Coastal Forces Coastal Forces was a division of the Royal Navy initially established during World War I, and then again in World War II under the command of Rear-Admiral, Coastal Forces. It remained active until the last minesweepers to wear the "HM Coastal Fo ...

was a division of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...

established during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. It consisted of small coastal defence craft such as motor launches, submarine chasers,

air-sea rescue Air-sea rescue (ASR or A/SR, also known as sea-air rescue), and aeronautical and maritime search and rescue (AMSAR) by the ICAO and IMO, is the coordinated search and rescue (SAR) of the survivors of emergency water landings as well as people ...

launches, motor gun boats and motor torpedo boats. It did not include

minesweeper A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

naval trawler Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built ...

s or landing craft. This article is about the equivalent boats used in 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). From 1921 until 1941 the New Zealand Navy was a Division of the Royal Navy. The RNZN was not created until 1 October 1941. Within six months of its creation the RNZN commissioned twelve Class B Fairmiles and sixteen Harbour Defence Motor Launches (HDMLs)

RNZN Fairmiles

On 4 April 1941 the

British War Cabinet A war cabinet is a committee formed by a government in a time of war to efficiently and effectively conduct that war. It is usually a subset of the full executive cabinet of ministers, although it is quite common for a war cabinet to have senio ...

approved a proposal for a striking force of anti-submarine motor-boats, six at

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...

, four at

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

, and two at Lyttelton. Drawings and specifications of the Fairmile anti-submarine motorboat developed by

Fairmile Marine Fairmile Marine was a British boat building company founded in 1939 by the car manufacturer Noel Macklin. Macklin used the garage at his home at Cobham Fairmile in Surrey for manufacturing assembly which is why the boats he designed came to ...

were sent from England and it was agreed that these craft could be built in New Zealand providing the engines, ordnance and some prefabricated components came from England. The Class B Fairmiles were long, displaced 85 tons and had a complement of 16. Twin 12-cylinder petrol engines generated on each of two shafts for a speed of . They were armed with a 2-pdr (40 mm) gun, a 20 mm Oerlikon cannon, twin 0.303 in machine guns and 12 depth charges, and were fitted with ASDIC (

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

). The orders were distributed among four Auckland firms. The estimated cost of each vessel was £35,000, making a total of £420,000 for the twelve. Delays occurred in the delivery of prefabricated components, the difficulty in getting supplies of first-class

kauri ''Agathis'', commonly known as kauri or dammara, is a genus of 22 species of evergreen tree. The genus is part of the ancient conifer family Araucariaceae, a group once widespread during the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods, but now largely res ...

timber and a serious shortage of skilled labour. The newly formed RNZN commissioned the 12 Class B Fairmiles on 20 December 1943 and assigned

pendant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

s Q 400 through to Q 411. The boats were not initially named, and were identified only through their pendant numbers. The New Zealand Merchant Navy during the Second World War NZ826

The New Zealand Merchant Navy during the Second World War NZ826

The first Fairmile constructed, ''Q 403'', was launched on 29 September 1942 and commissioned on 21 October 1942. Thereafter the completed boats were delivered at short intervals. All the boats were completed and were then recommissioned into the newly formed RNZN on 20 December 1943.

RNZN Fairmiles in the Solomons

On 14 January 1944, Vice-Admiral William Halsey, Jr., Commander,

South Pacific Area The South Pacific Area (SOPAC) was a multinational U.S.-led military command active during World War II. It was a part of the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas under Admiral Chester Nimitz. The delineation and establishment of the Pacific Ocean Areas was ...

(part of the larger

Pacific Ocean Areas Pacific Ocean Areas was a major Allied military command in the Pacific Ocean theater of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands during the Pacific War, and one of three United States commands in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater. Admir ...

), informed the New Zealand Naval Board that the "current employment of Japanese submarines and estimates of their future employment indicate immunity from the submarine menace in New Zealand waters". He proposed that the New Zealand Fairmile motor launches should be employed in the Solomon Islands, relieving American destroyers and patrol vessels for duty elsewhere. The twelve Fairmiles were refitted for service in tropical waters and formed into the 80th and 81st Motor Launch Flotillas. The 80th Flotilla consisted of MLs 401 to 406 and the 81st Flotilla of MLs 407 to 411. The flotillas were based at Renard Sound in the

Russell Islands :''See also Russell Island (disambiguation).'' The Russell Islands are two small islands ( Pavuvu and Mbanika), as well as several islets, of volcanic origin, in the Central Province of Solomon Islands. They are located approximately northwest o ...

. The base was named ''Kahu'' and for administrative purposes ML400 was commissioned on 1 April 1944 as HMNZS ''Kahu''. During the seventeen months of their service in the Solomons, from March 1944 until June 1945, the twelve Fairmiles logged on anti-submarine screen patrols and on escorting ships. They had no encounters with Japanese forces.

RNZN Fairmiles post war

All the fairmiles returned to Auckland in July 1945. In 1946-47 all but ''Q 411'' were sold to private buyers who used them for passenger and/or cargo service or as pleasure craft. ''Q 411'' was sold in 1965. ''Q 409'' was repurchased by the navy in 1953 and resold in 1963 to become the

Waiheke Waiheke Island (; Māori: ) is the second-largest island (after Great Barrier Island) in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand. Its ferry terminal in Matiatia Bay at the western end is from the central-city terminal in Auckland. It is the most po ...

ferry''Iris Moana''. Two other former Fairmiles were renamed the ''Ngaroma'' and the ''Colville'' and used as the main ferries between Auckland and

Great Barrier Island Great Barrier Island ( mi, Aotea) lies in the outer Hauraki Gulf, New Zealand, north-east of central Auckland. With an area of it is the sixth-largest island of New Zealand and fourth-largest in the main chain. Its highest point, Mount Hobson ...

. They were skippered by Len Sowerby and his son Lester.

RNZN Harbour Defence Launches

Sixteen Harbour Defence Motor Launches (HDMLs) purchased in the United States were commissioned between March 1943 and March 1944. The launches were long, displaced 54 tons and had a complement of 10. Twin Diesels generated on each of two shafts for a speed of . They were armed with one 20mm Oerlikons, three Vickers K machine guns and six depth charges. They operated as the 124th and 125th Motor Launch Flotillas, based on Auckland and Wellington respectively. They maintained anti-submarine patrols insid
indicator loops
Though they were not tested by enemy action, the anti-submarine fixed defences at Wellington and Auckland attained a high degree of efficiency.
Pg 208 - by Sydney David Waters After the war, twelve were retained, three were sold and one was transferred to the Army. The remaining boats were refitted and re-engined with Foden diesels. These were subsequently used as fishery protection, survey and reserve training boats. All remaining boats were named and given new pendant numbers in 1950.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Cassells, Ken R (1993) ''The Fairmile Flotillas of The Royal New Zealand Navy.'' New Zealand Ship and Marine Society. * Harker, Jack (2000)''The Rockies: New Zealand Minesweepers at War.'' Silver Owl Press. * McDougall, R J (1989) ''New Zealand Naval Vessels.'' Page 85-98. * Waters, Sydney David (1948
"German Raiders in the Pacific"
in ''Episodes & Studies Volume 1''. Historical Publications Branch, Wellington. Republished by the

NZETC The New Zealand Electronic Text Collection (NZETC; mi, Te Pūhikotuhi o Aotearoa) is a freely accessible online archive of New Zealand and Pacific Islands texts and heritage materials that are held by the Victoria University of Wellington Library ...

. * Waters, Sydney David (1956) ''The Royal New Zealand Navy''
Page 204f
Historical Publications Branch, Wellington. Republished by the

. * Waters, Sydney David (1956) ''The Royal New Zealand Navy''
Battles for the Solomons
Historical Publications Branch, Wellington. Republished by the

External links

*

(Kahu P3571) (scroll to bottom)
Picture of the ''Ngaroma'' and ''Iris Moana'' ferries ( ex fairmiles)The ''Iris Moana''
*

{{WWIICoastalForces Royal New Zealand Navy * Military history of New Zealand during World War II