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Diving Tenders

Diving Tender – Manawanui – ii

HMNZS Kahu (A04) was a Moa-class inshore patrol vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. She was launched in 1979 as the lead boat of her class, modified to function as a diving tender. She was initially named HMNZS Manawanui (A09),[1] the second of soon to be four diving tenders with this name to serve in the New Zealand Navy. As a diving tender she participated in the exploration and salvage work of the wreck MS Mikhail Lermontov in March 1986.[1]

On 17 May 1988, she was renamed Kahu (A04) and recommissioned as the basic seamanship and navigation training vessel attached to the Royal New Zealand Naval College. Kahu is the second boat with this name to serve in the New Zealand Navy. (The name comes from the Māori-language kāhu – the name for the native swamp harrier hawk.) The ship was replaced in her role as a diving tender by HMNZS Manawanui (A09).

She remained in service for seamanship, Officer of the Watch training and as a backup diving tender until her decommissioning on 30 October 2009. The ship was sold for use as a pleasure craft on 18 February 2010.[2]

Kahu was distinguished from other boats of the Moa class by the gantry on her quarterdeck and lack of funnels.

HMNZS Manawanui

Post RNZN Career
After leaving the Royal New Zealand Navy she was sold to Peter White-Robinson and renamed Kahu. In 2011 she underwent a year long refit at Fitzroy Yachts in New Plymouth, converting her to a ‘family ship’. In 2013 she was sold.[3]

In 2021 the vessel was involved in a £160,000,000 drugs bust when she was intercepted by HMC Searcher 130 km off the coast of Plymouth.[4] 1 British Citizen and 5 Nicaraguan citizens were arrested. 2000kgs of Cocaine was reported to be onboard.

Diving Tender – Manawanui i

HMNZS Manawanui

HMNZS Manawanui was a naval tug which was modified for use as a diving tender by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). Originally intended for service with the United States Navy as a tug, the vessel was built in 1945 and transferred to the New Zealand Marine Department, which employed her in Waitemata Harbour before transferring the ship to the RNZN in 1948. She was converted to a diving tender in 1953 and served out her time in the RNZN in this role, before being decommissioned in 1978 and sold to the Paeroa Historic Maritime Park. The engine is now on display at the Whangarei Stationary Engine Club.[1]

Construction and design[edit]

Manawanui was built in Auckland in 1945 by Steel Ships Ltd. Displacing 125 tons standard, the vessel was 23 m (75 ft) long and had a beam of 5.6 m (18 ft). Propulsion was provided by a single 320 hp (240 kW) diesel engine operating a single shaft, which produced a top speed of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph). She had a crew of four.[citation needed]

Operational history[edit]

The vessel was originally built for the United States Navy, and was designated as US Navy tug YLT622, but instead she was transferred to the New Zealand Marine Department who named her Tug 622 and used her to service the large post-war fleet of surplus ships scattered around Waitemata Harbour.[citation needed] In 1948, Tug 622 was transferred to the RNZN and became HMNZS Manawanui. Manawanui was the first of three boats with this name to serve in the New Zealand Navy. It is also a Māori word meaning “to be brave or steadfast”.

HMNZS Manawanui at Paeroa
HMNZS Manawanui – diving tender

In 1953, she was converted to a diving tender and functioned in this role for the next 15 years. In 1956, she assisted in recovering an Avenger aircraft that had ditched in Hauraki Gulf. In 1957, she towed the badly damaged patrol launch SDML P3561 off rocks near Rangipukea Island and beached her in a nearby bay. In 1958, she investigated the wreck of the coaster Holmglen off Timaru.[citation needed]

She was replaced as a diving tender by a specially modified Moa class boat with the same name in 1978. In November 1978, she was sold for a nominal sum, to the Paeroa Historic Maritime Park for preservation and display.[3]