HMNZS ''Monowai'' (A06) was a
hydrographic survey
Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore oil exploration/ offshore oil drilling and related activities. Strong emphasis is placed ...
vessel of the
Royal New Zealand Navy
The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; mi, Te Taua Moana o Aotearoa, , Sea Warriors of New Zealand) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of nine ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act ...
(RNZN). Built in 1960, the ship was originally used as a civilian supply and passenger vessel by the New Zealand Government, under the name GMV ''Moana Roa'', before being acquired by the RNZN in 1974. She was commissioned into the RNZN in 1975 for the voyage to Scotland for conversion and commissioned into the RNZN in October 1977. She remained in RNZN service until April 1998, performing various duties such as coastal surveying, resupply, and surveillance. After being decommissioned she was sold to civilian operators in Britain in 1998 for conversion to a cruise ship, but was found unsuitable for the role and eventually sent to Spanish shipbreakers in 2002.
Construction and design
The ship was laid down by
Grangemouth Dockyard in Scotland in 1960. The ship displaced 3,900 tons at full load, was in
length overall and long at the keel, had a beam of and a draught of . Propulsion machinery consisted of two 7-cylinder two-stroke TAD 36 Clark Sulzer diesels, which provided to the CP propellers The ship had a top speed of . In RNZN service, the ship had a crew of 126 and after 1980 was armed with two
20 mm Oerlikon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...
s for self-defence. In 1982, she was fitted out to carry a single Wasp helicopter.
Operational history
After being completed, the vessel spent the first part of her operational life as the New Zealand Government Island supply/passenger vessel GMV ''Moana Roa''.
She was acquired by the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1974 and converted over a two-year period in Scotland 1975-77 to replace her predecessor,
HMNZS ''Lachlan''.
''Monowai'' was the second of two ships with this name to serve in the RNZN. She was named after the glacial
Lake Monowai
Lake Monowai (officially Monowai Lake; mi, Manokīwai) is a large lake () in the southern part of Fiordland National Park, in New Zealand's South Island, 120 kilometres northwest of Invercargill. At an altitude of 180 metres in a long curved va ...
. Monowai is a
Māori
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the C ...
word meaning "channel full of water".
During her naval service she was known as the "Ghost of the Coast",
[ as she quietly remapped most of the New Zealand coastline including the Chatham, Campbell, and Auckland Islands, as well as the many sub-Antarctic islands in New Zealand's responsibility. She also acted as a resupply vessel carrying stores and equipment to Campbell and other sub-Antarctic islands and served as an "official residence" for VIPs and dignitaries at Pacific Island conferences.
Other tasks included monitoring Chinese missile splashdown tests, responding to the 1987 Fijian coups d'état to assist in the evacuation of New Zealand citizens,] participating in the ANZCAN cable route survey,[ and assisting in international searches for sea mounts and shoals. She carried a helicopter and undertook rescue or aid missions, saving the lives of eight people during the New Zealand to Tonga Yacht Regatta.][
]
Decommissioning and fate
''Monowai'' was replaced in 1998 by HMNZS ''Resolution'', formerly USNS ''Tenacious''.[ She was sold to British buyers, Hebridean Island Cruises, for conversion into a cruise ship in 1998. She was laid up at Lowestoft in England after being found unsuitable for her intended use until 2002 when she was finally sent to Spanish shipbreakers.
]
See also
* Survey ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy
Commissioned survey and research vessels of the Royal New Zealand Navy from its formation on 1 October 1941 to the present:
See also
* Current Royal New Zealand Navy ships
This is a list of current commissioned Royal New Zealand Navy ships. ...
References
* McDougall, R J (1989) ''New Zealand Naval Vessels.'' Page 120-121. Government Printing Office.
External links
HMNZS ''Monowai''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Monowai, HMNZS
Survey ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy