H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 240, 4 July 1919, Page 9

H.M.S. NEW ZEALAND

■■'■ REVIEW OF HER VOYAGE A3 TOLD BY MR, CLUTHA MACKENZIE. . Mr. Clutha Mackenzie, son of the Ilijjh Commissioner for New Zealand, is in Wellington at present, having made tho trip out from England as the guest of Lord Jellicoo on H.M.S. New Zealand. Mr. Mackenzie intends to settle in Sicw, Zealand, probably in Wellington, where ho hopes to develop ways and means of pursuing his bent for journalism, having m January ceased publishing tho "Clironi ides of the Now Zealand Expeditionary Force," of which ho was editor. In conversation with a Dominion reporter yesterday, Mr. Mackenzie save an Interesting resiimo of the voyage ot H;M.&. Now Zealand. ■ • ''After tho armistice," ho said, the New Zealand was soyt to Norway to bring tho Queen (King George's sister) and her son, Prince Olaf, on a visit to England. Sho then went down to Devonport, whoro she was recommissioned for her prwent cruise. Tho old crew were paid oft, and mighty sad Chey'were about it as they hivl made many friends among New Zealand soldiers, having- entertained thousands of them at tho Firth of Forth. Having heard so much about New Zealand, «Aid being saturated with tho history of the ship, they were looking forward with great pleasure to a visit, to the Dominion. Having shipped a new crow, tho warship went to Portsmouth on February 20, whero eho was joined by Lord Jellicoe. She left the mxt day dui- ~ ing a heavy rainstorm.- Just previous to moving out, however, tho O.ueon Elizabeth, with Admiral Sir David Beatty on board, steamed- in ahead of the Grand Fleet, and was given a tremendous reception. The picturo must 'have been a wonderful one. with the big "Lizzio" steaming past tuo gift, ship of New Zealand, and Nelson's' victory in tho background. Off Ushant the New Zealand ran into foul weather, and for a tjme she was practically under water. Then she steam, ed into.fine weather and made Gibraltar on February 24. The, Admiral went nshore on an inspectiosal visit, iuid left the next-evening for Port Said (reached on March. 3), tho advent of the flagship being welooined by a flight of seaplanes. A Disappointment. 1 "Admiral Jollicoeleft the ship, thereon an unofficial visit.to Cairo,.and the next, day tho vessel steamed through.the Canal. . It was anticipated on board that tlie New Zealand troops .at Ismnilia' would givo their own ship a reception,-and the band was paraded and the New Zealand -Ensign flown at the fore, but "owing to the Canal Company having-intimated <that the New Zealand would pass, three-quar-ters of an hour later than she did there was nothing doing. AU that could be seen from the deck was troops marching: in column in the sandy distance. It was a keen disappointment to fill on board, as it-must have-been to the men ashore. At Suez tho Admiral rejoined tho ship, and she continued en her way.. : A call at A"don was made for mails, and Bombay was reached on March 14. Lord and Lady Jellicoo landed that evening, and if tho -place were not. "in full durbar" it must have been something like it, for thero woro pavilions, ted carpets, • and Hags everywhere. Tho ship remained therefor somo. six weeks, only moving out on:e to visit Karachi. In the mean-time-tho Admiral visited . Urn Centra! Provinces of India, and consulted witli the Viceroy on Indian naval .defence, and tho future of tho..lndian Marine. Ho was entertained in, regal fashion by rajahs And mehftpijiihs, and wont tigei shooting with the Maharajah of Gwalior. I faiK-.y- the Admiral bagged two tigers and bis staff got four. . Riots in India. "At that time there wero some very serious nots in progress-'in.-different parts of'lndia,-notably at Anieritz and Lahore. .At Delhi, too, things looked rather ugly for a, time. Fortunately.Hie jmtive troops remained loyal; still there wero some, thirty sahibs. ,and. a.number: of loyal troops killed, and some of the railway stations aud : banks .were -burnt' by the rioters. Severe punishment was meted out to the , offenders; whu wore arrested, and tho thing seemed to .KoV over.

"On-April 30 the Now Zealand left Bombay for Colombo, and whilst the vessel was coaling for two days the ship's cricket'team gave-the Ceylon Cricket. Club's team a' licking. The spicy isle was left behind on May 4, and fmir days later tho New Zealand crossed the Line, • and Father Neptuno' took charge of. 'things for the day, even Admiral Jellibeing a willing victim to Neptune's >oyal behests. ■ The nesi day they steam•d alongside' the bones of the notorious. ,'termaiv raider Einden, as they lie almost '•ut of sight in the surf of tlio beach nt :he oiffer island of , tho Cocos group. '3 - .arty went ashore, only to find that the ■ freck had practically disappeared. An ■{four's run brought the vessel to the 'main island, where the Eastern Extension '' Company's staff came aboard and were -■JibspffftHy entertained 'for imi hour by ■'the Admiral. On leaving tho ship they ' were presented with gifts of frozen meat )>nd copies of his book, "'The Grand Fleet.-'

"On fhorim down to Albany two Japanese cruisocs were passed. They came curiously close to the flagship, saluted, and paid high tributes to the Admiral by wireless. An' enthusiastic welcome was accorded tho'vessel at Albany, the'streets being profusely decorated with iirchea nnd flags. That evening the Admiral and Lady Jellicoe left for Perth, accomplish, ing tho journey (on a narrow-gauge rail. , way) in fifteen hours. They spent ioui days, at Perth, during which timo the Admiral inspected tho naval base at Fre mantle. The cross-country'train-jour-ney was made interesting by tho crowds of farmers'and children that greeted the visitors at every station. Both Lord and Lady Jollicoe are very fond of children, ami when at one station the train hud to stop for an hour and a half because of engine troubles, ,His Lordship went for a walk in the bush with some fifty children, and hnd a rare old timo.

"On Wednesday, May 21, the New Zeit land left Albany for the east, called to inspect Port Lincoln, a very fine harbour in the South' Australian Bight, and arrived at Port Adelaide on May 25. Thero were tiireo days' festivities there, and Melbourne was reached on Thursday, May 29. Tho Admiral landed at St. Kilda the next day, and drove through throngs of enthusiastic people. A lively fortnight followed—races, dances, receptions, and inspections. . "Turned Down!" ■ On June 11 she left for Hobart, but though the New Zealand was a clean ship the authorities would have nothing to do with her, so after' lying there for twenty-fouf hours sho left again, made the passage of the D'Entre Casteaux Channel to Huon Bay, and from there left for Jervis Bay (N.S.W.), where the Australian Naval Collego is located, the timo intended for Holwrt being given to the Boy. Aquatic Welcome at Sydney. "Wo arrived at Sydney on June 23, and wero given a lino aquatic welcome, thousands of email craft, decorated with flags, wheeling round tho ship as sho niftdo for tho man-o'-wnr anchorage in Farm Covo. Owing to Hie prevalence ot the influenza ali official functions wore abandoned ashore, but'leavu was given to tho men freely enough. Inlluenza.wo have had with us at Home for a couplo of years, and are getting used to it. With tho sxceplicn of Albany, influenza w;is experienced »t every port wo called at during nearly a four months''cruise, bin wo havo .never had a case on board. The Admiral's Intentions. . "Wo wero to havo left Sydney for Wei. lington on July 0, but for some reason t'other that was cancelled. That is why 1 havo enmo over in another vessel. 1 hone it. is not because they did not want thNew Zcalnml here, as the officers and crew are built up on having a good timo here. Admiral Jellicoe's plan was to g< north and visit Townsville, Port Darwin, and Rabaul (New Guinea) 'before coming to Now Zealand." . Asked form of entertainment Hk w.nrd.room officers preferred as a general thing, Mr. Mackenzie answered without hesitation: "Good golf links and cars to carry -them both ways."