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New Zealand Defence Force
Te Ope Kaatua O Aotearoa
Media Release
Thursday 6 December, 2008
FINAL FAREWELL FOR TWO NAVY SHIPS

Two of the remaining three Navy In Shore Patrol Craft, HMNZS WAKAKURA and HMNZS KIWI will formally decommission from operational service on Tuesday 11 December 2007 at the Devonport Naval Base, marked with two special events. At 6:00 am the lifting of the Mauri (life force) will take place with the formal decommissioning ceremony to commence at 10:00 am.

It will not be an easy task for the Commanding Officer of HMNZS KIWI, Lieutenant John McQueen (North Shore), the Commanding Officer of HMNZS WAKAKURA, Lieutenant Grant Judson (Tauranga) and their respective crews of 17 men and women, as they make a final departure from the ships as the NZ White Ensign, the NZ Flag and the commissioning pennant are lowered for the final time. The haunting tunes from a lone piper will conclude this moving ceremony.

Sister ships, HINAU and MOA were decommissioned on 23 January 2007, with the fifth In Shore Patrol Craft, HMNZS KAHU, to remain in operational service as the Navigational and Seamanship Training Ship.

Named after World War II minesweepers of the Royal New Zealand Navy, Inshore Patrol Craft KIWI and WAKAKURA were attached to the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve Divisions (RNZNVR) in Christchurch and Wellington respectively until April 2005.

Built in Whangarei, New Zealand in the 1970s, the ships were used for conducting basic seamanship and navigation training.

The Inshore Patrol Craft crewed by the Volunteer Reserve supported many Naval and Defence Force exercises, as well as multi agency government work during their service. They conducted fishery patrols, search and rescue operations, mine counter-measure activities, started yacht races, and carried out seamanship training, contributing to the functions of the Defence Force as a whole.

They were relocated to Devonport Naval Base for use as training ships whilst the new ships of Project Protector are being built and will decommission over staged intervals.

An end of an era for the In Shore Patrol Craft heralds a new beginning as the new In Shore Patrol Vessels being built under Project Protector, ROTOITI, HAWEA, PUKAKI and TAUPO, commission into operational service in 2008 as replacements.

Particulars of HMNZS WAKAKURA (P3555) and HMNZS KIWI (P3554)
Standard Displacement: 91 tonnes
Length Overall: 27 metres
Beam: 6.1 metres
Draught: 2.4 metres
Speed: 12 knots
Range: 1,000 nautical miles
Complement: 18 (composition changes with training requirements)
Propulsion: Two Cummins diesels (710 hp)
Twin shafts

ENDS

For information on the Inshore Patrol Vessels being constructed for your Navy under Project Protector – please visit www.navy.mil.nz

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