HMNZS Gale (T04) was a coastal cargo boat which was requisitioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy

Royal New Zealand Navy

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

 (RNZN) and converted into a minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

. She was the first 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...

 vessel to go into action against Japan.

Gale was owned by the Canterbury Steam Shipping Company. She was one of four ships requisitioned as a consequence of the German auxiliary cruiser Orion

German auxiliary cruiser Orion

Orion was an auxiliary cruiser of the German navy which operated as a merchant raider during World War II. Built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg in 1930/31 as the freighter Kurmark, she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine at the outbreak of World War II and converted into the auxiliary cruiser Orion,...

's minefield and the loss of the liner Niagara

RMS Niagara

RMS Niagara was an ocean liner launched on 17 August 1912 and owned by the Union Steam Ship Company. She was nicknamed "the Titanic of the Pacific", but after the sinking of the real RMS Titanic this was dropped in favour of "Queen of the Pacific"...

, the others being Matai

HMNZS Matai (T01)

HMNZS Matai was a Marine Department lighthouse tender which was requisitioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy and converted into a minesweeper.-Operational history:...

, Puriri and Rata. She was taken over on 10 October 1940 and handed to the dockyard for conversion. She was a sister ship to Breeze

HMNZS Breeze (T02)

HMNZS Breeze was a coastal cargo boat which was requisitioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy and converted into a minesweeper....

.

Operational history

Gale joined the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla in April 1941, sweeping for German mines in the Hauraki Gulf

Hauraki Gulf

The Hauraki Gulf is a coastal feature of the North Island of New Zealand. It has a total area of 4000 km², and lies between the Auckland Region, the Hauraki Plains, the Coromandel Peninsula and Great Barrier Island...

. On 14 May, she rescued the survivors of the Puriri sinking. Later in 1941, the flotilla swept suspected minefield areas such as near Cuvier Island and Farewell Spit

Farewell Spit

Farewell Spit is a narrow sand spit situated at , at the northern end of the South Island of New Zealand. Known to the Māori as Tuhuroa, it runs eastwards from Cape Farewell, the island's northernmost point...

. In December 1941 Gale detached to relieve Viti in Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

. She returned to New Zealand for refit in February 1942.

In June 1942, Gale was deployed to Noumea

Nouméa

Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...

 for port minesweeping duties where she was the first New Zealand vessel to deploy with COMSOPAC, the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

's South Pacific Command, then taking over command of the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla. On 5 August, Gale located a missing US amphibious aircraft, rescued the crew, and towed it back to Noumea. The ship subsequently received a US commendation. Gale sailed back to New Zealand on 30 October 1942; she was then assigned to Wellington as a port minesweeper with the Second Minesweeping Group.

In February 1943, Gale rejoined the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla at Tulagi in the Solomons. In April 1943, her sister ship Breeze arrived at Tulagi, at which point Gale, Breeze and Matai

HMNZS Matai (T01)

HMNZS Matai was a Marine Department lighthouse tender which was requisitioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy and converted into a minesweeper.-Operational history:...

 were formed into the 9th Auxiliary Minesweeping group. They carried out night-time patrol and escort duties under COMSOPAC control. The Japanese were largely well to the north by this time, but occasionally made sudden attacks into American strongholds around Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal

Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...

.

From time to time flotilla boats would return to Auckland for refit, usually escorting freighters bound the same way. By mid-1944, the owners were demanding the return of Gale and her twin Breeze. COMSOPAC released her on 20 September 1944.

Fate

Gale was sold to a Malayan buyer in 1962 and renamed Jasa of Hong Kong, later Panama. She was reported in 1970 as broken up.

Further reading

• Harker, Jack (2000)The Rockies: New Zealand Minesweepers at War. Silver Owl Press. ISBN 0959797998