HMNZS Waikato (F55)
History | |
---|---|
New Zealand | |
Name | HMNZS Waikato |
Namesake | Waikato province of New Zealand |
Operator | Royal New Zealand Navy |
Builder | Harland and Wolff |
Laid down | January 1964 |
Launched | 18 February 1965 |
Commissioned | September 1966 |
Decommissioned | 1998 |
Refit | Major modernisation refit 1986–88 |
Homeport | Tauranga, New Zealand, but based out of Devonport Naval Base, Auckland |
Identification | F55 |
Nickname(s) | "The Mighty Y" |
Honours and awards |
|
Fate | Sunk on 18 December 2000 as an artificial reef |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Leander-class frigate |
Displacement |
|
Length | 372 ft (113 m) |
Beam | 41 ft (12 m) |
Draught | 19 ft (6 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 27 knots (50 km/h) |
Range | 4,600 nautical miles (8,520 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h) |
Complement | 18 officers, 248 sailors |
Sensors and processing systems | Type 965 air search radar. 993 main search radar. 1006 Navigational Radar |
Armament |
|
Aircraft carried | Originally a Kaman SH-2G |
HMNZS Waikato (F55) was a Leander Batch 2TA frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). She was one of two Leanders built for the RNZN, the other being the Batch 3 HMNZS Canterbury. These two New Zealand ships relieved British ships of the Armilla patrol during the Falklands conflict, freeing British ships for deployment.
Construction and design
Waikato was ordered in 1963 for the RNZN after a delay of more than six years after the order for the Type 12 frigates Otago and Taranaki, which had proved successful in New Zealand service. There was a pressing need to replace the ageing
Laid down in January 1964, Waikato was constructed by
In terms of armament, Waikato was a fully armed Batch 2 Leander, with Mk 6 twin 4.5-inch guns, a Seacat GWS22 point defence missile, Limbo anti-submarine mortar and Wasp helicopter. She was identical to the Royal Navy Leanders of her group, with 965M LRAW and 177 hull and 199 Variable depth sonars, while her half sister, HMNZS Canterbury was a larger improved Leander, completed in 1971, with a more automated and remote controllable steam plant, a frigate potentially capable of updating with long range bow sonars and Seawolf missiles. HMNZS Canterbury had a similar sensor and weapons to Waikato, because New Zealand could not afford the better screen displays and faster processing systems fitted to 1971/2 RN Leanders, and because cost margins of the last group of the Leanders were tight, it did not receive the more modern sonar and ECM/ESM of the last two Royal Navy Leanders. The Leanders were very expensive for New Zealand and the cost per ton, was just as high as the U.S. Navy Knox class, which were poor seaboats. Some Royal Navy Leanders eventually carried bow sonars in the 1980s with the range of power of AN/SQS-26, and all recently refitted clean bottom Leanders and Rothesays were silenced more effectively than early 1980s Type 22 frigates.[4]
Operational history
For the first nine years of its RNZN service Waikato operated around New Zealand and with the ANZUK naval squadron based at Singapore, which continued in reduced form in 1971–75 with the Royal Navy sending 5 or 6 frigates and destroyers. From 1975 Royal Navy task forces continued to visit New Zealand and Australia for exercises until 1983, when the Falklands commitment and the aftermath effectively ended the Royal Navy's central involvement with the RAN and RNZN.[5] The Naval Board described the late 1970s Five Power Treaty as in a 'sense transitional'.[6]
In 1975–77, Waikato was given an extensive mid-life refit, and essentially modified to the specifications of HMNZS Canterbury with the mortar and VDS wells suppressed and replaced by an enlarged helicopter landing pad, intended for Lynx helicopters that were never ordered and a closed circuit TV system to monitor helicopter operations from the flight deck. Surface and navigation radar was also updated to current RN standards a rather inexpensive alteration. At the time the RN had already rebuilt its early Leanders at great expense with Ikara missiles and computer action automation of weapon systems and the second batch Leanders of the same type as Waikato were to have their gun turret replaced with Exocet missiles, receiving additional Seacat launchers and improved C3. The cost of the later Ikara RN modernisations and the modernisation the Batch 2 RN Leanders often exceeded that of new built Type 21 frigates.[7] The cost of modernisation of the Leanders depended on the hull age, and a nine-year old Leander like Waikato could almost certainly have been rebuilt, with automated 76 mm, CIWS in the mid-1970s, in the pattern of the Dutch Leander modernization[8] at an affordable cost compared with the very costly modernization of a 12-year-old frigate like HMS Dido or HMNZS Wellington.[citation needed]
After re-entering service under the command of Captain Ian Bradley, Waikato was involved in the rescue of a seriously injured fishermen from the
Later, in January 1978, the while escorting the
During and after the Falklands conflict in 1982–3, Waikato deployed to the
During July and August 1990, Waikato was involved in Operation BIGTALK, an intervention that was a direct result of the ongoing civil conflict in and around Bougainville. The New Zealand government was tasked with deploying its naval resources to negotiate a peace accord between the two warring factions, the resulting document is now known as the "Endeavour Accord". The ships deployed to this incident were the frigates Waikato and HMNZS Wellington and the supply vessel HMNZS Endeavour. Although the naval forces were not engaged during the operation, due to the intense fighting and civil unrest there was serious potential for insurgent attacks on New Zealand naval forces.[citation needed] Commendations were issued to each member of the crews to acknowledge their contribution. On 23 February 2017, it was announced by NZDF that the New Zealand Operational Service Medal (NZOSM) had been awarded to personnel who were in Bougainville for the Operation BIGTALK peace talks.[16]
Decommissioning
HMNZS Waikato was decommissioned from the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1998 and sold by the government for $1. She was stripped in the Northland port of Opua and sunk off the coast of Tutukaka on 18 December 2000 as an artificial reef. In 2002, the sunken Waikato's bow was separated from the rest of the ship in heavy weather.[citation needed]
See also
References
- ^ NZ Naval Board Report 1963
- ^ NZ Naval Board Reports 1962 & 1963
- ^ Captain John Moore. Jane's Naval Review 1982-3. Janes. London (1982) and (ed) Jane's Fighting Ship 1983-84. Jane's, London (1983)
- ^ During the Falklands War, the Argentine submarine San Luis, could hear the gas-turbine powered Type 22 frigates, but not the steam-powered Yarmouth.
- ^ J F Schink & C.Cameron. Learning from Experience. Lessons from Australia's Collins Subs. Rand Corporation.(2011) St Monica. USA.
- ^ NZ Navy Report to Defence Council 1979
- ^ Refer to Janes FS 1981-2 for cf refit costs.
- ^ R. Gardiner. Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1947-1982. Part 1: Western Powers. Conway Maritime Press. London (1983), p 84
- ^ "Waikato". National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
- ^ Waikato Proceedings, 5 Feb 1979, National Archives, Wellington, NZ.
- ^ NZ Naval Report to Defence Council 1979 and I. Bradley, Don't Rock the Boat (2004)
- ^ David Brown. The RN & Falklands. 1987, p329
- ^ NZ Naval Report to the Defence Council 1983
- ^ NZ Naval Report to the Defence Council 1983
- ^ NZ Naval Report to Defence Council 1983
- ^ "Media Release: Service at Bougainville Peace Talks Qualifies for Medal". New Zealand Government. Retrieved 1 April 2017.
External links
- Official website HMNZS Waikato Association (accessed 2014-01-27)