HMNZS Waikato (F55)
 HMNZS Waikato at speed | |
| Career (New Zealand) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | HMNZS Waikato (F55) |
| 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 |
| Nickname: | The mighty Y |
| Honours and awards: | Armilla Patrol 1982, Bougainville 1990 |
| Fate: | Sunk on 18 December 2000 as an artificial reef |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Leander class frigate |
| Displacement: | 2,450 tons standard 3,200 tons full load |
| Length: | 372 ft (113 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft (12 m) |
| Draught: | 19 ft (6 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × Babcock and Wilcox boilers delivering steam to 2 × English Electric geared steam turbines, 30,000 shp to 2 shafts |
| 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: | 2 × 4.5 in (114 mm) guns in twin Mk6 mounting 1 × quadruple Sea Cat SAM launcher 2 × Mark 32 torpedo tubes for Mark 46 torpedoes 4 × M2 Browning machine guns. |
| Aircraft carried: | Originally a Wasp helicopter, later 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need to replace the ageing cruiser Royalist and the RNZN's last two operational Loch-class frigates, which carried outdated sonars and anti-submarine weapons and were slow. Additionally, increasing tensions between Britain and Indonesia over Indonesian threats to the sovereignty of Sarawak also played a part in the decision to purchase the ship.
Laid down in January 1964, Waikato was constructed by Harland and Wolff and was delivered in 1966, commissioning into the RNZN in September that year. Displacing 2,450 tons standard and 3,200 tons at full load, Waikato was 372 ft (113 m) long, had a beam of 41 ft (12 m) and a draught of 19 ft (6 m). She was fitted with two Babcock and Wilcox boilers which delivered steam to two English Electric geared steam turbines, producing 30,000 shp to two shafts, which gave Waikato a top speed of 27 knots (50 km/h). Her range was 4,600 nautical miles (8,520 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h), and she had a crew of 18 officers and 248 sailors.
In terms of armament, Waikato was a fully armed Batch 2 Leander. She was equipped with a GWS22 Seacat missile system, as well as two 4.5 in (114 mm) guns in twin Mk 6 mounts, four M2 Browning machine guns, and two Mark 32 torpedo tubes which fired Mark 46 torpedoes. She was also fitted out for a landing pad and helicopter for a Wasp helicopter intended to monitor and attack submarine targets with torpedoes and a variable-depth sonar, which proved a mixed success in the RNZN service. The main hull sonar was the standard RN 177 of the 1960s.
Operational history
For the first nine years of its RNZN service the Waikato operated around New Zealand and with the ANZUK naval squadron based at Singapore, which continued for three or four years after the official British withdrawal from Singapore in 1971 in reduced form in 1971–75 in the company of five or six Royal Navy frigates and destroyers.
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 flightdeck. 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 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 Ikara RN modernisation was probably about five times the Waikato 's mid life update and a refit equivalent to the Batch 2 RN Leander would have cost ten times as much.[1]
After re-entering service under the command of Captain Ian Bradley, Waikato was involved in the rescue of a seriously injured fishermen from the Soviet trawler Ardatov during which a Wasp, flown by Lieutenant Joe Tunicliffe, was launched in rough sea conditions to pick up the man from a trawler. Later, in January 1978, the while escorting the USN Thresher-class SSN Pintado into Auckland harbour, Waikato faced an armada of anti nuclear protest yachts, which attempted to block the passage of the possibly nuclear armed and certainly nuclear powered USN attack sub. The Waikato ran into the harbour at 30 knots ahead of the Pintado, with the Waikato 's Wasp helicopter and another RNZN Wasp in company, deployed over the protest yachts to create downdraft which destabilised the protest yachts, and tipped several over in a controversial move which secured the rapid passage of the Pintado to its berth. No one was hurt. While appreciated by the US Navy and crew of the USN hunter killer, the move was regarded as aggressive by NZ politicians and was condemned by the protestors. The approach was never adopted again. Waikato deployed to Pearl Harbour for work up with USN fleet units and performed well in exercises with the US and Canadian fleet.
During the Falklands conflict in the early 1980s, Waikato deployed to the Armilla patrol to help free up British ships for deployment.
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 HMNZS Waikato (Leander class gun frigate), HMNZS Wellington (Leander class gun frigate) and HMNZS Endeavour (logistic support and refueling vessel). 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. Citations were issued to the crews to acknowledge their contribution, 24 years after this operation ex service personnel are still petitioning their government for medallic recognition. Waikato was a well loved ship and crew members have fond memories of her, Waikato has a well used Facebook page for ex crew members to use
Decommissioning
HMNZS Waikato was decommissioned from the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1998 and bought from 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.
See also
References
- ↑ Refer to Janes FS 1981-2 for cf refit costs.
- Official website HMNZS Waikato Association (accessed 2014-01-27)
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Coordinates: 35°39′10″S 174°32′40″E / 35.6528°S 174.5445°E