Post by Dave Homewood on Mar 27, 2022 20:26:33 GMT 12
Newest Warship For New Zealand
(Special Crspdt. N.Z.P.A.) BELFAST (Northern Ireland), December 14.
The grey shell of New Zealand’s newest warship is nearing completion in the Abercorn shipyard of Harland and Wolff.
To the 200 men on the job the ship is merely number 1657, but on February 18 next year she will be launched and named Waikato, the latest in a line of more than a dozen high-speed anti-submarine frigates in the Leander class. In the following 20 months she will be fitted out with millions of pounds worth of sophisticated electronics gear and the Navy expects to take delivery in the spring of 1966.
Although she will displace 2850 tons, the Waikato is a light-weight. Only 700 tons of steel have gone into her construction.
The thickest hull plates are no more than 3/8 in thick, the decks are 1/8 in thick, and the internal partitions 1/16-1/8 in thick. In the main hull there is not one flat plate; all which have gone into the ship’s 372 foot length have had to be curved individually to conform with the design which has proved to have been one of the most successful plans yet produced for high-speed and sea-keeping qualities in all weathers.
Only the sharp prefabricated stem welding, 36 ft 6 7/16 in high and weighing 19.5 tons, remains to be craned into position to complete the shell.
Already the superstructure is going up on the main deck—a hangar for the ship is being fitted to carry a Westland Wasp helicopter, the same as carried by Royal Navy ships of the same class. The helicopters’ cost will depend on what “black boxes” are put into it; but the basic cost is about £35,000. Some Wasps have cost as little as £67,000, others more than £100,000. The helicopter is now regarded by the Navy as an important weapon to kill a submarine before it can close on its prey. It carries either two torpedoes or a nuclear depth charge and if ordered by New Zealand would be the country’s first atomic weapon.
To assist helicopter operation from a small flight deck in rough seas, Waikato will have stabilisers projecting five feet from either side of the hull. Anticipatory mechanism will be built in to counter rolling during aircraft movements.
By and large, Waikato is similar to Royal Navy Leander class vessels but there are differences. For example, the standard of crew accommodation will be higher than in British ships. “What we are finding is that changes you are putting in we are following,” says the Admiralty overseer (Mr K. Norris).
An alteration to the Admiralty plan that caused eyebrows to be raised was the elimination of a separate galley for officers. New Zealand officers and ratings will all be served from the same galley.
“That’s a change I don’t think the Royal Navy will be making for many years,” says Mr Norris. By doing away with the officers’ galley the New Zealand Navy has increased its working space; the galley becomes a damage-control headquarters and planned maintenance office. Formica walls in messes, and dish-washing machines, will reduce “house-keeping,” releasing the crew for more important tasks. The days of continual chipping and painting are virtually gone.
“If you’d come here five years ago, you’d have seen just a brown, rusty mass,” said Mr Norris, waving his hand at Waikato’s grey sides.
The secret is plate preservation in the metal shop before welding. Individual plates are rolled, grit-blasted clean of rust and mill-scale on both sides and edges and coated with a zinc-rich primer which prevents rust. Known as a “car finish,” the treated plates, once painted, will hold the colour almost indefinitely, requiring touching up only occasionally. An Admiralty innovation, the practice is being copied widely by builders for merchant ships.
PICTURE: A 1963 official photograph of Leander, which Waikato will follow.
PRESS, 15 DECEMBER 1964
(Special Crspdt. N.Z.P.A.) BELFAST (Northern Ireland), December 14.
The grey shell of New Zealand’s newest warship is nearing completion in the Abercorn shipyard of Harland and Wolff.
To the 200 men on the job the ship is merely number 1657, but on February 18 next year she will be launched and named Waikato, the latest in a line of more than a dozen high-speed anti-submarine frigates in the Leander class. In the following 20 months she will be fitted out with millions of pounds worth of sophisticated electronics gear and the Navy expects to take delivery in the spring of 1966.
Although she will displace 2850 tons, the Waikato is a light-weight. Only 700 tons of steel have gone into her construction.
The thickest hull plates are no more than 3/8 in thick, the decks are 1/8 in thick, and the internal partitions 1/16-1/8 in thick. In the main hull there is not one flat plate; all which have gone into the ship’s 372 foot length have had to be curved individually to conform with the design which has proved to have been one of the most successful plans yet produced for high-speed and sea-keeping qualities in all weathers.
Only the sharp prefabricated stem welding, 36 ft 6 7/16 in high and weighing 19.5 tons, remains to be craned into position to complete the shell.
Already the superstructure is going up on the main deck—a hangar for the ship is being fitted to carry a Westland Wasp helicopter, the same as carried by Royal Navy ships of the same class. The helicopters’ cost will depend on what “black boxes” are put into it; but the basic cost is about £35,000. Some Wasps have cost as little as £67,000, others more than £100,000. The helicopter is now regarded by the Navy as an important weapon to kill a submarine before it can close on its prey. It carries either two torpedoes or a nuclear depth charge and if ordered by New Zealand would be the country’s first atomic weapon.
To assist helicopter operation from a small flight deck in rough seas, Waikato will have stabilisers projecting five feet from either side of the hull. Anticipatory mechanism will be built in to counter rolling during aircraft movements.
By and large, Waikato is similar to Royal Navy Leander class vessels but there are differences. For example, the standard of crew accommodation will be higher than in British ships. “What we are finding is that changes you are putting in we are following,” says the Admiralty overseer (Mr K. Norris).
An alteration to the Admiralty plan that caused eyebrows to be raised was the elimination of a separate galley for officers. New Zealand officers and ratings will all be served from the same galley.
“That’s a change I don’t think the Royal Navy will be making for many years,” says Mr Norris. By doing away with the officers’ galley the New Zealand Navy has increased its working space; the galley becomes a damage-control headquarters and planned maintenance office. Formica walls in messes, and dish-washing machines, will reduce “house-keeping,” releasing the crew for more important tasks. The days of continual chipping and painting are virtually gone.
“If you’d come here five years ago, you’d have seen just a brown, rusty mass,” said Mr Norris, waving his hand at Waikato’s grey sides.
The secret is plate preservation in the metal shop before welding. Individual plates are rolled, grit-blasted clean of rust and mill-scale on both sides and edges and coated with a zinc-rich primer which prevents rust. Known as a “car finish,” the treated plates, once painted, will hold the colour almost indefinitely, requiring touching up only occasionally. An Admiralty innovation, the practice is being copied widely by builders for merchant ships.
PICTURE: A 1963 official photograph of Leander, which Waikato will follow.
PRESS, 15 DECEMBER 1964
