The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) was established on 1 October 1941. As an institution of the state, it had a long gestation. Its emergence took several forms as New Zealand sought to meet its naval defence needs within a relatively small resource base – a perennial problem. Today the Navy is part of the New Zealand Defence Force.
HMNZS <em>Leander</em>
The Royal NZ Navy's Bird-class ships
When the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy became the Royal New Zealand Navy on 1 October 1941, it had three brand-new ships working up or fitting out in Scotland.
Capture - Prisoners of War
Origins - Royal NZ Navy
Although some gunboats were acquired by the colonial government during the New Zealand Wars in the 1860s and torpedo boats for the coast defences in the 1880s, the genesis of the modern Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) dates from 1887.
Preparing for war - First World War overview
New Zealand’s response to the outbreak of war was not only a matter of supporting Mother England; self-interest was also at work. New Zealand was dependent on the British market for the sale of the wool, frozen meat and dairy products that dominated its economy. Anything that threatened this market threatened New Zealand's livelihood. New Zealand relied on Britain’s naval power to protect its physical integrity and its trade on the long haul to the British market.
'Pocket corvettes' - the navy's Bird-class ships
The Royal New Zealand Navy's new Bird-class ships were unusual. Although they looked a little like the Admiralty’s Isles-class minesweeping trawlers, their extended forecastles gave them more of a naval look. In terms of punch and power they slotted somewhere in between minesweeping trawlers and corvettes, as the following table shows:
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Isles-class |
Bird-class Leander-class light cruisers - HMNZS <em>Leander</em><em>Leander</em> goes to warHMS Achilles won instant immortality in the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939. Leander’s early war was much quieter. Early wartime duties - the navy's Bird-class shipsWhen the New Zealand government ordered the Bird-class ships in September 1939, it gave the job to Henry Robb Ltd of Leith, Scotland. Robbs, as most people called it, specialised in short-sea ships and had built many recent vessels for the Union Steam Ship Company and its subsidiaries. In designing the Birds, Robbs drew on recent experience, including HMS Bassett (1935) and HMS Mastiff (1938). Other Ministry Websites
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