The vessel was ordered after the New Zealand government, facing a requirement for more minesweepers to operate in home waters, chose the Castle-class design because it was simple enough to be built with the country’s limited ship construction facilities at the time.[1] Operational history [edit] Waipu was the sixth of the nine steel minesweepers constructed for the Royal New Zealand Navy andContinue reading “HMNZS Waipu was one of eight steel New Zealand-built Castle-class ships built and commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II.”
Author Archives: Currin Family
Castle Class NZ – HMNZS Hautapu (T26/T340)
HMNZS Hautapu was one of eight steel New Zealand-built Castle-class trawlers built and commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. Background [edit] The vessel was ordered after the New Zealand government, facing a requirement for more minesweepers to operate in home waters, chose the Castle-class design because it was simple enough to be built with the country’s limited ship construction facilities at theContinue reading “Castle Class NZ – HMNZS Hautapu (T26/T340)”
Castle Class – RNZN built, not completed as HMNZS Waikato, later SS Taiaroa (1943)
HMNZS Waikato under construction, 1943 – Not commissioned HMNZS Waikato under construction, 1943 Waikato being launched, 1943 The minesweeper HMNZS Waikato in the Waitematā Harbour immediately after launching, crowds attending the launch ceremony at the Marine Departments Construction Yard in the foreground Castle Class – RNZN built, not completed as HMNZS Waikato, later SS TaiaroaContinue reading “Castle Class – RNZN built, not completed as HMNZS Waikato, later SS Taiaroa (1943)”
Castle Class – RNZN built, not completed as HMNZS Tawhai, later transferred to UNRRA (1943)
Tawhai launch Tawhai sandwiched in the middle Just a peek of Tawhai Tawhai alongside HMNZS Tawhai was a New Zealand-built composite Castle-class trawler built for the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II for the intention for use as a minesweeper, later being converted into a fishing trawler. Background[edit] The vessel was ordered after the New Zealand government, facing a requirement for more minesweepers to operate in homeContinue reading “Castle Class – RNZN built, not completed as HMNZS Tawhai, later transferred to UNRRA (1943)”
HMNZS Wakakura (T00) was originally a First World War Castle-class naval trawler built in Canada.
Wakakura in Ly Ordered by the Admiralty, the vessel, named TR 1, was loaned to the Royal Canadian Navy for use on the East Coast of Canada. She was purchased by New Zealand in 1926 and transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy when it was established in 1941. She displaced 530 tons standard, could manage 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) and was equipped withContinue reading “HMNZS Wakakura (T00) was originally a First World War Castle-class naval trawler built in Canada.”
