HMNZS Hinau ( T17/T399) 1942 Castle Class Composite NZ Made
HMNZS Hinau ( T17/T399) 1942
Hinau was laid down in late 1940, shortly after Manuka was laid down. Along with Rimu, and Manuka, Hinau would be of a composite design, (Kauri wood on steel frame) due to an urgency for minesweepers. All 3 composite trawlers would use boilers and engines from ships in the rotten row, with Hinau getting an engine and boiler from Rarawa, which was laid up in 1929. Their designs were not of traditional Castle-Class trawlers, being modified to be able to fit the boiler and engine into the ship. Hinau and her sisters would use magnetic minesweeping gear along with acoustic sweep “Kango Hammers” for acoustic mines.
Hinau was launched on 28 August 1941. Being the first ship ever launched for the Royal New Zealand Navy. Hinau was completed in early 1942, with trials being held in April 1942. It was noted that the steering gear was stiff, needing 2 men for manoeuvring, and her boiler room was full of problems, due to how old her engine and boiler were, with the report stating at the end “It is apparent that “HINAU” will not be able to operate effectively as a L.L. sweeper without further modification to her boiler room.” With it being noted in another steam trial in June 1942, that the ship would be unworkable in hot weather. The RNZN would try to combat these issues the best they could, though Hinau and her sisters’ engine rooms would be hot and uncomfortable for those who worked in them throughout the war.
Hinau was commissioned on 23 July 1942, and would serve out of Auckland along with the Rimu, and Manuka, forming the LL Group (which was later renamed to the 194th Auxiliary minesweeping division) She and her sisters would occasionally visit the South Island and other North Island ports. While in Lyttelton on 18 August 1943, Hinau would suffer a small fire in her forward mess, quickly being extinguished, there would be minor damage. Hinau would have refits in March 1943, August 1943, and October 1944. With her pennant number being changed from T17 to T399 in her last refit.
Once World War II ended, she would be paid off on September 6, 1945 and put in reserve along with the Manuka, and Rimu at the Devonport Naval Base, and would be used to supply steam to heat other ships alongside her. In 1954, as she was becoming too costly to maintain, she was declared surplus and sold for £274.10 ($17,937 NZD today) to F. Appleton of Penrose to be scrapped at the Viaduct Basin along with Rimu, and the tug Toia, being hulked along with Rimu. In either 1956, 1957, or 1958, Hinau would be towed to the Parry Bros Ltd shingle quarry in Whakatīwai, and run aground at high tide to be used as a shingle bin and breakwater. In 1987 preservationists from the HMNZS Ngapona base salvaged the propeller of Hinau, and placed it at the base. It would stand there as a memorial for the minesweeper and men of the naval reserve. After the base closed, it would be moved to the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum, where it remains today as a playground fixture.
Sources:
Emmanuel Makarios. Nets Lines and Pots: a history of NZ Fishing Volume 2
Former Stevensons Quarry workers
HMNZS Hinau Minesweeper. Torpedo Bay Navy Museum Website
HMNZS Waiho Minesweeper. Torpedo Bay Navy Museum Website
McDougall, R.J. (1989). New Zealand Naval vessels.
Minesweeping operations: HMNZS Hinau (Archives NZ)
Minesweeping operations: HMNZS Rimu (Archives NZ)Minesweeping operations: HMNZS Manuka (Archives NZ)
Ships – Minesweeper Initial Correspondence Hinau and Rimu (Archives NZ)
Ships – “B” Class Composite Minesweeper (Archives NZ)
Trawler- “Manuka” (Ship) (Archives NZ)
