HMNZS Hinau Minesweeper — National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy

Ship Details:[1]

Class: Castle-class composite minesweeper

Builders: Shipbuilders Ltd Auckland

Taken Over: 27 June 1942

Commissioned: 23 July 1942

Decommissioned: 4 September 1945[2]

Dimensions: 57’ x 14.4’ x 10.6’

Displacement: 625 tons

Machinery: Single screw triple reciprocating engine = 10.5knots

Fuel capacity: 100 tons of coal

Armament:

1 x 12pdr gun

LL magnetic minesweeping cables

SA acoustic sweep (Kango hammers)

Ship History:

She was a Castle-class minesweeper built in Auckland and commissioned as HMNZS Hinau on 23 July 1942 and was paid off 4 September 1945. She carried a complement of 26 officers and ratings and was equipped with magnetic minesweeping gear as well as acoustic sweep ‘Kango hammers’ for acoustic mines. She served with the LL Group located in Auckland alongside HMNZS Manuka & Rimu. In April 1943 the designation was changed to 194th Auxiliary Minesweeping Group. She had refits in March 1943, August 1943, and October 1944.[3]

She mostly operated in the Auckland region but did voyage to Wellington and the South island. As soon as the war ended she was tied up as there was a shortage of coal for the coal-fired minesweepers. Post-war Hinau was laid up at Devonport in reserve and was sold off as surplus on 6 September 1954 for breaking up. Her service was unspectacular and very mundane. Although the German raider Adjutant did lay acoustic mines off Wellington and Lyttleton, they were laid too deeply for them to be effective. It was not learned that they were there until after the German surrender. The majority of mines laid by the German raiders and the New Zealand government were contact mines.

References:

[1]R.J. McDougall, New Zealand Naval Vessels, Christchurch: GP Books, 1989, pp. 64-66.

[2] N Series 1 Box 494 Record No. 16/22/26 Minesweeping Operations HMNZS Hinau 1942-1950: Naval message dated 5 September 1949.

[3] N Series 1 Box 494 Record No. 16/22/26 Minesweeping Operations HMNZS Hinau 1942-1950: summary sheet undated. See also R.J. McDougall, New Zealand Naval Vessels, Christchurch: GP Books, 1989, pp. 64-66.