Bay Harbour: June 28, 2023

Bay Harbour News Wednesday June 28 2023
18
TREASURES FROM THE PAST
HMS Achilles an object of curiosity
LARGE CROWDS began to
gather at the port of Ōhinehou
Lyttelton on Sunday, November
15, 1936, arriving by motor
vehicle and electric train, with
extra passenger services having
been added to cope with the
expected influx of sightseers.
The object of the crowd’s
curiosity was the latest addition
to the New Zealand Division of
the Royal Navy, the light cruiser
HMS Achilles.
Built by Cammell Laird
at Birkenhead in the United
Kingdom, she was laid down
on June 11, 1931, launched
on September 1, 1932, and
commissioned into the British
Royal Navy on October 10, 1933.
A Leander-class light cruiser,
she displaced 7390 metric tons,
was 169.3m long, with a 17m
beam and a 5.8m draught, and
carried a full complement of 680
crew.
Six Yarrow boilers feeding four
Parsons geared steam turbines
driving four shafts produced
73,280 shaft horsepower
(54,640kW) for a top speed
of 32.5 knots (60 km/h) and a
range of 5730 nautical miles
(10,610km) at a cruising
speed of 13 knots (24 km/h).
The Achilles main armament
consisted of eight 6-inch (152
mm) guns in four twin turrets
fore and aft. This formidable
array was complemented by four
4-inch (102 mm) coastal defence
and heavy anti-aircraft guns, 12
Vickers machine guns, and eight
torpedo tubes.
HMS Achilles was the first
British warship to carry the
catapult-launched Supermarine
Walrus amphibious plane,
later also fitted to the
Royal Australian Navy’s
flagship HMAS Canberra.
Newly designed and built at
Supermarine’s Southampton
UK facility, the walrus was
unique for its time with an allmetal
fuselage, and was used in
reconnaissance, rescue and antisubmarine
duties. Aside from
the walrus, the Achilles would
later make use of a novel radio
controlled aerial drone, the
DH.82 Queen Bee.
After serving with the
British Home Fleet for two
years, in November 1935
HMS Achilles was assigned to
the Royal Navy’s New Zealand
Division.
While RN warships were
traditionally crewed by British
sailors, the formation of the New
Zealand Royal Naval Volunteer
Reserves in 1926 had led to a
growing cadre of New Zealand
born seamen serving with his
Majesty’s naval forces.
A decade later, when Achilles
was recommissioned into the
New Zealand Division on March
31, 1936, a majority of her crew
were proudly New Zealand born
and bred.
As the modern flagship of a
naval service that was well on
its way to becoming the New
Zealand navy, it’s no wonder
she drew ‘huge crowds’ on
her inaugural cruise around
the country. After calling in
at Wellington, she embarked
for her second port of call at
Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour,
arriving on November 13, 1936.
The welcome activities began
early with a complement of crew
from Achilles marching in good
order to St Saviour’s Church
in West Lyttelton to attend a
service led by Reverend Malden.
By 1.45pm, the crowd on the
wharf had grown so large the
gangways were opened early to
accommodate the 7500 people
who patiently waited their turn
to inspect ‘their’ cruiser through
to 6pm.
The following morning, 170
ratings, including the Royal
Marines’ band and seven officers,
marched through the streets of
Ōtautahi Christchurch from the
railway station, up Manchester
St to Cathedral Square, where
the salute was taken by Mayor
Beanland. Following this, the
crew were treated to morning tea
at Christ’s College.
The Achilles left Lyttelton
port on November 17, calling
at Akaroa and Dunedin before
sailing up the West Coast and
finally arriving at Auckland on
December 3, 1936.
Just three years later she would
HMS Achilles at Lyttelton wharf, c. 1936-38, Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum ref. 6744.1
https://www.teuaka.org.nz/online-collection/1009567
join HMS Exeter and Ajax in
a deadly engagement with the
Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser Graf
Spee. The first naval engagement
of World War 2, the famous
Battle of the River Plate,
would lead to the loss of four
of Achilles seamen on December
13, 1939, followed by the selfdestruction
of the Nazi warship
in the harbour of Montevideo.
On October 1, 1941,
the Royal Navy ended its
long association with the
British Crown’s Australasian
Dominions when the Royal
New Zealand Navy was decreed,
and the HMNZS Achilles was
recommissioned once again.
This famous New Zealand
cruiser would go on to see
action in the Pacific war at
Guadalcanal in 1942-43 and
at Okinawa, Japan, in 1945. At
war’s end, Achilles returned to
Royal Navy service in the UK
in September 1946, having only
been on loan to the RNZN,
and was then sold on to the
Indian Navy where she was
commissioned as INS Delhi in
July 1948.
After a further 30 years of
service, she was scrapped in
HMS Achilles in Whakaraupō Lyttelton Harbour c. 1936-38.
Photo by F E McGregor. Te Ūaka The Lyttelton Museum ref.
10461.1
https://www.teuaka.org.nz/online-collection/1130663
Bombay on June 30, 1978.
In commemoration of her
service with the RNZN, the
Indian Government gifted
her stern Y turret and guns to
Auckland’s Devonport Naval
Base where they reside at the
entrance to this day.
subscribe
AND sAVe
17%
OFF THe rrP*
*Based on savings
for 12 issues
New ZealaNd’s
premier magaZiNe
for lovers of
yesterday’s cars
classicdriver.co.nz
0800 624 295