Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve The Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve ( RNZNVR ) is the volunteer reserve force of the Royal New Zealand Navy ( RNZN ) . History . Early history . The first Naval Volunteer units were formed in Auckland and Nelson in 1858 . Over the rest of the 19th century Naval Volunteer units were formed in various ports such as Bluff , Wanganui , and Wairoa . These were reorganised into Naval Artillery Volunteers in 1883 . The Volunteers , or " Navals " , peaked after the Russian - scare in the 1880s with a total of 20 units . Volunteers were trained in boats , taught gunnery , and manned some of the coastal batteries at the four main ports . Later they were also trained in mining submarines and maintaining minefields that were laid in Auckland and Wellington harbours . The Naval Volunteers supplemented a small number of regular soldiers known as the Permanent Militia . The Permanent Militia included the New Zealand Torpedo Corps who were responsible for manning the four " Defender " - class torpedo boats and the Submarine Mining Corps . In 1902 the Volunteers were further reorganised into the Garrison Artillery Volunteers . In a special report in 1919 , Admiral of the Fleet Lord Jellicoe recommended that New Zealand acquire 18 minesweepers . Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve . The next major reorganisation occurred in 1926 when the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy was formed . A unit of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was established in Auckland and further units were opened in Wellington , Christchurch and Dunedin two years later . The Government finally responded to Jellicoe ' s report by purchasing one second - hand minesweeping trawler , HMS " Wakakura " . This was the sole training ship for the Naval Reserve until the beginning of World War II . " Wakakura " moved from port to port so each unit could have its share of sea training and live gunnery practice . By 1939 the need to protect merchant ships from mines which might be laid round the coast was becoming increasingly apparent . There were , at that point , 78 officers and 610 ratings active in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve . War years . The declaration of War in 1939 saw the normal activity of the Naval Reserve suspended . Its personnel were called up for war service . Early in the war some Reserve personnel were drafted to duties as gunners on merchant ships or to serve on Royal Navy ships , or they embarked for further training in the United Kingdom . On 1 October 1941 New Zealand Naval forces ceased to exist . King George VI consented to the formation of the Royal New Zealand Navy and the New Zealand navy was no longer a mere division of the Royal Navy . All ships and training bases were recommissioned into the new navy , and the prefix " HMS " to their names were replaced with " HMNZS " . Of the 1700 Naval Reservists who trained prior to the outbreak of war , 139 lost their lives , 80 in the sinking of HMS " Neptune " . Becomes the RNZNVR . At the end of war plans to reconstitute the Naval Reserve were put into operation . Officers were selected from those who had been demobilised and recruiting began in September 1948 with the intention of reaching a strength of 70 officers and 600 ratings . It would now be called the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve . In 1947 the Government transferred a Harbour Defence Motor Launch to each unit . Naval Reservists also trained in Royal New Zealand Navy cruisers , frigates and minesweepers but the motor launches were now the mainstay of seamanship training . Training in general was focused , as in the regular force , on training Seamen , Gunners , Communicators , Radar Plotters , Electricians , Marine Engineers , Medical Assistants and Clerks . From 1978 , as the ships of the regular force became more and more complex , Naval Reserve training focused on patrol craft seamanship and engineering , and on the protection of merchant shipping . Around 1984 the motor launches were upgraded to " Moa " class inshore patrol boats ( IPVs ) . The shift in focus stemmed from the understanding that military control of vital seaborne trade was imperative for New Zealand ' s survival . The basic principle of effectively managing and protecting seaborne trade remains a basic Naval Reserve task today . Current status . The current RNZNVR Mission is : " To contribute to the Navy mission by providing competent Reserve personnel fit for service " . The Naval Volunteer Reserve are part - time people , the seagoing equivalent of Army Territorials . Reservists are typically people with regular jobs , although many are also tertiary students or full - time parents , who get paid for the spare time they spend as a member of the Naval Reserve . They formerly crewed the inshore patrol vessels and have opportunities to work with regular force either at sea , ashore or overseas on peacekeeping missions . As of 1 July 2007 there were 237 people in the Naval Reserve . The RNZNVR is currently organised into four regional units . Each unit has its own training headquarters under the command of a senior Reserve officer , and number up to 60 Naval Reserve personnel . The units are also commissioned ships , in the tradition of Royal Navy stone frigate s , and each bears the prefix " HMNZS " ( Her Majesty ' s New Zealand Ship ) . Volunteers can join one of three branches of the RNZNVR