HMNZS ''Kiwi'' (T102) was a ''Bird'' class

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 ...

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 ...

. She was commissioned in 1941 for minesweeping and

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

roles. From 1948 to 1956 she functioned as a training ship. On 29 January 1943, with her sister ship ''Moa'', ''Kiwi'' rammed and wrecked the Japanese submarine ''I-1''. At the time ''Kiwi'' was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Gordon Bridson who was awarded the

DSC DSC may refer to: Academia * Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) * District Selection Committee, an entrance exam in India * Doctor of Surgical Chiropody, superseded in the 1960s by Doctor of Podiatric Medicine Educational institutions * Dalton State Col ...

and the United States

Navy Cross The Navy Cross is the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps' second-highest military decoration awarded for sailors and marines who distinguish themselves for extraordinary heroism in combat with an armed enemy force. The medal is eq ...

Full Text Citations for award of the Navy Cross
for this action. ''Kiwi'' was the first vessel with this name to serve in the Royal New Zealand Navy and is named after the

national bird This is a list of national birds, including official birds of overseas territories and other states described as nations. Most species in the list are officially designated. Some species hold only an "unofficial" status. National birds See al ...

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 ...

Notes

References

*McDougall, R J (1989) ''New Zealand Naval Vessels.'' Page 59–61. Government Printing Office.

External links

Royal NZ Navy's Bird-class ships
New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Updated 20 December 2012.

World War II minesweepers of New Zealand Minesweepers of the Royal New Zealand Navy Training ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy {{NewZealand-stub

See also

Notes

References

Further reading

External links