HMNZS ''Philomel'' is the main administrative

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

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 ...

. Originally a training base on board the cruiser it takes its name from, it is part of the

Devonport Naval Base Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and has been in use as a navy base since 1841. The b ...

North Shore City North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

History

The naval base was founded in 1921 when the

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 ...

was first formed. The old cruiser HMS ''Philomel'', with her engines and armament removed, was moored at the Admiralty reservation, Devonport Dockyard,

, and re-commissioned as a naval training base. HMS ''Philomel'' has been described as the "Cradle of the Navy." In October 1941, on the creation of the

, HMS ''Philomel'' was recommissioned as the training base HMNZS ''Philomel''. Because of wartime demands for increased training many of her training functions were transferred, along with the ship's main mast, to a new base HMNZS ''Tamaki'' situated at

Motuihe Island Motuihe Island (official name: Motuihe Island / Te Motu-a-Ihenga) lies between Motutapu and Waiheke islands in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, near Auckland. The island measures , of which around are remnants of coastal forest. The island is a ...

. Over the years ''Philomel'' sprouted many creative additions on her decks in an effort to provide more space for her operations. These physical extensions then spilled over to the use of onshore buildings. In January 1947 the boat ''Philomel'' was finally decommissioned and HMNZS ''Philomel'' became a land establishment. In 2000, HMNZS Tamaki was decommissioned with its functions absorbed again by HMNZS ''Philomel''.

Current

Today ''Philomel'' is a sprawling land establishment located at

Devonport, New Zealand Devonport ( ) is a harbourside suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, at the southern end of a peninsula that runs southeast from near Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, forming the northern side of the Waitematā Harbour. Eas ...

. It is the home of the Naval Support Services, responsible for the logistics and organisation of Naval personnel, and for visits to the base by foreign ships. Its Naval Community Office provides support for families of naval personnel, and its Te Taua Moana

Marae A ' (in New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan), ' (in Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. In all these languages, the term a ...

is the cultural home for all naval personnel, regardless of

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, an ...

or upbringing. It incorporates the naval college ''Tamaki'', formerly HMNZS ''Tamaki'', which coordinates training within the naval base from new entry or officer training to damage control and command schools that everyone must attend at stages of their career. There are also schools for naval specialisations such as marine engineering, Officer of the Watch, hydrography and communications. The base includes a navy band and a fleet gymnasium.RNZN College
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Navy museum

The first Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) museum was established in 1974 and was housed in a single room within HMNZS ''Philomel'', then in 1982 moved to a separate building. In 2010 it moved to new, larger facilities at Torpedo Bay.

References and notes

* Walters, Sydney David (1956) ''The Royal New Zealand Navy: Official History of World War II'', Department of Internal Affairs, Wellingto
Appendix VIII : Record of HMNZS Philomel
* McDougall, R J (1989) ''New Zealand Naval Vessels,'' Pages 11-13, 157-158, Government Printing Office. * Other, A.N
HMNZS Philomel: The cradle of the Royal New Zealand Navy
article in ''Naval Historical Review'', March 1983.

External links

*
NZ Navy Museum
{{coord, -36.82958, 174.78422, format=dms, display=title Royal New Zealand Navy bases 1921 establishments in New Zealand

History

Current

Navy museum

See also

References and notes

External links