Ships and Defence News Past and Present
February 1944, HDML (Harbour Defence Motor Launch) Q1183 – known later as Mako seen at sea in the Auckland Area. Q1183 was used for anti-submarine patrols in the approach to Auckland which meant as far as Cape Brett and the outer Hauraki Gulf. From March 1944 with the Fairmiles away in the Solomon Islands, Q1183 and the other HDMLs also undertook patrol work. #NZNavy #WW2
https://ift.tt/RBTUxJ4 HDML’s, Q1183 HMNZS Mako February 13, 2026 at 01:25PM
Commanding Officer Bronwyn Heslop. Photo: RNZ / Lucy Xia
A senior navy officer facing court martial over allegations of encouraging a junior to kiss her on the cheeks at a bar during an overseas operation in 2023 has been found not guilty of doing an act to prejudice service discipline
She can now be named as the former Ship Commander of HMNZS Canterbury, Bronwyn Heslop.
Heslop, who spent 36 years in the Navy, is currently in the role of Military Maritime Operation Orders – Instructions and Procedures – after Commander Wayne Andrew took on the role of Ship Commander for HMNZS Canterbury in September 2025.
The charge under the Armed Forces Discipline Act, which includes any act likely to bring discredit on the service of the Armed Forces, carries a penalty of up to two years imprisonment.
A panel of three senior military officers, acting as a jury would in a civilian court, delivered their unanimous verdict of “not guilty” on Wednesday morning, after more than five hours of deliberation across Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning, at the Court Martial sitting at the Devonport Naval Base in Auckland.
Former Ship Commander of HMNZS Canterbury Bronwyn Heslop. Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Judge William Hastings declined to grant Heslop name suppression earlier this week, but suppressions had to remain in place after her lawyer signalled an appeal.
However, Heslop’s lawyer told the Court Martial that Wednesday’s verdict meant they no longer had grounds for an appeal and that no appeal would be filed.
Judge Hastings lifted the interim order, which allows media to name Heslop.
On Monday, both the former junior officer who was allegedly encouraged to kiss the senior officer, as well as Heslop, took the witness stand.
The alleged interaction happened in Fiji in March 2023, when the junior officer first joined HMNZS Canterbury, and officers were given leave for a few days after docking and were drinking at a bar in town at night.
Devonport Naval Base. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilson
The former junior officer, who was the sole witness for the prosecution, said the senior officer first caught the attention of him and another junior officer when she tapped on a glass pane and gestured for a kiss through the other side of the glass, and later gestured for them to come inside the bar and tapped on her cheeks to gesture for a kiss.
Heslop denied seeking a kiss on the cheek from the junior officer, and said her level of intoxication was two on a scale of zero to ten, with zero being sober, when they arrived at the bar.
Another navy officer called as a defence witness said they’d spent the majority of that night with Heslop and did not see her with the junior officer.
The former junior officer, during cross-examination by the accused’s lawyer, conceded that he didn’t tell the whole truth when first approached by the military police in August 2024, as he didn’t think he’d be taken seriously and was worried his career would be affected if he spoke up.
Under cross-examination by the defence lawyer, he admitted alcohol affected his memory of some events of the night, but was adamant he had a clear memory of the alleged core interaction with Heslop.
Heslop in 1998 became the first female officer to be in charge of a Royal New Zealand Navy vessel, when she took command of HMNZS Moa.
Heslop’s lawyer Matthew Hague told RNZ the officer had always maintained her innocence, and the unanimous decision by the military panel to dimiss the charge was the right decision.
“Commander Heslop has given 36 years of committed service to the Royal New Zealand Navy and New Zealand, and this process has taken an immense toll on her and her family
“I question the decision of the Defence Force to bring these charges,” he said.
When asked about the impact on Heslop’s career, Hague said the process had been difficult, but she was innocent of all the allegations and looked forward to returning to her career.
Heslop had continued her career over the years since the alleged acts, Hague said.
The military prosecutors have declined to comment.
The New Zealand Defence Force has been approached for comment.
During the military panel’s deliberations on Wednesday morning, they asked Judge Hastings whether it was appropriate to draw “inferences” from the absence of prosecution’s evidence to prove the alleged interaction.
Their question referred to evidence heard in court that there were 60 people at the bar on the night of the alleged interaction, that the junior officer had another officer with him at the time, and that there was a table of officers near Commander Heslop at the bar, telling the judge that it seemed “implausible” that nobody else observed or corroborated any part of the core interaction.
Judge Hastings told the panel that the question of what inferences to draw from evidence presented was a matter for their judgment.
“An inference is a conclusion drawn from facts you accept as reliably established. It is not a guess, not speculation, whether you draw this conclusion is for you to decide,” he said.
The panel returned the verdict within an hour of hearing the judge’s answer to their question.
On Tuesday, Judge Hastings told the military panel that they needed to be sure on whether the Crown had proved beyond reasonable doubt that the senior officer encouraged the junior officer to kiss them, and if so, did they intend to encourage him, did they know they were acting improperly, and was the conduct in the circumstances likely to prejudice service discipline.
Judge Hastings said the answer would need to be yes to all the questions for a member to return a guilty verdict.
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https://ift.tt/BCRpotl RNZN News February 11, 2026 at 03:53PM
Over the past 21 months, Babcock – with support from New Zealand small and medium enterprises (SMEs) – has completed maintenance on Te Mana, working at the Devonport Naval Base dockyard in Auckland.
“Babcock is supported by 600 local New Zealand suppliers, each one critical to supporting the services we provide the Royal New Zealand Navy, and they are integral in supporting the country’s future Defence agenda,” Spratt stated.
Babcock and its partners have led critical upgrades on the frigate including a refurbished propulsion system, and extensive work on the ship’s hull, ensuring Te Mana is mission-ready for future operations.
This has followed Babcock’s maintenance work on HMNZS Aotearoa in Singapore late last year, as well as the ongoing reactivation of HMNZS Otago to return that ship to operational service.
As the Strategic Maritime Partner to the NZDF, Babcock has operated the country’s largest marine engineering and maintenance support facility in Devonport, Auckland.
The company has managed the RNZN dockyard and provided fleet material availability and support in New Zealand for decades, delivering maintenance, repair, overhaul and engineering services to the RNZN fleet.
https://ift.tt/a8NWbhs Anzac Class Frigate, HMNZS Te Mana February 10, 2026 at 07:55PM
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She was one of two Leanders built for the RNZN, the other being the Batch 3 HMNZS Canterbury. These two New Zealand ships relieved British ships of the Armilla patrol during the Falklands conflict, freeing British ships for deployment.
https://ift.tt/oX53Ev6 Leander class of RNZN, Waikato (F55) February 09, 2026 at 04:45PM
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HMNZS Arbutus (K403) was a modified Flower-class corvette of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Built for the Royal Navy as HMS Arbutus, the corvette was transferred to the RNZN on completion in 1944, and operated in the British Pacific Fleet during the final year of World War II. In April 1947, Arbutus was one of the units involved in a mutiny over poor pay and working conditions. She was decommissioned in 1948 and broken up for scrap in 1951.
The corvette was built for the Royal Navy by George Brown & Co of Greenock, Scotland. She was laid down on 3 May 1943, and launched on 26 January 1944. Before completion, she was transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy, and commissioned on 16 June 1944, although not completed until 5 July.[1]
Arbutus departed the United Kingdom for New Zealand on 1 August 1944, but ran aground off Viwa Island. She suffered damage to her rudder, propeller and a 25 foot length of her hull. HMNZS Aroha towed Arbutus to Auckland for repairs, which were not complete until April 1945.[2] In May, Arbutus was offered for service in the British Pacific Fleet and sent to Sydney for fitting out as a radio and radar maintenance ship. She joined the fleet train in Japanese waters on 28 July and serviced at least forty ships of Task Force 37. Arbutus was then assigned to escorting supply ships and was present in Hong Kong for the Japanese Surrender.[3]
In early February, Arbutus was deployed on a two-month show the flag cruise around the Pacific Islands.[4] The deployment had seen several incidents, the first of which occurred while the ship was docked in Tahiti; sailors who were meant to be guarding the ship became drunk, after which a crowd of Tahitians attempted to board the ship and remove equipment.[5] On departure, the corvette sailed into a heavy storm, which lasted for several days.[6] Waves breaking over the bow rendered the bridge unusable, and many aboard—including the ship’s cat, for the first and only time in its life—were seasick.[6] Water contamination of the fuel oil taken on in Tahiti damaged the propulsion machinery, further adding to the problems.[6] When Arbutus finally limped into port at the end of March, the ship’s company were informed that they would only remain at HMNZS Philomel long enough to take on aviation fuel and supplies to be delivered to the Cook Islands.[6]
At the time of Arbutus‘ return to Philomel, there were problems affecting sailors across the RNZN.[7] The main cause of unhappiness was a pay review due to be released in the next few days; the review was a year late, and sailors learned that they would still be underpaid in comparison to Army and Air Force equivalents, and that the government had backed down on its promise to backdate the pay to the original due date of the review.[8] In addition, attempts to improve the working and living conditions aboard RNZN ships through lower-deck committees had proven to be ineffective.[8]
On the morning of 1 April, 100 sailors at Philomel refused duty at morning parade; they were later joined by personnel from HMNZS Black Prince which was undergoing refits at the base.[9] The ship’s company of Arbutus had been confined to the ship in preparation for their imminent departure, but at 14:00, representatives of the mutineers walked up to the dock next to the corvette and began discussions with those aboard.[10] All the sailors aboard Arbutus joined the mutiny, bringing the numbers up to 200.[10] That afternoon, the mutineers marched off the base.[10] Although the government agreed to make the new pay rates retrospective, the mutineers intended to remain off base until the rest of their demands were met. This did not happen; on 3 April, the sailors were ordered to return to work and accept punishment or be discharged.[11] Of the 200, only 23 men returned to the base, they, along with 18 British loan personnel were used to man Arbutus and get her underway for the Cook Islands that afternoon.[12] In their haste to separate the loyalists from further mutinous influences, the ship was not properly provisioned, and all aboard were forced to eat canned pilchards for the entire voyage.[12]
Arbutus was paid off in 1948, and returned to the Royal Navy. She was broken up for scrap in June 1951 at Dunston, Tyne and Wear.[citation needed]
https://ift.tt/4Kkju5d Flower Class of the RNZN, HMNZS Arbutus February 09, 2026 at 04:34PM
Ships and Defence News Past and Present
