DEFENCE – ARMED SERVICES: NAVY, ROYAL NEW ZEALAND

Although the Royal New Zealand Navy was formally constituted in 1941, its development can be traced back for more than a century, and falls into four separate phases. In the first, which began even before the Treaty of Waitangi of February 1840 and continued for 47 years after it, 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 1887 the second phase began. In answer to requests from New Zealand for more protection owing to growing French and German interests in the Pacific, Britain agreed to maintain seven additional ships in Australasian waters, and Australia and New Zealand agreed to make an annual contribution toward their cost. New Zealand's share was initially 20,000 a year. This increased to 40,000 in 1903, and in 1908 was voluntarily set at 100,000 a year for a period of 10 years.

Organisation

The third phase came in 1913 when New Zealand decided to prepare her own naval organisation. The Naval Defence Act authorised the Government to establish naval forces which would pass to the control of the Admiralty in the event of war. A Naval Adviser was appointed and a light cruiser, HMS Philomel, was obtained as a training ship from the Royal Navy. The First World War intervened and it was not until 1921 that the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy was constituted. Its first ship, HMS Chatham, arrived the same year. New Zealand's naval organisation took shape slowly over the succeeding years. In 1939 the Division consisted of two cruisers, a minesweeping trawler, and a small base and dockyard. The Division had a strength of eight officers and 716 ratings (with 74 officers and 541 ratings on loan from the Royal Navy), and a Volunteer Reserve of 70 officers and 600 ratings.

The Second World War brought expansion to a 1945 peak of 10,649 officers and ratings. The Navy's cruisers fought from the River Plate in 1939 to the final operations against Japan in 1945. And minesweepers worked around the New Zealand coast (one was sunk sweeping mines in the Hauraki Gulf) and as far north as the forward areas in the Solomon Islands. In addition, close to 7,000 men served with the Royal Navy in every major battle area of the war, and in every type of unit from aircraft to submarines.

Reconstitution

Meanwhile, in 1941 the New Zealand Division had been reconstituted as the Royal New Zealand Navy; the final phase had been reached in the Dominion's naval development. Little could be done to effect the change until the war ended, but in 1945, while it was simultaneously arranging the demobilisation of thousands of “hostilities only” men, the New Zealand Naval Board was faced with the necessity of recruiting for the new navy and forming an organisation for its operation and control. To add urgency to the problem, the Korean War broke out in 1950, and from July of that year until the cease fire in July 1953 two frigates were constantly in the area serving under the command of the United Nations.

Few services can have had a more warlike beginning—the Royal New Zealand Navy was on a whole, or partly, war footing for nine of its first 12 years—and, not surprisingly, an organisation was built which was substantially patterned on that of the Royal Navy. From the outset it was realised that there would be a shortage of experienced senior officers. Plans were made to obtain these on loan from the Royal Navy, but at the same time a programme was decided upon whereby these loan officers would eventually be replaced by New Zealanders. This programme was completed in 1960. As it has now emerged, the Royal New Zealand Navy is designed in war to cooperate with allied forces in the protection of sea communications, in the denial of the sea to an enemy, and in the support of land forces. It has a predominantly antisubmarine role, and its equipment, training, and organisation have been designed to permit easy cooperation with the navies of those countries with whom New Zealand has concluded defence agreements.

In peace the Navy carries out a varied function. Its ships take part in regular exercises held by the defensive alliances to which New Zealand belongs, and one ship is usually on the Far East Station. In addition, the ships cruise among the Pacific Islands, visit the Antarctic, survey the coast, enforce fishery regulations, carry supplies to remote weather stations, and fulfill a training programme that involves the instruction and sea training of regulars, reservists, and sea cadets. These operations are controlled by the New Zealand Naval Board which is situated in Wellington. The Board consists of three naval officers, one responsible for operations, the second for personnel, and the third for matériel, together with an officer of the Public Service who is Permanent

Head of the Navy Department and is responsible for finance. Supporting the Board are a staff of naval officers and the Department's administrative organisation. There are two liaison officers, one in Canberra and the other in London, and the Navy has representation through joint services posts in Singapore and Washington.

The Commodore at Auckland is responsible for the Auckland command which contains most of the Navy's shore establishments. The shore establishments, HMNZS Philomel and HMNZ Dockyard, occupy adjacent sites across the harbour from the port area, and the training establishment, HMNZS Tamaki, is at Narrow Neck. Other smaller depots, including the Kauri Point Armament Depot, are at various points around the gulf. Outside Auckland, but still within the command is HMNZS Irirangi, the naval radio station at Waiouru.

In general, the Navy maintains in commission a cruiser and three frigates, a survey ship, and a number of smaller units, with a further frigate either paying off or working up as a replacement for one of those in operational service. The composition of this operational section varies, however, and those ships not in use are maintained in varying degrees of reserve in the Reserve Fleet. To maintain this system, the Navy has an approved strength of 3,350 officers and ratings. There is also a Women's Royal New Zealand Naval Service, a Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve with divisions in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, and Dunedin, and a substantial inactive reserve.

by Commander Bryan Desmond Pope, Public Relations Officer, Navy Department, Wellington.