New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy


The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy also known as the New Zealand Station was formed in 1921 and remained in existence until 1941. It was the precursor to the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally, the Royal Navy was solely responsible for the naval security of New Zealand. The passing of the Naval Defence Act 1913 created the New Zealand Naval Forces as a separate division within the Royal Navy.

History

At its establishment in 1848, the Australia Station encompassed Australia and New Zealand. Under the Australasian Naval Agreement 1887 the colonial governments of Australia and New Zealand secured a greater naval presence in their waters, agreed that two ships would always be based in New Zealand waters and agreed contributions to funding that presence.
The Australian Squadron was disbanded in 1911 and the Australia Station passed to the Commonwealth Naval Forces. The Australia Station was reduced to cover Australia and its island dependencies to the north and east, excluding New Zealand and its surrounds, which was transferred under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, China and called the New Zealand Naval Forces.
On 1 January 1921, the New Zealand Naval Forces, which had formerly been under the command of the China Station, 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 and HMS Leander, the training minesweeper HMS Wakakura, and the cruiser which was recommissioned as a base training establishment.
The Commodore's appointment was abolished and forces brought directly under the New Zealand Chief of the Naval Staff from October 1940. The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy became the Royal New Zealand Navy from 1 October 1941, in recognition of the fact that the naval force was now largely self-sufficient and independent of the Royal Navy.

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.
NamePntTypeClassCommissionedDecommissionedNotes
HMS Achilles70Cruiser193619411941–1946 was HMNZS Achilles in the RNZN
L61Convoy sloop19381939Nominated only.
Cruiser19201924Replaced by Dunedin in 1924
D92Cruiser19261935Replaced by Achilles in 1936
D93Cruiser19241937Replaced by Leander in 1937
T48Convoy sloop19221935
HMS LeanderCruiser193719411941–1944 was HMNZS Leander in the RNZN
L36Convoy sloop19341939Acquired by the Royal Danish Navy in 1949 and renamed HDMS Galathea. Circumnavigated the world in 1950–52 doing deep-sea oceanographic research.
L61Fleet oiler19241937oil hulk 1937–1947
Cruiser19211941"Cradle of the Navy." 1914–1921 was HMS Philomel in the NZ Naval Forces. 1941–1947 became HMNZS Philomel in the RNZN
HMS PuririT02MinesweeperConverted merchant ship1941194114 May 1941 struck a German mine northeast of the Whangarei heads and sank with the loss of five crew members.
HMS TorchConvoy sloop192119241914–1921 was HMS Torch in the NZ Naval Forces. Also called a gunboat. Wrecked in Chatham Islands.
T67Convoy sloop19201934
L65Convoy sloop19351939
HMS WakakuraT00Minesweeper192619411941–1945 was HMNZS Wakakura in the RNZN

Commanders

Officers who commanded the New Zealand Division/Station include:
RankNameTerm began
CommodoreAlan HothamMarch 1921
CommodoreAlister Beal, CMG, DSOAugust 1923
CommodoreGeorge Swabey, DSO18 June 1926
CommodoreGeoffrey Blake, CB, DSO19 July 1929
Rear AdmiralFischer Watson, DSO26 February 1932
Rear AdmiralThe Hon. Edmund Drummond, MVOMarch 1935
CommodoreIrvine GlennieJune 1938
CommodoreJames Rivett-CarnacDecember 1938
CommodoreHenry Horan, DSCDecember 1939
CommodoreEdward ParryMay 1940

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 in 1941.
In 1941 there were:
The prefix "royal" was granted by King George VI on 1 October 1941, and ships thereafter were prefixed with HMNZS.