HMNZS Monowai (A06) was a hydrographic survey

Hydrographic survey

Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/drilling and related disciplines. Strong emphasis is placed on soundings, shorelines, tides, currents, sea floor and submerged...

 vessel 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...

 (RNZN) from when she was commissioned in 1977 until 1997.

Construction and acquisition

The ship was laid down by Grangemouth Dockyard in Scotland in 1960, and spent the first part of her operational life as the New Zealand Government Island supply/passenger vessel GMV Moana Roa.

She was acquired in 1975 and converted over a two year period to replace her predecessor, HMNZS Lachlan. Monowai was the second of two ships with this name to serve in the RNZN. She was named after the glacial lake Monowai

Lake Monowai

Lake Monowai is a large lake in the southern part of Fiordland National Park, in New Zealand's South Island, 120 kilometres northwest of Invercargill. At an altitude of 180 metres in a long curved valley, the lake appears on maps shaped like a letter "U". The western part of the lake is set in...

. Monowai is a Māori

Maori language

Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...

 word meaning "channel full of water".

Operational history

During her naval service she was known as the "ghost of the coast", as she quietly remapped most of the New Zealand coastline including the Chatham, Cambell, and Auckland Islands, as well as the many sub-Antarctic islands in New Zealand's responsibility. She also acted as a resupply vessel to Campbell and other sub-Antarctic islands, served as an "official residence" for VIPs and dignitaries at Pacific Island conferences, monitored Chinese missile splashdown tests, stood by Fiji after military coups with a platoon of naval gunners to assist in possible NZ civilian evacuations, participated in the ANZCAN cable route survey and in international searches for sea mounts and shoals. She carried a helicopter and undertook rescue or aid missions, saving the lives of eight people during the New Zealand to Tonga Yacht Regatta.

Decommissioning and fate

Monowai was replaced in 1997 by HMNZS Resolution, formerly USNS Tenacious. She was sold to British buyers, Hebridean Island Cruises, for conversion into a Cruise Ship in 1998. She was laid up at Lowestoft in England after being found unsuitable for her intended use until 2002 when she was finally sent to Spanish shipbreakers.

External links

• "Ghost of the coast" decommissioned
• HMNZS Monowai
• HMNZS Monowai