She was built by 1980 by the Whangarei Engineering and Construction Company as a version re-engineered for use as an inshore survey vessel.
After decommissioning, she was purchased by North American owners and can be seen in Harper’s Island Episode 1, as the charter boat that brings the wedding party to the island.[1] Can also be seen in season 2, episode 9, of Psych, from 2007
She was built by 1980 by the Whangarei Engineering and Construction Company as a version re-engineered for use as an inshore survey vessel.
HMNZS Takapu completed service in 2000 and was sold into private ownership. The vessel was converted for private use following an extensive refit. HMNZS Takapu was renamed Takapu 2 following her decommissioning from the New Zealand Navy.
Originally the United States Naval ShipUSNS Tenacious (T-AGOS-17), the Stalwart-class ocean surveillance ship was used by the United States to locate and track Soviet submarines from 1989 to 1997, when she was transferred to the RNZN for use as a hydrographic survey ship. She served until 27 April 2012. She was subsequently sold to EGS Group, a private surveying company, and renamed RV Geo Resolution.
The ship’s construction contract was awarded 20 February 1987 to VT Halter Marine, Inc. of Moss Point, Mississippi, under then name Intrepid. Her keel was laid down 26 February 1988, she was launched 17 February 1989 and commissioned as USNS Tenacious on 29 September 1989. The renaming was prompted by protests from veterans of the Essex-class aircraft carrier USS Intrepid, who felt that the surveillance ship was not a fitting vessel to carry on the carrier’s name.[2]
During the Cold War, Ocean Surveillance Ships patrolled the world’s oceans searching for Soviet Navy submarines. Data was collected using the Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), consisting of listening devices and electronic equipment that transmit the acoustic data via satellite to shore for analysis. SURTASS is a linear array of 8,575 feet (2,614 m) deployed on a 6,000-foot (1,800 m) tow cable and neutrally buoyant. The array could operate at depths between 500 and 1,500 feet (150 and 460 m).
Tenacious was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and sold to New Zealand on 6 February 1997.
On commissioning into the RNZN on 13 February 1997, the ship was renamed HMNZS Resolution, after the sailing sloop HMS Resolution, used by James Cook during his second and third voyages of exploration, in recognition of the extensive hydrographic survey work done by Cook.[3]Resolution replaced HMNZ Ships Tui and Monowai as the navy’s primary survey and acoustic research vessel.[3] She undertook various marine survey tasks, including for the Land Information New Zealand agency.[1]SMB Adventure was operated by Resolution as a tender and survey motor boat.
Resolution sponsored a scholarship for under-privileged high school students to participate in a 10-day passage on the sail training ship Spirit of New Zealand. On occasion, university and high school students were embarked aboard Resolution as part of the ‘Students at Sea’ programme.[1]
On 22 February 2011, Resolution was underway off Christchurch when the 2011 Canterbury earthquake occurred. NZ Navy Today said later : ‘..the feeling onboard was that the engines had been set in full astern with associated shuddering and shaking. It was only when a dust cloud over Christchurch was observed and chatter on VHF soon alerted the bridge team of the enormity of the disaster. With Captain Dean McDougall (CTU 654.0.1, Captain Fleet Operational Support) in an established headquarters on HMNZS Canterbury in Lyttelton, Resolution reported for duty and was subsequently called in to conduct a hydrographic confidence survey of the main channel into the Port of Lyttelton.[4]
Resolution was decommissioned at Devonport Naval Base on 27 April 2012.[3] She was subsequently sold to EGS Group, a private surveying company, and renamed RV Geo Resolution. Following the sale she left Devonport Naval Base for the final time on 11 October 2014
For the first time, the newest addition to the Naval Service fleet, the Inshore Patrol Vessel (IPV) P70 class cutter LÉ Aoibhinn (P71), proceeded to sea from Cork Harbour as above this week. The IPV, will be used primarily for fisheries protection patrols, as Ireland is obliged to conduct such tasks as an EU member state. Credit: Echolivecork-facebook
The twin inshore cutters, LÉ Aoibhinn (P71) and LÉ Gobnait (P72) were delivered to Cork Harbour last May, having served the Royal New Zealand Navy as the former HMZNS Rotoiti and HMZNS Pukaki, respectively.
In March 2022 they were acquired from the New Zealand government.
Both the ‘Lake’ class cutters directly replaced the decommissioned LÉ Orla and LÉ Ciara which were recently disposed of when towed overseas to be recycled.
A Naval Service spokesperson confirmed to EchoLive.ie this week that the LÉ Aoibhinn had proceeded to sea for the first time and will commence its (IOC) process, as alluded to above.
“This process will take a period of time, and currently the Royal New Zealand Navy is assisting us in our familiarisation to the inshore patrol vessels,” the spokesperson explained.
Built in 1960, the ship was originally used as a civilian supply and passenger vessel by the New Zealand Government, under the name GMV Moana Roa, before being acquired by the RNZN in 1974. She was commissioned into the RNZN in 1975 for the voyage to Scotland for conversion and commissioned into the RNZN in October 1977. She remained in RNZN service until April 1998, performing various duties such as coastal surveying, resupply, and surveillance. After being decommissioned she was sold to civilian operators in Britain in 1998 for conversion to a cruise ship, but was found unsuitable for the role and eventually sent to Spanish shipbreakers in 2002.
The ship was laid down by Grangemouth Dockyard in Scotland in 1960. The ship displaced 3,900 tons at full load, was 90.8 metres (298 ft) in length overall and 82.3 metres (270 ft) long at the keel, had a beam of 14.1 metres (46 ft) and a draught of 5.2 metres (17 ft). Propulsion machinery consisted of two 7-cylinder two-stroke TAD 36 Clark Sulzer diesels, which provided 3,640 horsepower (2,710 kW) to the CP propellers The ship had a top speed of 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph). In RNZN service, the ship had a crew of 126 and after 1980 was armed with two 20 mm Oerlikons for self-defence. In 1982, she was fitted out to carry a single Wasp helicopter.[citation needed]
Operational history
After being completed, the vessel spent the first part of her operational life as the New Zealand Government Island supply/passenger vessel GMV Moana Roa.[1] She was acquired by the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1974 and converted over a two-year period in Scotland 1975-77 to replace her predecessor, HMNZS Lachlan.[2]Monowai was the second of two ships with this name to serve in the RNZN. She was named after the glacial Lake Monowai. Monowai is a Māori word meaning “channel full of water”.
HMNZS Monowai – previously Moana Roa The old girl when she was the Moana Roa prior to refit and commissioning as the Monowai
During her naval service she was known as the “Ghost of the Coast”,[2] as she quietly remapped most of the New Zealand coastline including the Chatham, Campbell, and Auckland Islands, as well as the many sub-Antarctic islands in New Zealand’s responsibility.[citation needed] She also acted as a resupply vessel carrying stores and equipment to Campbell and other sub-Antarctic islands and served as an “official residence” for VIPs and dignitaries at Pacific Island conferences.[citation needed]
Other tasks included monitoring Chinese missile splashdown tests, responding to the 1987 Fijian coups d’état to assist in the evacuation of New Zealand citizens,[3] participating in the ANZCAN cable route survey,[2] and assisting in international searches for sea mounts and shoals.[citation needed] She carried a helicopter and undertook rescue or aid missions, saving the lives of eight people during the New Zealand to Tonga Yacht Regatta.[2]
Monowai was replaced in 1998 by HMNZS Resolution, formerly USNS Tenacious.[2] She was sold to British buyers, Hebridean Island Cruises, for conversion into a cruise ship in 1998. She was laid up at Lowestoft in England after being found unsuitable for her intended use until 2002 when she was finally sent to Spanish shipbreakers.
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