Tag Archives: the News and New Zealand Military

HMNZS Phyllis – In 1942 Phyllis was one of four vessels purchased by the Navy for use as a dan layer. Dan layers were used by the Navy for marking channels cleared by the minesweepers with buoys. Phyllis was given the Pennant No. T22, and operated out of Auckland until 1942.483

  Unverified photo of HMNZS Phyllis Bow of Phyllis (T22) seen just astern of the Fairmiles The steel hulled single-screw steam trawler Phyllis was built at the Framnaes Mechanical Workshops, Sandefjord, Norway and assembled at the Seattle Construction and Dry Dock Co, Washington, USA in 1912. The vessel was constructed as Star III for theContinue reading “HMNZS Phyllis – In 1942 Phyllis was one of four vessels purchased by the Navy for use as a dan layer. Dan layers were used by the Navy for marking channels cleared by the minesweepers with buoys. Phyllis was given the Pennant No. T22, and operated out of Auckland until 1942.483”

HMS Puriri (T02) (New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy,) was a coastal cargo boat which was requisitioned by the Navy and converted into a minesweeper. She was sunk by a German mine 25 days after she was commissioned.

  HMS Puriri Memorial Ocean Beach, Whangarei Heads, New Zealand Boat sent from Gale to pick up crew The Gale which was a mile and a half or more ahead of us came back and lowered a boat and picked us up.  One of the Cruisers (Achilles)was returning to base and she sent over aContinue reading “HMS Puriri (T02) (New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy,) was a coastal cargo boat which was requisitioned by the Navy and converted into a minesweeper. She was sunk by a German mine 25 days after she was commissioned.”

HMNZS Humphrey : Converted trawler – minesweeper

111 Pennant No.: 8 1939-40, T06 after November 1940 Taken Over: 5 September 1939 by the NZ Division of the Royal Navy Commissioned: 16 October 1939 as HMS Humphrey Decommissioned: 18 April 1944 Displacement: 206 grt Dimensions: 35.3 x 6.7m ON: 143961 Port: Auckland Owner: Sanford Ltd., Auckland Built: 1918 by I.J. Abdela & Mitchell.Continue reading “HMNZS Humphrey : Converted trawler – minesweeper”

HMNZS Wakakura (T00) was originally a First World War Castle-class naval trawler built in Canada. 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.

HMNZS Wakakura,  Lyttleton, NZ Wakakura remained in commission throughout the Second World War and was sold to Tasman Steamship Co and converted to a refrigerated cargo vessel in 1947. “A little trawler paid a big part in the lives of New Zealand’s pre-war and wartime naval reservists. Her Majesty’s Trawler (later HMNZS) Wakakura, purchased fromContinue reading “HMNZS Wakakura (T00) was originally a First World War Castle-class naval trawler built in Canada. 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.”