HMNZS Te Mana

## HMNZS Te Mana (F111)

HMNZS Te Mana

**HMNZS *Te Mana* (F111)** is one of ten *Anzac*-class frigates and one of two serving in the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). The name *Te Mana* is Māori, approximately translating as 'status' or 'authority' (for further information on this term, see Mana). The ship was laid down under the joint Anzac project by Tenix Defence at Williamstown, Victoria in 1996, launched in 1997, and commissioned into the RNZN in 1999.

In 2003 and 2004 and 2013–2014, *Te Mana* was deployed on operations in the Arabian Sea. In 2005, she became the first New Zealand warship to visit a Russian port, Vladivostok.

On 5 August 2015, the ship emerged from the dry dock at Devonport Naval Base wearing the US Navy 'Haze Grey' coating, following a major systems upgrade which involved a long refit.

*Te Mana* represented New Zealand in the 2018 Rim of the Pacific exercise in Hawaii and was crowned the winner of RIMPAC's Naval Surface Fire Support Rodeo competition, with the ship landing her shells closer to the target than any other ship.

### Operational History

*Te Mana* was sent to the Solomon Islands in 2000, in preparation to evacuate around 225 New Zealanders from the ethnic conflict on the islands.

A sailor died at sea aboard the frigate on 29 March 2001; the death was investigated by the New Zealand Police but treated as not suspicious.

In February 2002, a Seasprite helicopter flown by a Royal Australian Navy test pilot crashed into *Te Mana*'s deck. The ship was operating during 3-metre (9.8 ft) high seas in Cook Strait, a court of enquiry later found that no single event was to blame for the accident. The repairs to the Seasprite cost an estimated $7.4 million.

*Te Mana* went to the aid of HMS *Nottingham* in July 2002, when *Nottingham* ran aground on the submerged Wolf Rock, and provided manpower, supplies and salvage equipment to the stricken vessel.

From 28 January 2003 until 4 August 2003, *Te Mana* was deployed to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, conducting Maritime Interdiction Operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

*Te Mana* deployed to the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman for a second time in 2004, again to undertake Maritime Interdiction Operations, as part of Combined Task Force 150. In May the helicopter was damaged, at a cost of up to $4 million; a court of enquiry later found the pilot and co-pilot had failed to lash the aircraft down to the deck correctly. In the Gulf of Oman on 14 July 2004, a crew member aboard a merchant bulk chemical carrier fell into a tank while cleaning it. *Te Mana* responded to the emergency call and sprinted to the scene, the ship's medic was flown over to the bulk carrier, but the patient was unable to be revived. She returned to Devonport on 10 September 2004, having queried 380 ships and boarded 38.

*Te Mana* and HMNZS *Endeavour* were the first RNZN vessels to visit Russia, arriving in the Pacific port of Vladivostok on 10 June 2005 on a diplomatic mission.

A fire broke out about *Te Mana* in February 2006, while it was participating in an exercise off the coast of Australia. The ship's Seasprite helicopter was diverted to sister ship HMAS *Stuart* and the fire was put out by the crew.

The breeding ground of the Kermadec Storm Petrel was discovered with the assistance of *Te Mana* in August 2006, when the ship transported an ornithologist to a rocky outcrop in the Kermadec Islands group, enabling him to find a nest. The ship was on the annual mission to resupply Raoul Island for the Department of Conservation.

Early in 2007 the vessel's diesel engines developed a problem as she crossed the Tasman Sea to Sydney. The engines became unusable and the ship had to use the gas turbine for propulsion. Sister ship *Te Kaha* suffered a similar problem one month later.

*Te Mana* deployed from Devonport to the Central and Southern Persian Gulf on 7 April 2008, as part of Coalition Task Force 152. Sailing via Singapore, she arrived on 11 May 2008, beginning a three-month patrol of the region's waterways, including guarding against threats to the oil industry infrastructure, as well to prevent smuggling and piracy.

In October 2013, *Te Mana* participated in the International Fleet Review 2013 in Sydney.

On June 14, 2017, Commander Lisa Hunn became the first female commanding officer of a RNZN warship, when she took command of *Te Mana*.

In 2018, a comprehensive mid-life refit of both *Te Mana* and her sister ship was initiated. The refit provided for the replacement of the Sea Sparrow air defence missiles with Sea Ceptor as well as other comprehensive system upgrades carrying a total cost of some $600 million. The refit of *Te Mana* was being undertaken by the Seaspan shipyard in Canada as of 2020.

On 16 April 2021, six RNZN personnel and six family members assigned to *Te Mana* tested positive for COVID-19. At the time, the naval personnel and their family were stationed at an accommodation block 12 kilometers away from the Royal Canadian Navy's base at Esquimalt near Victoria, British Columbia. *Te Mana* was undergoing a major upgrade in Canada. In May 2022, the ship sailed for New Zealand having completed her upgrade.