Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 15, 2019 20:38:18 GMT 12
I was not aware that any Royal Navy battleships had visited New Zealand, but I just came across this article of a visit, and with some Kiwis among the crew. From the NEW ZEALAND 21 FEBRUARY 1945:
MEMBERS OF CREW
FOUR NEW ZEALANDERS
SERVICE IN MANY PARTS
Only one New Zealander was serving in H.M.S. Howe when she left Auckland. He is Sub-Lieutenant J. R. C. Thompson, of Christchurch, who left New Zealand about 18 months ago after serving in the coastal artillery. He went to Britain under Scheme B for naval war service, and was commissioned after serving in the battleship King George V.
Sub-Lieutenant Thompson is one of a number of officers in the Howe who come from different parts of the Empire. A lieutenant, Royal Indian Naval Reserve, is from Burma, another lieutenant was born in Bermuda, six midshipmen are Australians, and there is also a Canadian. For one day there was a South African. He joined the morning the Howe left Auckland, and returned to the land that night as the result of a change in orders.
Four members of the Royal New Zealand Navy were included in H.M.S. Howe's complement when the battleship arrived at Auckland. All of them joined the ship only a few months before, most of their service having been in H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles and H.M.N.Z.S. Gambia. The men were Leading-Seamen Christopher R. Eyles of Nelson, A. H. Howe, of Nelson, Raymond J. Jeffery, of Christchurch, and Erik R. Slatter, of Masterton.
Leading-Seaman Eyles is the son of Mr P. Eyles, of Golden Bay, and joined the Navy in 1939 at the age of 15, signing on for 12 years. After passing through H.M.N.Z.S. Philomel he joined the Achilles after the Graf Spee battle and served with that ship in the Pacific before transferring to the Gambia. Placed then in the Eastern Fleet pool at Colombo, he later joined the Howe. Leading-Seaman Eyles said that most of his service had been uneventful, save for the bombing of the Achilles in the Pacific. In the Gambia they had the job of escorting aircraft carriers in raids on Japanese bases in Java and Sumatra.
Good Job In Pacific
"We lay about a mile and a-half offshore while the destroyers went closer in and the 'battlers' fired their heavy guns from farther out over us," Leading-Seaman Eyles said. He described the experience as impressive and said it showed that the Navy was doing a good job in the Pacific. When the rest of the British fleet arrived it should not be long before the Japanese were cleared out.
Leading-Seaman Howe, whose mother is Mrs F. M. Howe, of Nelson, joined the New Zealand Navy in 1939 and left with the Achilles from Auckland three days before war broke out. He served through the Graf Spee battle and afterward in the South Atlantic, based on the Falkland Islands, before the Achilles returned to New Zealand.
After a gunnery course in Australia Leading-Seaman Howe rejoined the ship and stayed with her until she went to England in 1943, when he was commissioned with the Gambia. For six months in 1944 the ship was on anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay, based on the Azores, before going to the Pacific. He joined the Howe from the Eastern Fleet pool at Colombo.
Accumulated Leave
A former merchant navy seaman, Leading-Seaman Jeffrey's home is in Christchurch, although he only landed in New Zealand from Bristol in 1937. Joining the Navy in 1911 he was overseas in H.M.S. Ascania. and transferred to the Achilles from the pool at Suva in 1942. After going to England with the other three members of the party he served in the same ships until the return to New' Zealand.
Similar service has been seen by Leading-Seaman Slatter, whose mother is Mrs J. Slatter, of Masterton. After joining for 12 years in October, 1940, at the age of 16, he was one of the first to pass out from H.M.N.Z.S Tamaki, and then served for two years in the Achilles. Later transfers were to the Gambia and the Howe. All four have accumulated leave to enjoy, and they have been discharged from the Howe. They expect to be posted again to the New Zealand Navy, when they go back to duty.
COST £25,000,000
GREAT SHIP'S DETAILS
BROADSIDE OF 14 IN GUNS
Although they are no substitute for a first-hand view of this tremendously powerful ship, following are some of the details of the Howe's construction and armament:—
Tonnage, a "nominal" 35,000.
Length. 740 ft, or 246 2-3 yards, about 200 ft longer than H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles.
Beam, 103 ft, or 34 1-3 yards, about twice the beam of the Achilles.
Mean draught, when launched, 28ft, compared with the 16ft of the Achilles.
Speed, 30 knots, or about 34 miles an hour.
Engines, Parsons geared turbines with oil-fired boilers, driving four propellers and developing 125,000 horsepower, compared with 72,000 by the engines of the Achilles.
Guns, ten 14in, firing a projectile weighing about three-quarters of a ton; 16 5.25 in dual-purpose, that is, for either surface or anti-aircraft firing; many other weapons, including a bristling array of multiple pom-poms, Oerlikons and Bofors, for protection mainly against aircraft attack.
Armour, weight of armoured belt as disclosed, about 14,000 tons, extensive armour on decks of unrevealed thickness, for protection against aerial bombing or that type of freak shot which sank the Hood, and projecting anti-torpedo bulge just above and well below the water.
Complement, at least 1500 officers and men of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
Other features include many technical devices born of British brains for giving ample warning by day and b.y night of approaching surface and underwater vessels and aircraft.
Builders, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd.
Laid down 1937; completed, 1942; received alterations and additions in keeping with naval developments, 1943.
Cost, about £25,000,000.
MEMBERS OF CREW
FOUR NEW ZEALANDERS
SERVICE IN MANY PARTS
Only one New Zealander was serving in H.M.S. Howe when she left Auckland. He is Sub-Lieutenant J. R. C. Thompson, of Christchurch, who left New Zealand about 18 months ago after serving in the coastal artillery. He went to Britain under Scheme B for naval war service, and was commissioned after serving in the battleship King George V.
Sub-Lieutenant Thompson is one of a number of officers in the Howe who come from different parts of the Empire. A lieutenant, Royal Indian Naval Reserve, is from Burma, another lieutenant was born in Bermuda, six midshipmen are Australians, and there is also a Canadian. For one day there was a South African. He joined the morning the Howe left Auckland, and returned to the land that night as the result of a change in orders.
Four members of the Royal New Zealand Navy were included in H.M.S. Howe's complement when the battleship arrived at Auckland. All of them joined the ship only a few months before, most of their service having been in H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles and H.M.N.Z.S. Gambia. The men were Leading-Seamen Christopher R. Eyles of Nelson, A. H. Howe, of Nelson, Raymond J. Jeffery, of Christchurch, and Erik R. Slatter, of Masterton.
Leading-Seaman Eyles is the son of Mr P. Eyles, of Golden Bay, and joined the Navy in 1939 at the age of 15, signing on for 12 years. After passing through H.M.N.Z.S. Philomel he joined the Achilles after the Graf Spee battle and served with that ship in the Pacific before transferring to the Gambia. Placed then in the Eastern Fleet pool at Colombo, he later joined the Howe. Leading-Seaman Eyles said that most of his service had been uneventful, save for the bombing of the Achilles in the Pacific. In the Gambia they had the job of escorting aircraft carriers in raids on Japanese bases in Java and Sumatra.
Good Job In Pacific
"We lay about a mile and a-half offshore while the destroyers went closer in and the 'battlers' fired their heavy guns from farther out over us," Leading-Seaman Eyles said. He described the experience as impressive and said it showed that the Navy was doing a good job in the Pacific. When the rest of the British fleet arrived it should not be long before the Japanese were cleared out.
Leading-Seaman Howe, whose mother is Mrs F. M. Howe, of Nelson, joined the New Zealand Navy in 1939 and left with the Achilles from Auckland three days before war broke out. He served through the Graf Spee battle and afterward in the South Atlantic, based on the Falkland Islands, before the Achilles returned to New Zealand.
After a gunnery course in Australia Leading-Seaman Howe rejoined the ship and stayed with her until she went to England in 1943, when he was commissioned with the Gambia. For six months in 1944 the ship was on anti-submarine patrol in the Bay of Biscay, based on the Azores, before going to the Pacific. He joined the Howe from the Eastern Fleet pool at Colombo.
Accumulated Leave
A former merchant navy seaman, Leading-Seaman Jeffrey's home is in Christchurch, although he only landed in New Zealand from Bristol in 1937. Joining the Navy in 1911 he was overseas in H.M.S. Ascania. and transferred to the Achilles from the pool at Suva in 1942. After going to England with the other three members of the party he served in the same ships until the return to New' Zealand.
Similar service has been seen by Leading-Seaman Slatter, whose mother is Mrs J. Slatter, of Masterton. After joining for 12 years in October, 1940, at the age of 16, he was one of the first to pass out from H.M.N.Z.S Tamaki, and then served for two years in the Achilles. Later transfers were to the Gambia and the Howe. All four have accumulated leave to enjoy, and they have been discharged from the Howe. They expect to be posted again to the New Zealand Navy, when they go back to duty.
COST £25,000,000
GREAT SHIP'S DETAILS
BROADSIDE OF 14 IN GUNS
Although they are no substitute for a first-hand view of this tremendously powerful ship, following are some of the details of the Howe's construction and armament:—
Tonnage, a "nominal" 35,000.
Length. 740 ft, or 246 2-3 yards, about 200 ft longer than H.M.N.Z.S. Achilles.
Beam, 103 ft, or 34 1-3 yards, about twice the beam of the Achilles.
Mean draught, when launched, 28ft, compared with the 16ft of the Achilles.
Speed, 30 knots, or about 34 miles an hour.
Engines, Parsons geared turbines with oil-fired boilers, driving four propellers and developing 125,000 horsepower, compared with 72,000 by the engines of the Achilles.
Guns, ten 14in, firing a projectile weighing about three-quarters of a ton; 16 5.25 in dual-purpose, that is, for either surface or anti-aircraft firing; many other weapons, including a bristling array of multiple pom-poms, Oerlikons and Bofors, for protection mainly against aircraft attack.
Armour, weight of armoured belt as disclosed, about 14,000 tons, extensive armour on decks of unrevealed thickness, for protection against aerial bombing or that type of freak shot which sank the Hood, and projecting anti-torpedo bulge just above and well below the water.
Complement, at least 1500 officers and men of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines.
Other features include many technical devices born of British brains for giving ample warning by day and b.y night of approaching surface and underwater vessels and aircraft.
Builders, Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company, Ltd.
Laid down 1937; completed, 1942; received alterations and additions in keeping with naval developments, 1943.
Cost, about £25,000,000.
