Post-Jutland career HMS New Zealand (1911)

grant howard, navy in new zealand

german minesweepers , escorting light cruisers attempting clear british-laid minefields in heligoland bight in late 1917. admiralty planned large operation 17 november destroy ships, , allocated 2 light cruiser squadrons , 1st cruiser squadron covered reinforced 1st battlecruiser squadron and, more distantly, 1st battle squadron of battleships. new zealand attached 1st bcs operation, became known second battle of heligoland bight. new zealand did not fire guns during battle. in previous engagements, captain green wore piupiu , tiki luck.

during 1918, new zealand , grand fleet s other capital ships used on occasion escort convoys between britain , norway. 2nd bcs spent period 8 21 february covering these convoys in company battleships , destroyers, , put sea on 6 march in company 1st bcs support minelayers. 2nd bcs again supported minelayers in north sea 25 june or 26 june end of july. during september , october, new zealand , 2nd bcs supervised , protected minelaying operations north of orkney. battlecruiser present @ surrender of high seas fleet part of 2nd bcs.

dominion tour

following war, admiral jellicoe tasked helping plan , coordinate naval policies , defences of british dominions. new zealand made available transportation, , refitted between december 1918 , february 1919 tour; main changes removal of flying-off platforms , lower forward four-inch guns. first stop india, new zealand arriving in bombay on 14 march 1919 , departing 6 weeks later. battlecruiser arrived @ albany, western australia, on 15 may, jellicoe , staff disembarked take overland route across country. new zealand sailed via melbourne , hobart depart sydney new zealand on 16 august.

new zealand dry-docked @ cockatoo island dockyard in sydney during admiral jellicoe s tour of dominions

the ship called upon christmas island, southeast of fanning island, on 19 november 1920, thinking uninhabited. instead, greeted joe english, of medford, massachusetts, had been manager of copra plantation on island, had become marooned 2 others, when war had broken out. men rescued.

one of new zealand s 4-inch guns, outside auckland museum

the ship particularly popular in new zealand, crowds flocked visit had done in 1913. jellicoe, too, popular , later returned new zealand serve governor-general 1920 1924. ship stopped off @ fiji , hawaii before arriving on 8 november in canada, final country assessed. after returning united kingdom, battlecruiser paid off reserve on 15 march 1920. new zealand regarded obsolete royal navy, because 12-inch guns inferior 15-inch (381 mm) guns deployed on latest generation of battlecruisers. sold scrap on 19 december 1922 meet tonnage restrictions set on british empire washington naval treaty. new zealand government completed paying off loan used fund ship in 1944/45 financial year.

many items battlecruiser sent new zealand after scrapped. equipment including several 4-inch guns, range finder , laundry equipment, used military units while other artifacts placed on display in museums. during world war ii, 4-inch guns main armament of land batteries protected entrances harbours @ auckland, wellington , lyttelton. captain s piupiu returned new zealand in 2005, , on display @ torpedo bay navy museum in auckland alongside ship s bell , other artifacts. museum of new zealand te papa tongarewa in wellington holds several items ship in collection.