ROYAL N.Z. NAVY

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 8, 21 September 1943, Page 6

ROYAL N.Z. NAVY

SERVING IN SEVEN SEAS

PROVED GOOD SEAMEN

It is not generally known that over 7'200 New Zealanders arc serving on ships ol' war on the seven seas. The total is ten times as great as at the outbreak of Avar. Of tlie.se,, 2700 give service in the Royal Navy. They are found on ail types of ships, from battleships and aircraftcarriers to submarines and .small patrol craft. Some commanded minesweepers. in the English Channel during the. perilous days after Dunkirk. A New Zcalander on a motor torpedo boat claims the distinction of being the Navy'.s youngest officer in command of any craft. Modern Training Nearly 3000 recruits await entry into the Navy. H.M.N.Z.S. Tamaki the modern training establishment set xip .since the war bc'gan, turns out (vOO recruits, a year. ■ Flans laid before the outbreak of war enabled the New Zealand Naval Base to berth and repair largo, ships. His Majesty's New Zealand ships include Achilles and Leander, powerful light cruisers, and a rapidlygrowing licet of little ships, corvettes, minesweepers and submarine chasers. H.M.S. Neptune is a name in New Zealand naval history. More than half the complement came from the Dominion. We mourn the loss of her gallant crew. River Plate Battle The Achilles, under the command oi Captain W, E. Parry, R.N., played a glorious part in the first, er engagement of the war, Avhen in December, IO.'JO, she helped to destroy the German pocket battleship. Admiral Graf Spec.

Admiral Harwood, who commanded the British cruiser force, said: "New Zealand has every reason to be. proud, of her seamen during'their baptism of fire."

The Leander has been action in the Indian Ocean, Avliere in 104.1 she destroyed an Italian raider and cooperated with H.M.S. Canberra when two German supply ships Avere sunk. Jul the Mediterranean the Leander assisted in the Syrian campaign by shielding the coastal flank of Empire troops.

After Japan commenced hostilities, it Avas. agreed Avith the United States that the combined naval forces of the Australian and New Zealand areas should be placed, under United States command and styled "Anzac Force." Since then both Achilles and Leander have served with distinction in actions -in the South Pacific, Avhieh demands not" only intrepid courage but superb seamanship on the part of both officers and men.

OH. Guadalcanal- in January, two 530-ton New Zealand corvettes. Kiwi and Moa, J'ought a "gallant and success I'ul action with a KiOO-ton Japanese submarine, Avhich returned '(ire with her u.oin guns. After ■three minings by Kiwi the submarine was wrecked. The Moa lias since been lost in action off the Solomon islands. The Merchant Navy From the lirst t'lay of the war Xew Zealand seamen and engineers in the ships of the Merchant Navj have served, with fortitude and efficiency. Their service has been given with distinction both in little ships and overseas liners. Tlie Merchant Navy, in which Xew Zealand seamen have served alongside their British shipmates, has maintained unbroken the; vital link between New Zealand and Great Britain in transporting vast sup-, plies of foodstuffs to the United Kingdom and essential goods and

munitions to the Dominion. Our seamen have taken New Zealand coastal vessels into tlu- Pacific war zone, and have faccd inflinchingly the dangers of enemy mines, submarines and .surface and air raiders. Several New Zealand liner.s have served abroad as transports. and the Awatea, formerly the pride of the intercolonial fleet. met a gallant end during the North African campaign. "She. fought like a battleship," said the admiral in command of the landing operations. Our seamen have shown their superb courage on other occasions when they have fought the enemy. Many of them have been decorated for their gallantry and devotion to duty, and many of' them have given their lives.