HMNZS Moa (T233) was a Bird class

Bird class minesweeper

The Bird class minesweeper was a naval trawler built to Admiralty specifications so it could function as a minesweeper. Forty-five were built. The RNZN ships were also referred to as corvettes....

 minesweeper

Minesweeper (ship)

A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...

 of the Royal New Zealand Navy

Royal New Zealand Navy

The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...

.

On 29 January 1943, with her sister ship Kiwi

HMNZS Kiwi (T102)

HMNZS Kiwi was a Bird class minesweeper of the Royal New Zealand Navy.She was commissioned in 1941 for minesweeping and anti-submarine roles. From 1948 to 1956 she functioned as a training ship....

, Moa helped ram and wreck the Japanese submarine I-1

Japanese submarine I-1

The Japanese submarine I-1 was a J1 type submarine built by Kawasaki, Kobe, for the Imperial Japanese Navy. She was a large cruiser submarine displacing 2,135 tons and was the lead of four boats built in the class....

. At the time Moa was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Peter Phipps

Peter Phipps

Pete Phipps is a rock drummer, singer and songwriter known for his work with Gary Glitter, The Glitter Band, and later Eurythmics, XTC and Denim.-Biography:...

, later Vice Admiral Sir Peter Phipps.

On 7 April 1943, Japanese aircraft sank Moa at Tulagi Harbour in the Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...

. The ship sustained a direct hit from a 500-pound bomb and sank within four minutes. Five ratings were killed and seven were seriously wounded.

Moa was the first of two

HMNZS Moa

The name HMNZS Moa may apply to* HMNZS Moa , a minesweeper commissioned in 1941* HMNZS Moa , a patrol boat commissioned in 1983...

 boats with this name to serve in the Royal New Zealand Navy and was named after a native bird from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

.

Further reading

• Harker, Jack (2000)The Rockies: New Zealand Minesweepers at War. Silver Owl Press. ISBN 0959797998

External links

• Photo of the wreck of I-1
• Reminiscences RNZN Communications Association.