Category Archives: All RNZN/NZDF News Past and Present

Frigates – Type 12 Whitby Class- HMS/HMNZS Blackpool (F77)

HMS/HMNZS Blackpool was a Whitby-class or Type 12 anti-submarine frigate of the Royal Navy/Royal New Zealand Navy. Service history[edit] Blackpool was leader of the 6th Frigate Squadron between 1958 and 1960 and was commanded by Edward Ashmore.[1] Between 1962 and 1964 she was part of the 25th Escort squadron consisting of HMS Rothesay (Capt Place VC) (Capt D), HMS Cavendish, HMS Brighton, HMS Blackpool and HMS LlandaffContinue reading “Frigates – Type 12 Whitby Class- HMS/HMNZS Blackpool (F77)”

Cruiser – HMNZS Monowai (F59) (armed merchant cruiser) was a former Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) merchant vessel. At the outbreak of World War II she became an armed merchant cruiser of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN).

She subsequently became HMS Monowai, a Landing Ship, Infantry and mostly operated as a troopship. In 1946 she returned to her old trade as a passenger ship. Civilian career SS Razmak was built at Greenock yard for P&O by Harland & Wolff, launched in 1924 and completed on 26 February 1925.[1] She was designed for service between Bombay and Aden and spent several years in the Mediterranean Sea. WhenContinue reading “Cruiser – HMNZS Monowai (F59) (armed merchant cruiser) was a former Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) merchant vessel. At the outbreak of World War II she became an armed merchant cruiser of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN).”

Cruiser – HMS/HMNZS Royalist (C89)

HMS Royalist was a Bellona-class (improved Dido-class) light cruiser of the Royal Navy (RN) and Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) during the Second World War and early Cold War. After her commissioning in 1943, Royalist was modified with extra facilities and crew for operating as a flagship in aircraft carrier operations. Initially, she operated in the North Sea before transferring to the Mediterranean for the invasion of southern France. Royalist remained in the Aegean Sea until the end of 1944 beforeContinue reading “Cruiser – HMS/HMNZS Royalist (C89)”