Papanui Tattler March 2010

NAVALESE BITS & BYTES

Greetings for our March issue of the 'Tattler'. At last we have had some great summer weather although I reckon it's a bit late. According the the weather pundits the 1st of march supposedly is the first day of autumn so I think we should enjoy our late summer days.

We have our golf day coming up on the 14th March at Everglades so if you are interested in taking part in this exclusive tournament please let me know or put your name on the sheet at the end of the bar. A special thanks to our donors for our 'Liquid Refreshment' golf raffle and golf day prizes. They are gratefully appreciated. If it is anything like our last golf day we will all have a very enjoyable day.

There are some ship visits coming up, HMNZS Manawanui 19/20 March, HMNZS Canterbury 2nd/5th April, 30th April/3rd May and HMNZS Hawea in May also.
These visits are Operational as opposed to 'Showing the Flag' however our RNO Cmdr Rex Edwards has tenativley arranged a visit to Canterbury in the forenoon of 1st May and to that end I shall be taking names of those who would like to partake. I have been on previous visits to this ship and I can assure you that it will be well worth your while to take advantage of this offer. I would presume that if we take the RSA van there will be a deviation on the way home for a short 'after match' function!!!!!!.

Also on the 7th March arrangements are in hand for a trip out on the tug 'Lyttelton'. Final arrangements to be made at our meeting next Tuesday night. This also should be and enjoyable day out.

There are two upcoming events in the planning stages to take place in late 2011.
1. The Bi-annual National conference of the RNZNA and
2. A reunion for ex ships company of HMNZS Canterbury (F421).
It is envisaged that the majority, if not all, of the functions for these two events will take place at the Papanui RSA. Inquiries have been made in relation to accommodation at the 'Elms' and tenative bookings have been pencilled in at a surprisingly good rate. Obviously there is still a vast amount of work to be undertaken in relation to both of these events and you will be kept informed as to progress and arrangements as they eventuate. Hopefully the alterations/up grade of our building will have been completed by then and to that end this is a reminder of the meeting to be held at the Papanui RSA this coming Saturday, 6th March, to get members approval to go ahead with this project.

As usual I am past my deadline so I will close this now. Have an enjoyable month, take care and go the Crusaders

Cheers & Beers

Ron Mayell
President Papanui Branch RNZNA
28th February 2010

HMNZS LACHLAN
Immediately after the war, the infant Royal New Zealand Navy found itself with a variety of ships, officers and men with a wide range of experience and skills. But the nation had neither a survey ship nor experienced survey officers.
The then Government and the Navy looked for a survey ship and found one in Australia. She was a River Class frigate and had been commissioned for service in 1945, in the dying days of the war. Named HMAS Lachlan, she had been used exclusively on survey work until 1948, when negotiantions for her loan to New Zealand were begun. On 5th October 1949 the ship became HMNZS Lachlan. New Zealand had its first white ship with a buff funnel, the traditional colours of the Hydrographic Branch. She was manned by New Zealand general service ratings, a hard core of Royal Navy survey recorders, two New Zealand volunteer survey officers, three Australian survey officers and two English survey officers, Commander J. M. Sharpey-Schafer, RN and Lt Cmdr G. P. Hall, RN. A little over a month later, on 16th November 1949 the costal survey began again, this time as an almost entirely New Zealand affair. The task was without question the sole responsibility of the RNZN. The job was an uphill one. Eighty per-cent of our charts were 100 years old.
No matter how good the Lachlan or her "Commomwealth" complement's was it was obvious that she could not hope to tackle the massive assignment alone. To help her two 72' harbour defence M/L's were transferred from general service to the Hydrographic Branch and fitted out for survey duties, HMNZS Takapu and Tarapunga.
Lachlan was paid off in December 1974 after a quarter of a century's faithfull work on the coast.
LACHLAN (F364).
Survey vessel. Former Australian River Class Frigate.
Built by Mort's Dock, Sydney, Launched March 1944, Completed Feb 1945.
Helicopter Platform fitted in 1966
Displacement: 1420 tons, length overall 301' 6", beam 36' 8", draught 16'.
Armament: 2 x 4", 2 x 40mm anti-aircraft, 6 machine guns, (all removed for survey duties)
Performance: 20 Knots
Machinery: Triple Expansion, 5500ihp, 2 x shafts
Complement: 140