short-range anti-ship and anti-crew weapon...
at the bow, and equipped also with a small brass gun as protection against musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....
shot.
The Calliope took the boat to Porirua in July 1846. The gunboat was used for some time at Porirua on patrol duty, manned mainly by crew from the Calliope. In December it was transferred to Wanganui
Wanganui
Whanganui , also spelled Wanganui, is an urban area and district on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is part of the Manawatu-Wanganui region....
, again aboard Calliope. At Wanganui a young crew member accidentally wounded a Māori chief with a pistol. The Māori wanted the surrender of the youth, which was refused, and this was the direct cause of the Gilfillan murders. The gunboat saw more action in Wanganui until, damaged by its own gun recoil, it was disarmed in late 1847.
Assistance from Australia
First Taranaki War
The First Taranaki War was an armed conflict over land ownership and sovereignty that took place between Māori and the New Zealand Government in the Taranaki district of New Zealand's North Island from March 1860 to March 1861....
started, and the colonial government requested help from Royal Navy and other ships based in Australia. In June 1860, HMS Pelorus
HMS Pelorus (1857)
HMS Pelorus was a 2,330 ton displacement, 21 gun corvette launched on 5 February 1857 from the Devonport dockyard. It was captained at first by Frederick Beauchamp Paget Seymour, then by Henry Boys, and later William Henry Haswell....
, the flagship of the Australian Squadron of the Royal Navy, participated in the attack on Puketakauere pa
Pa (Maori)
The word pā can refer to any Māori village or settlement, but in traditional use it referred to hillforts fortified with palisades and defensive terraces and also to fortified villages. They first came into being about 1450. They are located mainly in the North Island north of lake Taupo...
during the First Taranaki War. Later that year, the crew landed at Kairau to support British troops under attack from Māori and in January 1861 a gun crew from the ship helped defend the British redoubt at Huirangi against the Māori.
In 1862, HMS Orpheus
HMS Orpheus (1861)
HMS Orpheus was a Jason-class Royal Navy corvette that served as the flagship of the Australian squadron. Orpheus sank off the west coast of Auckland, New Zealand on 7 February 1863: 189 crew out of the ship's complement of 259 died in the disaster, making it the worst maritime tragedy to occur in...
replaced Pelorus as flagship of the Australian Squadron. In February 1863, while delivering naval supplies and troop reinforcements to Auckland, Orpheus was wrecked on the sandbars at the entrance to Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.-Geography:...
. Of the ship's complement of 259, 189 died in the disaster. It was New Zealand's worst maritime tragedy.
In 1856, the Australian Colony of Victoria
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
had received its own naval vessel, HMCSS Victoria
HMS Victoria (1855)
HMVS Victoria was a 580-ton combined steam/sail sloop-of-war built in England in the 1850s for the colony of Victoria, Australia....
. In 1860 Victoria deployed also to assist the New Zealand colonial government. When Victoria returned to Australia the vessel had suffered one fatality and taken part in several minor actions.
Waikato Flotilla
New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty
East Cape War
The East Cape War, sometimes also called the East Coast War, refers to a series of conflicts that were fought in the North Island of New Zealand from about 13 April 1865 to June 1868...
and Taranaki
Second Taranaki War
-Background and causes of the war:The conflict in Taranaki had its roots in the First Taranaki War, which had ended in March 1861 with an uneasy truce. Neither side fulfilled the terms of the truce, leaving many of the issues unresolved...
, during the decade from 1860.
In addition, the Royal Navy operated HMS Curacoa
HMS Curacoa
Four ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Curacoa, after the island in the Caribbean Sea more usually spelled Curaçao:, a 36-gun fifth rate launched in 1809. She was reduced to 24 guns in 1831 and broken up in 1849., a wood screw frigate launched in 1854...
, Esk
HMS Esk
HMS Esk may refer to one of the following Royal Navy ships named Esk after a Celtic word meaning a river:, a 20-gun post ship launched in 1813. She was sold in 1829., a wood screw corvette launched in 1854. She was broken up in 1870., an iron screw gunboat launched in 1877. She was sold in 1903., a...
, Fawn
HMS Fawn
Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Fawn:*HMS Fawn , a 16-gun brig-sloop, originally the French ship Faune, she was captured in 1805 by Goliath in the English Channel...
and Miranda
HMS Miranda (1851)
HMS Miranda was a 14-gun wooden screw sloop of the Royal Navy, launched in 1851 and sold for breaking in 1869. Two of her crew were awarded the Victoria Cross for their bravery during the Crimean War.-Design:...
out of 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...
, plus Eclipse
HMS Eclipse
Eight ships of Britain's Royal Navy have been named HMS Eclipse:, a 12-gun, 169 ton gunboat launched at Blackwall on 29 March 1797 and sold in October 1802., a 12-gun French brig originally called Venteux captured by the Royal Navy 1803. Renamed Eagle soon after capture, her name was changed on 26...
and Harrier
HMS Harrier
Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Harrier:*HMS Harrier , an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop launched in 1804 and lost around March 1809, presumed foundered off the Île de France....
on the Manukau
Manukau Harbour
Manukau Harbour is the second largest natural harbour in New Zealand by area. It is located to the southwest of the Auckland isthmus, and is an arm of the Tasman Sea.-Geography:...
. This maintained a Royal Navy presence in these regions during the 1863-64 Waikato conflict, both as warships and in providing personnel for the fighting on land (the Naval Brigade) and for operating the Waikato flotilla.
Though there was no official New Zealand navy the ships were run as a naval force and transport service, and in that sense constitute the first New Zealand navy. However the flotilla was largely manned by Royal Navy personnel.
River boats
The Waikato RiverWaikato River
The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand. In the North Island, it runs for 425 kilometres from the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and emptying into Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake. It drains Taupo at the lake's northeastern edge, creates the...
drains Lake Taupo
Lake Taupo
Lake Taupo is a lake situated in the North Island of New Zealand. With a surface area of , it is the largest lake by surface area in New Zealand, and the second largest freshwater lake by surface area in geopolitical Oceania after Lake Murray ....
, New Zealand's largest lake, and then runs 400 kilometres though the Waikato Plains
Waikato Plains
The Waikato Plains are a large area of low-lying land in the northwest of the North Island of New Zealand. They are the floodplains of the Waikato River, the country's longest river....
until it empties into the sea at Port Waikato
Port Waikato
Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Now a small town with a population of under 300, it was an important port during the New Zealand Land Wars of the 19th century...
. The river and its tributary Waipa River
Waipa River
The Waipa River is in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. The headwaters are in the Rangitoto Range east of Te Kuiti. It flows north for 115 kilometres, passing through Otorohanga and Pirongia, before flowing into the Waikato River at Ngaruawahia...
, joining at Ngaruawahia
Ngaruawahia
Ngāruawāhia is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located 20 km north-west of Hamilton at the confluence of the Waikato and Waipa Rivers...
, took the British forces right into the heart of the war. Some of the river ships went up as far as (now) Cambridge
Cambridge, New Zealand
Cambridge is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. Situated 24 kilometres southeast of Hamilton, on the banks of the Waikato River, Cambridge is known as "The Town of Trees & Champions".In the 1840s Cambridge had a Maori population but in the 1850's missionaries and...
on the Waikato and almost to Pirongia
Pirongia
Pirongia is a small town in the Waipa District of the Waikato region of New Zealand's North Island.It is 12 kilometres to the west of Te Awamutu, on the banks of the Waipa River, close to the foot of the 962 metre Mount Pirongia, which lies in a forest park to the west of the town.Pirongia was...
on the Waipa (using present place names).
| Name | Type | Armament | Service | Grt | Dimensions | Built / Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon HMS Avon Six ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Avon. Avon comes from a Brythonic word meaning "river". was an 18-gun Cruizer class brig-sloop launched in 1805. In 1814 she was sunk in action with the American Wasp in the English Channel. was a 2-gun wooden paddle package ship transferred from... |
paddle steamer | 1 x 12 pdr 1 rocket tube |
1862-68 | 43 | 17.7 x 4.7 m 58.2 x 15.4 ft |
Built 1860 at Lyttelton Lyttelton, New Zealand Lyttelton is a port town on the north shore of Lyttelton Harbour close to Banks Peninsula, a suburb of Christchurch on the eastern coast of the South Island of New Zealand.... of iron Wrecked 1886 in Blind Bay |
| Gundagai | Supply and troop ship. | 1864-66 | 139 | 36.6 x 4.9 m 120 x 16 ft |
Built 1855 at Goolwaof iron Wrecked 1886 Patea Patea Patea is the third-largest town in South Taranaki, New Zealand. It is on the western bank of the Patea River, 61 kilometres north-west of Wanganui on State Highway 3. Hawera is 27 km to the north-west, and Waverley 17 km to the east. The Patea River flows through the town from the... bar |
|
| Koheroa | stern wheel gunboat | 2 x 24 pdr in cupolas Gun turret A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform... 1 rocket tube |
1864-67 | 27.6 x 6.1 m 90.6 x 20 ft |
Built 1864 at Port Waikato Port Waikato Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Now a small town with a population of under 300, it was an important port during the New Zealand Land Wars of the 19th century... of iron Wrecked 1868 off Cape Palliser Cape Palliser Cape Palliser is a promontory on the southern coast of New Zealand's North Island and the southernmost point of the North Island - it is in fact considerably further south than Nelson or Blenheim in the South Island.... |
|
| Moutoa | Little used. | 1865-68 | 79 | 30.6 x 4.3 m 100 x 14.2 ft |
Built 1865 at Port Waikato Port Waikato Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Now a small town with a population of under 300, it was an important port during the New Zealand Land Wars of the 19th century... of wood Broken up 1872 Picton Picton -People:* Cesar Picton , from slave to successful businessman in England* Thomas Picton , Welsh soldier* Robert Pickton , Canadian serial killer-Animal:... |
|
| Pioneer Pioneer (1862) Pioneer was a 19th century paddle-steamer gunboat used in New Zealand. Built in Sydney to the order of the New Zealand colonial government by the Australian Steam Navigation Company, she cost 9,500 pounds... |
stern wheel gunboat | 2 x 24 pdr in cupolas Gun turret A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform... 1 rocket tube |
1863-66 | 300 | 46.6 x 6.1 m 153 x 20 ft |
Built 1863 at Sydney Sydney Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people... of iron Wrecked 1866 on the Manukau Manukau Manukau City was a large territorial authority in Auckland, New Zealand. The city was sometimes referred to as South Auckland, but this term did not possess official recognition and did not encompass areas like East Auckland, which was previously within the official boundaries of Manukau City... bar |
| Prince Alfred | 1864-65 | 163 | 36 x 6.6 m 118 x 21.6 ft |
Built 1861 at Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... of wood Burnt out (arson) late 1880s, beached at Rocky Point Rocky Point Rocky Point may refer to:in Australia:*Rocky Point, New South Wales*Rocky Point, Queensland in Canada:*Rocky Point Park in Port Moody, British Columbiain Mexico:... Port Chalmers Port Chalmers Port Chalmers is a suburb and the main port of the city of Dunedin, New Zealand, with a population of 3,000. Port Chalmers lies ten kilometres inside Otago Harbour, some 15 kilometres northeast from Dunedin's city centre.... |
||
| Rangiriri | stern wheel gunboat | 2 x 24 pdr in cupolas Gun turret A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform... 1 rocket tube |
1864-70 | 27.6 x 6.1 m 90.6 x 20 ft |
Built 1864 at Port Waikato Port Waikato Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Now a small town with a population of under 300, it was an important port during the New Zealand Land Wars of the 19th century... of iron Abandoned c1890 in Waikato River. Raised 1982 and incorporated as historic monument in riverbank park. |
|
| Sturt | 1864-70 | 157 | 41.8 x 7 m 137 x 23 ft |
Built 1856 in Adelaide Adelaide Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million... of iron Wrecked 1870 Waimakariri Waimakariri Waimakariri may refer to:* Waimakariri River* Waimakariri Gorge* Waimakariri District* Waimakariri... bar. |
The 300-ton Pioneer, built in Sydney, is the first warship purpose-built for the New Zealand Government. She served the whole Waikato war. She was followed by two more purpose-built boats, the sister ships Koheroa and Rangiriri.
Coastal boats
Most of the seagoing ships served first on the Waikato ( e.g. Gundagai, Lady Barkly, Sturt) and were later used for troop and stores transport between coastal ports. A substantial naval dockyard with workshops was set up at Putataka (now Port WaikatoPort Waikato
Port Waikato is on the south bank of the Waikato River at its outflow into the Tasman Sea, in northern New Zealand. Now a small town with a population of under 300, it was an important port during the New Zealand Land Wars of the 19th century...
) where the gunboats and barges were built and repaired. The dockyard and other depots were closed down and the flotilla dispersed after the land wars ended in 1867.
| Name | Type | Armament | Service | Grt | Dimensions | Built / Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandra HMS Alexander Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Alexander: was a 12-gun fireship captured in 1688 and accidentally burned in 1689. was a 74-gun third-rate launched in 1778. She was captured by the French in 1794 but was recaptured in 1795. She was hulked in 1805 and was broken up in 1819. was... |
Screw steamer | 1863-65 | 349 | 49.4 x 7.4m 162 x 24.3 ft |
Built 1863 in Renfrew Renfrew -Local government:The town of Renfrew gave its name to a number of local government areas used at various times:*Renfrew a town to the west of Glasgow*Renfrewshire, the present unitary local council area in which Renfrew is situatated.... of iron Sank 1865 off Pukearuhe |
|
| Caroline HMS Caroline Eight ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Caroline:*HMS Caroline was a 3-gun gunvessel, formerly a barge, purchased in 1794... |
schooner | 1 x 32 pdr | 1860-63 | 25 | 17.1 x 4.4 m 56.2 x 14.5 ft |
Built 1860 in Omaha Omaha Omaha may refer to:*Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States* Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas... of wood Wrecked 1879 Marlborough Sounds Marlborough Sounds The Marlborough Sounds are an extensive network of sea-drowned valleys created by a combination of land subsidence and rising sea levels at the north of the South Island of New Zealand... |
| Lady Barkly | Screw steamer | 1863-67 | 49 | 28 x 3.7 m 91.9 x 12 ft |
Built 1861 in Melbourne Melbourne Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater... of wood Broken up 1934. |
|
| Midnight | schooner | 1 x 4 pdr | 1863-70 | 26 | 13.9 x 4.2 m 45.7 x 13.7 ft |
Built 1863 in 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... of wood |
| Sandfly HMS Sandfly Seven ships of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Sandfly. A sandfly is an irritating insect found near beaches.*HMS Sandfly was a 4-gun Musquito-class floating battery launched in 1794. She was broken up in 1803.... |
paddle steamer | 2 x 12 pdr | 1863-65 | 82 | 32.2 x 4.8 m 108.9 x 15.7 ft |
Built 1856 in York York York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence... of iron Wrecked 1868 near New Plymouth New Plymouth New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki Region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after Plymouth, Devon, England, from where the first English settlers migrated.... |
Fears of Russian invasion
A long-standing fear of invasion by the Imperial Russian Navy, symbolised by the hoax Russian warship Kaskowiski raid on Auckland, 1875, led to the arming of New Zealand ports with heavy guns in the decade from about 1880. A further hoax Russian warship attack, this time in Wellington in 1885, was spurred by fears over French, German and Russian policies in the South Pacific, late in 1883.Mine-laying steamers
As a contribution to port defences the government ordered a small "submining" steamer from Scotland. It was shipped to Wellington for assembly in sections, fitted with a locally made engine, named Ellen Ballance, and went into service about 1884. She was put under the responsibility of army engineers, who gained Engineer Corp status in May 1887.Submarine mining was the laying of defensive mines on the seabed about port entrances. In 1898 the New Zealand forces commander advised the government that Ellen Ballance was dangerous for laying out mines in anything approaching bad weather. He recommended that two "proper" submarine minelaying steamers should be acquired, one for Auckland and one for Wellington. This was approved, and in October 1900 the construction of two enlarged Napier of Magdala
Robert Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala
Field Marshal Robert Cornelis Napier, 1st Baron Napier of Magdala, GCB, GCSI, CIE, FRS was a British soldier.-Early life:...
type vessels were ordered. These were named Janie Seddon and Lady Roberts.
Ellen Ballance went to Lyttelton soon after being replaced by Janie Seddon, and then to Otago Harbour in October 1905 as transport to RNZ Artillery gun emplacements such as Ripapa Island
Ripapa Island
Ripapa Island, just off the shore of Lyttelton Harbour has played many roles in the history of New Zealand. The island initially played a key role in an internal struggle for the south island Ngāi Tahu tribe in the early 19th Century...
and Taiaroa Head
Taiaroa Head
Taiaroa Head is a headland at the end of the Otago Peninsula in New Zealand, overlooking the mouth of the Otago Harbour. It lies within the city limits of Dunedin...
.
| Name | Service | Grt | Propulsion | Length | Width | Builder | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ellen Ballance | 1884–1907 | One shaft, steam reciprocating compound engine | 21.3 m 70 ft |
4.3 m 14 ft |
William Dennt & Bros, Dumbarton | ||
| Janie Seddon | 1902-39 | 126 | Two shaft, steam reciprocating compound engine, 320 ihp, 7 knots (13.7 km/h) | 27.4 m 90 ft |
5.5 m 18 ft |
Fleming & Ferguson Ltd, Paisley Paisley Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area... |
|
| Lady Roberts | 1902–23 | 126 | Two shaft, steam reciprocating compound engine, 320 ihp, 7 knots (13.7 km/h) | 27.4 m 90 ft |
5.5 m 18 ft |
Fleming & Ferguson Ltd, Paisley Paisley Paisley is the largest town in the historic county of Renfrewshire in the west central Lowlands of Scotland and serves as the administrative centre for the Renfrewshire council area... |
Spar torpedo boats
Spar torpedo
A spar torpedo is a weapon consisting of a bomb placed at the end of a long pole, or spar, and attached to a boat. The weapon is used by running the end of the spar into the enemy ship. Spar torpedoes were often equipped with a barbed spear at the end, so it would stick to wooden hulls...
boats, one for each port. These were built in 1883 by John Thornycroft & Co
John I. Thornycroft & Company
John I. Thornycroft & Company Limited, usually known simply as Thornycroft was a British shipbuilding firm started by John Isaac Thornycroft in the 19th century.-History:...
, London. They displaced 12 tons and measured 18.2 x 2.3 x 1 m (63 x 7.5 x 3.2 feet). Steam power was from a locomotive boiler, an engine of 173 hp (130 kW) and single shaft giving a speed of 17 knots (33.3 km/h).
Their main weapon was an 11 m (36 ft) spar, which armed with an explosive device at the tip, was projected well forward over the bow. The idea was that the boat would then proceed at high speed towards the side of an enemy warship.
A Nordenfelt gun
Nordenfelt gun
The Nordenfelt Gun was a multiple barrel machine gun that had a row of up to twelve barrels. It was fired by pulling a lever back and forth. It was produced in a number of different calibres from rifle up to 25 mm...
was also fitted. Because they were so narrow and shallow the boats could not operate in anything like rough water. Also with plating just 1.6 mm thick, using one of these boats for an attack was perhaps as hazardous for the crew as the target. They were obsolete well before completion, and only the last two had the up-to-date Whitehead "fish" torpedo fitted when built.
In 1884 torpedo boat units were formed to operate them. They were organised in a similar way to the artillery "Navals" with appropriate naval uniforms. They were at first called the Torpedo Branch of the Armed Constabularly. Then in June 1887 they were gazetted as a permanent militia and given the formal, but more manageable title, Torpedo Corps.
Because they had galvanized plating the torpedo boats could not stay in the water, and had to be kept on slipways. Each Torpedo Corps had its own quarters and boatshed. Their main role soon became training, and by 1900 they were well out of date.
| Boat | Name | Port | Service | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 168 | Defender HMS Defender (1883) HMS Defender was a second-class colonial-service torpedo boat built in 1883 for service in New Zealand and abandoned at Lyttelton sometime after 1900. Her remains are today displayed at the Lyttelton Torpedo Boat Museum.-Construction:... |
Lyttelton | 1884–1902 | |
| No. 169 | Port Chalmers | 1884–1902 | ||
| No. 170 | Auckland | 1885–1902 | ||
| No. 171 | Wellington | 1885–1902 |
Calliope Dock
Designed to take vessels up to 500 feet (152.4 m), the dock was the largest in the southern hemisphere. In 1892 the Admiralty acquired from the Harbour Board 4 acres (16,187.4 m²) of reclaimed land adjacent to the dock so they could develop naval workshops.
Subsidies to the Royal Navy
For years the Royal Navy operated an imperial squadron in Australia called the "Australian Squadron". The 1887 Imperial Conference in London lead to a naval agreement that the Australian Squadron would be supplemented by another squadron, a joint Australian and New Zealand naval force of five cruisers and two torpedo gunboats. These ships would be based in Sydney and called the "Australasian Auxiliary Squadron". Two ships, one from the Imperial squadron and one from the new squadron, would be stationed in New Zealand waters. An annual subsidy of £120,000 was to be paid to London by Australia and New Zealand, of which New Zealand's share was £20,000.This policy of subsidising Imperial navy forces allowed the Admiralty to retain central control over the navies, yet for New Zealand it guaranteed a cruiser presence in their waters. It also allowed New Zealanders direct entry into the Royal Navy. This arrangement suited both parties and remained in force for the next twenty years. The 1902 Imperial Conference modified the Naval Agreement and New Zealand's annual subsidy increased to £40,000. The subsidy was further increased in 1908 to £100,000.
A training ship
In 1907 the Marine Department acquired an 805 ton gun boat and converted her to New Zealand's first training ship NZS AmokuraNZS Amokura
HMS Sparrow was a Redbreast-class gunboat launched in 1889, the sixth Royal Navy ship to bear the name. She became the New Zealand training ship NZS Amokura in 1906 and was sold in 1922.-Design:...
. Over the next 14 years, 527 boys trained in her, 25 of them going on to naval service and most of the others into the merchant marine.
The boat was originally a three masted auxiliary barquentine, square rigged on the foremast, fore-and-aft on the after masts. Her hull was composite; carvel teak planking on steel frames.
Gift of battlecruiser
Joseph Ward
Sir Joseph George Ward, 1st Baronet, GCMG was the 17th Prime Minister of New Zealand on two occasions in the early 20th century.-Early life:...
, made an offer to fund "one first-class battleship, and if need be, two" as a gift to the Royal Navy. This offer was accepted by the British Government and the battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
HMS New Zealand
HMS New Zealand (1911)
HMS New Zealand was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Launched in 1911, the ship's construction was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912...
was built by Fairfield for £
Pound sterling
The pound sterling , commonly called the pound, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence...
1,783,190.
The New Zealand was commissioned on 23 November 1912 with three New Zealand officers. After being inspected by the King, she sailed on a ten month world cruise, arriving in Wellington
Wellington
Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...
in April 1913. For ten weeks she called at every port and was inspected by an estimated half a million peoplenearly half the population of the country.
She was 590 feet (179.8 m) long, weighed 19,000 tons, and had four propellers connected to turbine engines of 44000 hp which drove her at 26 knots (51 km/h). New Zealand took part in all three major naval actions in the North Sea: at Heligoland Bight, Dogger Bank
Battle of Dogger Bank (1915)
The Battle of Dogger Bank was a naval battle fought near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea on 24 January 1915, during the First World War, between squadrons of the British Grand Fleet and the German High Seas Fleet....
and Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
. She also contributed to the sinking of two cruiser
Cruiser
A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s.
Throughout these battles the captain wore a Māori piupiu (a warrior's skirt of rolled flax) and a greenstone tiki
Tiki
Tiki refers to large wood and stone carvings of humanoid forms in Central Eastern Polynesian cultures of the Pacific Ocean. The term is also used in Māori mythology where Tiki is the first man, created by either Tūmatauenga or Tāne. He found the first woman, Marikoriko, in a pond – she seduced him...
, given to the ship by an old chieftain in 1913 with the injunction that they were always to be worn by the captain of the New Zealand when she was fighting. The seamen showed much faith in these Māori mascots. According to lower deck legend, the gift included the prophecy that the ship would one day be in action and be hit in three places, but her casualties would not be heavy (this turned out to be true).
The New Zealand was scrapped in 1923. Her 4 inches (101.6 mm) guns came to New Zealand and were used at Fort Dorset and Godley Head. The piupiu also came back to New Zealand and is now in the possession of the Royal New Zealand Naval Museum.
Timeline
- c. 1300: War canoes or waka taua of the Māori
- 1642: Abel TasmanAbel TasmanAbel Janszoon Tasman was a Dutch seafarer, explorer, and merchant, best known for his voyages of 1642 and 1644 in the service of the VOC . His was the first known European expedition to reach the islands of Van Diemen's Land and New Zealand and to sight the Fiji islands...
visits in his ships Heemskerck and Zeehaen - 1769: James CookJames CookCaptain James Cook, FRS, RN was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer who ultimately rose to the rank of captain in the Royal Navy...
visits in his barque HM Bark EndeavourHM Bark EndeavourHMS Endeavour, also known as HM Bark Endeavour, was a British Royal Navy research vessel commanded by Lieutenant James Cook on his first voyage of discovery, to Australia and New Zealand from 1769 to 1771.... - 1788: The colony of New South Wales is founded with a technical responsibility for New Zealand. In practice they had little interest and the responsibility was withdrawn in 1841
- 1790s: British, French and American whalingHistory of whalingThe history of whaling is very extensive, stretching back for millennia. This article discusses the history of whaling up to the commencement of the International Whaling Commission moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986....
, sealingSeal huntingSeal hunting, or sealing, is the personal or commercial hunting of seals. The hunt is currently practiced in five countries: Canada, where most of the world's seal hunting takes place, Namibia, the Danish region of Greenland, Norway and Russia...
and tradingTradeTrade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
ships start arriving in numbers. - 1840: The Treaty of WaitangiTreaty of WaitangiThe Treaty of Waitangi is a treaty first signed on 6 February 1840 by representatives of the British Crown and various Māori chiefs from the North Island of New Zealand....
is signed bringing New Zealand into the British EmpireBritish EmpireThe British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
and giving Māori equal rights with British citizens. - 1840: Auckland becomes the capital
- 1840: Captain Owen Stanley on HMS Britomart draws up an Admiralty Chart of the WaitemataWaitemataWaitemata can be:*Waitemata Harbour, a large bay in New Zealand*Waitemata City, a local government body on the shores of Waitemata Harbour, now part of Waitakere....
- 1840s: The rate of European settlement, primarily from the United Kingdom, becomes considerable.
- 1841: New Zealand is proclaimed a colony, independent of New South Wales, and divided into provinces.
- 1846: First steam warship to visit New Zealand, HMS Driver, 20 Jan 1846
- 1846: First gunboat purchased by a governing authority in New Zealand
- 1848: HMS Acheron, a steam paddle sloop, begins the "Great Survey" of the New Zealand coast
- 1852: The New Zealand Constitution ActNew Zealand Constitution Act 1852The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that granted self-government to the colony of New Zealand...
is passed establishing a colonial government. - 1856: First detailed hydrographic survey of New Zealand ports and the coastline completed.
- 1859: The number of white settlers (PākehāPakehaPākehā is a Māori language word for New Zealanders who are "of European descent". They are mostly descended from British and to a lesser extent Irish settlers of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, although some Pākehā have Dutch, Scandinavian, German, Yugoslav or other ancestry...
) exceeds the number of Māori. - 1860: Naval help is sought from Australia as land wars escalate.
- 1862-1870: To assist in the land wars a temporary navy is established. This is the Waikato flotilla, New Zealand's first de facto navy, comprising eight river boats, four armoured barges, five coastal boats and a naval dockyard.
- 1863: The 300 ton stern wheel gunboat Pioneer, built in Sydney, is the first warship purpose-built for the New Zealand Government. She is followed by two sister ships, Koheroa and Rangiriri.
- 1880s: In response to Russian scares coastal defences are established in the main ports.
- 1882: The first submarine mining steamer is ordered.
- 1884: A spar torpedo boat is attached to each of the main ports.
- 1885–88: Calliope Dock, 500 feet (152.4 m) long, is constructed. It is the largest in the southern hemisphere.
- 1887: The Imperial Conference in London establishes the Australasian Auxiliary Squadron. New Zealand agrees to pay an annual subsidy of £20,000.
- 1904: The Imperial Conference in London increases the annual subsidy to £40,000.
- 1907: New Zealand changes from being a colonyColonyIn politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
to a separate dominion within the commonwealth. - 1907: The Marine Department acquires an 800 ton gun boat and converts her to the New Zealand's first training ship, NZS AmokuraNZS AmokuraHMS Sparrow was a Redbreast-class gunboat launched in 1889, the sixth Royal Navy ship to bear the name. She became the New Zealand training ship NZS Amokura in 1906 and was sold in 1922.-Design:...
. - 1908: The dreadnought battleship race with Germany starts and the Imperial Conference in London increases the annual subsidy to £100,000.
- 1908: Construction of a naval wharf and workshops at Calliope Point begins, funded by the Admiralty.
- 1911: New Zealand gives the battlecruiser, HMS New ZealandHMS New Zealand (1911)HMS New Zealand was one of three s built for the defence of the British Empire. Launched in 1911, the ship's construction was funded by the government of New Zealand as a gift to Britain, and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1912...
, to BritainUnited KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. - 1911: The number of white settlers (Pākehā) reaches one million
- 1913: New Zealand Naval ForcesNew Zealand Naval ForcesNew Zealand Naval Forces was the name given to a division of the Royal Navy. The division was formed in 1913 and it operated under this name until 1921, when it became the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy....
are created as a separate division within the Royal Navy, and marks the end of this article.
External links
- New Zealand Navy Museum: Figurehead, HMS Eclipse
- Baillie, Herbert The First New Zealand Navy (eText)
- Baigent, A J (1959) Coast Artillery Defences
- Flotilla of the Waikato River
- Otago Library: 75 Years of the New Zealand Navy
- NZ Maritime record: Hinemoa 1875–1944
- NZ Maritime record: Spar torpedo boat Defender
- Best, Elsdon (1914) The Shadow of War