The 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...

 Division of the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

was formed in 1921 and remained in existence until 1941. It was the precursor to the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN)

Royal New Zealand Navy

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

.

Originally the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Royal Navy provided total security for the colony of New Zealand. The passing of the Naval Defence Act 1913 created the New Zealand Naval Forces

New Zealand Naval Forces

New Zealand Naval Forces was the name given to a division of the Royal Navy. The division was formed in 1913 and it operated under this name until 1921, when it became the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy....

 as a separate division within the Royal Navy.

In 1921 the New Zealand Naval Forces were renamed the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. Funded by Wellington and increasingly manned by New Zealanders, it operated 14 ships over a period of 21 years, including the cruisers HMS Achilles

HMNZS Achilles (70)

HMNZS Achilles was a Leander class light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy in World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, alongside HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter....

 and HMS Leander

HMNZS Leander

HMNZS Leander was a light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship of a class of eight ships, the Leander class light cruiser and was initially named HMS Leander.- History :...

, the training minesweeper HMS Wakakura

HMNZS Wakakura (T00)

HMNZS Wakakura was originally a First World War naval trawler built in Canada. She was purchased by New Zealand in 1926 and transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy when it was established in 1941...

, and the elderly HMS Philomel

HMS Philomel (1890)

HMS Philomel was a Pearl-class cruiser. She was the sixth ship of that name and served with the Royal Navy from her commissioning in 1890 until 1914, when she was transferred to the New Zealand Navy with whom she served until 1947...

 which was recommissioned as a base training establishment.

Ships of the New Zealand Division

Sortable list covering the period from the inception of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1921 to the formation of the Royal New Zealand Navy on 1 October 1941.

Name	Pnnt Pennant number In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...	Type	Class	Com Ship commissioning Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...	Decom	Notes
HMS Achilles HMNZS Achilles (70) HMNZS Achilles was a Leander class light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy in World War II. She became famous for her part in the Battle of the River Plate, alongside HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter....	70	Cruiser Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...	Leander class Leander class cruiser (1931) The Leander class was a class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s that saw service in World War II. They were named after mythological figures, and all ships were commissioned between 1933 and 1936...	1936	1941	1941–1946 was HMNZS Achilles in the RNZN Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
HMS Auckland	L61	Convoy Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...  sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...	Grimsby class Grimsby class sloop With the realisation that war was approaching, 13 Grimsby class sloops were laid down in the mid to late 1930s. Of these eight were built in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy, four in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy and one for India...	1938	1939	Nominated only.
HMS Chatham HMS Chatham (1911) HMS Chatham was a Town-class light cruiser of the Royal Navy launched on 9 November 1911 from Chatham Dockyard. She was the lead ship of the Chatham subgroup....		Cruiser Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...	Town class Town class cruiser (1910) The Town class was a group of twenty-one light cruisers built for the Royal Navy and Royal Australian Navy . These vessels were long-range cruisers, suitable for patrolling the vast expanse covered by the British Empire...	1920	1924	Replaced by Dunedin in 1924
HMS Diomede	D92	Cruiser Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...	Danae class Danae class cruiser The Danae or D-class was a class of light cruiser built for the Royal Navy at the end of World War I and that survived to see service in World War II.-Design:...	1926	1935	Replaced by Achilles in 1936
HMS Dunedin	D93	Cruiser Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...	Danae class Danae class cruiser The Danae or D-class was a class of light cruiser built for the Royal Navy at the end of World War I and that survived to see service in World War II.-Design:...	1924	1937	Replaced by Leander in 1937
HMS Laburnum	T48	Convoy Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...  sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...	Acacia class Acacia class sloop The Acacia class was a class of twenty-four sloops that were ordered in January 1915 under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in World War I as part of the larger "Flower Class", which were also referred to as the "Cabbage Class", or "Herbaceous Borders"...	1922	1935	Flower class sloop Flower class sloop The Flower class comprised five sub-classes of sloops built under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy during World War I, all of which were named after various flowers...
HMS Leander HMNZS Leander HMNZS Leander was a light cruiser which served with the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II. She was the lead ship of a class of eight ships, the Leander class light cruiser and was initially named HMS Leander.- History :...		Cruiser Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...	Leander class Leander class cruiser (1931) The Leander class was a class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s that saw service in World War II. They were named after mythological figures, and all ships were commissioned between 1933 and 1936...	1937	1941	1941–1944 was HMNZS Leander in the RNZN Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
HMS Leith	L36	Convoy Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...  sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...	Grimsby class Grimsby class sloop With the realisation that war was approaching, 13 Grimsby class sloops were laid down in the mid to late 1930s. Of these eight were built in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy, four in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy and one for India...	1934	1939
RFA Nucula	L61	Fleet oiler		1924	1937	oil hulk 1937–1947
HMS Philomel HMS Philomel (1890) HMS Philomel was a Pearl-class cruiser. She was the sixth ship of that name and served with the Royal Navy from her commissioning in 1890 until 1914, when she was transferred to the New Zealand Navy with whom she served until 1947...		Cruiser Cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...	Pearl class Pearl class cruiser The Pearl-class cruiser was a class of nine third-class cruisers designed by Sir William White, five of which were paid for by Australia under the terms of the Imperial Defence Act of 1887 to serve in Australian waters.-Design:...	1921	1941	"Cradle of the Navy." 1914–1921 was HMS Philomel in the NZ Naval Forces New Zealand Naval Forces New Zealand Naval Forces was the name given to a division of the Royal Navy. The division was formed in 1913 and it operated under this name until 1921, when it became the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy.... . 1941–1947 became HMNZS Philomel HMNZS Philomel HMNZS Philomel is the main administrative naval baseof the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally a training base on board the cruiser it takes its name from, it is part of the Devonport Naval Base in North Shore City, Auckland, New Zealand.-History:...  in the RNZN Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
HMS Puriri (T02)	T02	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:...	Converted merchant ship	1941	1941	14 May 1941 struck a German mine 9 miles NE of the Whangarei heads Bream Head Bream Head is a promontory on the east coast of Northland in the North Island of New Zealand. Located at the end of a 30 kilometre-long peninsula, the head juts into the Pacific Ocean to the southeast of Whangarei...  and sunk with the loss of five crew members.
HMS Torch		Convoy Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...  sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...		1921	1924	1914–1921 was HMS Torch in the NZ Naval Forces New Zealand Naval Forces New Zealand Naval Forces was the name given to a division of the Royal Navy. The division was formed in 1913 and it operated under this name until 1921, when it became the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy.... . Also called a gun boat. Wrecked in Chatham Islands. Picture
HMS Veronica HMS Veronica HMS Veronica was an Acacia-class sloop of the Royal Navy, built by Dunlop Bremner & Company, Port Glasgow. She was laid down in January 1915, launched on 27 May 1915 and completed in August 1915...	T67	Convoy Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...  sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...	Acacia class Acacia class sloop The Acacia class was a class of twenty-four sloops that were ordered in January 1915 under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy in World War I as part of the larger "Flower Class", which were also referred to as the "Cabbage Class", or "Herbaceous Borders"...	1920	1934	Flower class sloop Flower class sloop The Flower class comprised five sub-classes of sloops built under the Emergency War Programme for the Royal Navy during World War I, all of which were named after various flowers...
HMS Wellington HMS Wellington HMS Wellington is a Grimsby-class sloop, formerly of the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, she served as a convoy escort ship in the North Atlantic...	L65	Convoy Convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...  sloop Sloop-of-war In the 18th and most of the 19th centuries, a sloop-of-war was a warship with a single gun deck that carried up to eighteen guns. As the rating system covered all vessels with 20 guns and above, this meant that the term sloop-of-war actually encompassed all the unrated combat vessels including the...	Grimsby class Grimsby class sloop With the realisation that war was approaching, 13 Grimsby class sloops were laid down in the mid to late 1930s. Of these eight were built in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy, four in Australia for the Royal Australian Navy and one for India...	1935	1939
HMS Wakakura HMNZS Wakakura (T00) HMNZS Wakakura was originally a First World War naval trawler built in Canada. She was purchased by New Zealand in 1926 and transferred to the Royal New Zealand Navy when it was established in 1941...	T00	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:...	Castle class	1926	1941	1941–1945 was HMNZS Wakakura in the RNZN Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...

Transition to the Royal New Zealand Navy

When Britain went to war against Germany in 1939, New Zealand promptly declared war and expanded its naval forces. In recognition that the naval force was now largely self-sufficient and independent of the Royal Navy, the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy became the Royal New Zealand Navy

Royal New Zealand Navy

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

(RNZN) in 1941.

According to the Royal Navy web site, in 1941 there were

• 2 Cruisers
• 2 Escort Vessels
• 1 Survey Vessel
• 1 Minesweeping Vessel

as well as miscellaneous ships.

The prefix "royal" was granted by King George VI on 1 October 1941, and ships thereafter were prefixed with HMNZS (His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship).

External links

• New Zealand Navy Museum 1921 The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy
• The Jellicoe Report
• Royal Navy History The Royal New Zealand Navy
• HMS Chatham New Zealand's first cruiser