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When HMS Achilles opened fire on the German ‘pocket battleship’ Admiral Graf Spee on 13 December 1939, it became the first NZ unit to engage the enemy in the Second World War. Seventy one years on, the Battle of the River Plate still holds a special place in this country's naval history.
Able Seaman Joseph Pedersen, RNZN 2337, joined the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1940. In 1942 he was posted to the destroyer, HMS Lookout on which he served in the Mediterranean and in the Allied invasion of Sicily in September 1943 as he describes here.
New Zealand's naval forces and strategy before the outbreak of the Second World War.
Although it was waged half a world away, few military campaigns were as vital to New Zealand's interests as the Battle of the Atlantic. A German victory, which would have severed this country's links with Britain, was one of the gravest threats New Zealand has ever faced.
The outbreak of the Second World War and New Zealand naval involvement in the Battle of the Atlantic.
HMS Achilles joins the Royal Navy's South America Division patrolling the South Atlantic in search of German raiders.
The British cruisers Achilles, Ajax and Exeter engage the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee in battle.
The aftermath of the battle and the return of HMS Achilles to New Zealand.
The First World War experience convinced Allen that New Zealand’s approach to naval defence had been on the right lines.
Map showing British naval operations around Crete, 20 May - 1 June 1941
This memorial records the names of the one officer and five seamen of the Royal Navy ships HMS Curacoa and HMS Harrier who died in the battle at Rangiriri

Ships and commissioned shore establishments of the Royal New Zealand Navy fly the New Zealand White Ensign.

During its 10-week New Zealand tour, more than half a million people visited the battleship, which this country had gifted to the Royal Navy.

Jack Ingham, the commanding officer on a Royal Navy Landing Craft, describes his journey across the English Channel on D-Day.

Eric Krull, the second officer on a Royal Navy Landing Craft, describes the scene on Gold Beach on D-Day.
O'Brien Reeve travelled from New Zealand to England as a volunteer for the Royal Navy.
Troops of the Second Echelon of 2NZEF and sailors of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve parade at Parliament, Wellington, on 27 April 1940, shortly before their departure.