# 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 the naval security of New Zealand. The passing of the Naval Defence Act 1913 created the New Zealand Naval Forces as a separate division within the Royal Navy.

## History

At its establishment in 1848, the Australia Station encompassed Australia and New Zealand. Under the Australasian Naval Agreement 1887 the colonial governments of Australia and New Zealand secured a greater naval presence in their waters, agreed that two ships would always be based in New Zealand waters and agreed contributions to funding that presence.
In 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia became independent of the United Kingdom. The Australian Squadron was disbanded in 1911 and the Australia Station passed to the Commonwealth Naval Forces. The Australia Station was reduced to cover Australia and its island dependencies to the north and east, excluding New Zealand and its surrounds, which was transferred under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, China and called the New Zealand Naval Forces.
On 1 January 1921, the New Zealand Naval Forces, which had formerly been under the command of the China Station, were renamed the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. Funded by Wellington and increasingly manned by New Zealanders, it operated 14 ships over a period of 21 years, including the cruisers HMS Achilles and HMS Leander, the training minesweeper HMS Wakakura, and the cruiser HMS Philomel which was recommissioned as a base training establishment.
The Commodore's appointment was abolished and forces brought directly under the New Zealand Chief of the Naval Staff from October 1940. The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy became the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) from 1 October 1941, in recognition of the fact that the naval force was now largely self-sufficient and independent of the Royal Navy.

## Ships of the New Zealand Division

Sortable list covering the period from the inception of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1921 to the formation of the Royal New Zealand Navy on 1 October 1941.
| Name | Pnt | Type | Class | Commissioned | Decommissioned | Notes |
| HMS Achilles | 70 | Cruiser | Leander class | 1936 | 1941 | 1941–1946 was HMNZS Achilles in the RNZN |
| HMS Auckland | L61 | Convoy sloop | Egret class | 1938 | 1939 | Nominated only. |
| HMS Chatham | | Cruiser | Town class | 1920 | 1924 | Replaced by Dunedin in 1924 |
| HMS Diomede | D92 | Cruiser | Danae class | 1926 | 1935 | Replaced by Achilles in 1936 |
| HMS Dunedin | D93 | Cruiser | Danae class | 1924 | 1937 | Replaced by Leander in 1937 |
| HMS Laburnum | T48 | Convoy sloop | Acacia class | 1922 | 1935 | Flower-class sloop |
| HMS Leander | | Cruiser | Leander class | 1937 | 1941 | 1941–1944 was HMNZS Leander in the RNZN |
| HMS Leith | L36 | Convoy sloop | Grimsby class | 1934 | 1939 | Acquired by the Royal Danish Navy in 1949 and renamed HDMS Galathea. Circumnavigated the world in 1950–52 doing deep-sea oceanographic research. |
| RFA Nucula | L61 | Fleet oiler | | 1924 | 1937 | oil hulk 1937–1947 |
| HMS Philomel | | Cruiser | Pearl class | 1921 | 1941 | "Cradle of the Navy." 1914–1921 was HMS Philomel in the NZ Naval Forces. 1941–1947 became HMNZS Philomel in the RNZN |
| HMS Puriri | T02 | Minesweeper | Converted merchant ship | 1941 | 1941 | 14 May 1941 struck a German mine nine miles (14 km) northeast of the Whangarei heads and sank with the loss of five crew members. |
| HMS Torch | | Convoy sloop | | 1921 | 1924 | 1914–1921 was HMS Torch in the NZ Naval Forces. Also called a gunboat. Wrecked in Chatham Islands. |
| HMS Veronica | T67 | Convoy sloop | Acacia class | 1920 | 1934 | Flower-class sloop |
| HMS Wellington | U65 | Convoy sloop | Grimsby class | 1935 | 1947 | Survives as a museum ship moored on the River Thames, London. |
| HMS Wakakura | T00 | Minesweeper | Castle class | 1926 | 1941 | 1941–1945 was HMNZS Wakakura in the RNZN |

## Commanders

Officers who commanded the New Zealand Division/Station include:
| Rank | Name | Term began |
| Commodore | Alan Hotham | March 1921 |
| Commodore | Alister Beal, CMG, DSO | August 1923 |
| Commodore | George Swabey, DSO | 18 June 1926 |
| Commodore | Geoffrey Blake, CB, DSO | 19 July 1929 |
| Rear Admiral | Fischer Watson, DSO | 26 February 1932 |
| Rear Admiral | The Hon. Edmund Drummond, MVO | March 1935 |
| Commodore | Irvine Glennie | June 1938 |
| Commodore | James Rivett-Carnac | December 1938 |
| Commodore | Henry Horan, DSC | December 1939 |
| Commodore | Edward Parry | May 1940 |

## Transition to the Royal New Zealand Navy

When Britain went to war against Germany in 1939, New Zealand promptly declared war and expanded its naval forces. In recognition that the naval force was now largely self-sufficient and independent of the Royal Navy, the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy became the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) in 1941.
In 1941 there were:
* 2 Cruisers
* 2 Escort Vessels
* 1 Survey Vessel
* 1 Minesweeping Vessel
The prefix "royal" was granted by King George VI on 1 October 1941, and ships thereafter were prefixed with HMNZS (His/Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship).