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Castle Class NZ – HMNZS Pahau (T28/T351)

HMNZS Pahau T28/T351

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HMNZS Pahau underway, 1943

HMNZS Pahau (T28)(T 351)
MS Trawler of the Manuka class
Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy
Type MS Trawler
Class Manuka
Pennant T 351
Built by Stevenson & Cook (Port Chalmers, New Zealand) : New Zealand Railways (Lower Hull, New Zealand)
Ordered Aug 1941
Laid down Nov 1942
Launched 3 Apr 1943
Commissioned 12 Feb 1944
End service
History
Sold in 1946
Commands listed for HMNZS Pahau (T 351)
Commander From To
1 Lt. George David Gray, RNZNVR 10 Jan 1944 early 1945
2 T/Lt. William Harold Keith Mollard, RNZNVR early 1945

HMNZS Pahau alongside HMNZS Matai

Former RNZN ships – Ex HMNZS Matai with HMNZS Pahau under tow from Auckland entering Sydney Harbour

Ex HMNZS Pahau in 1946 while she was operating in Sydney under Arthur Murrell – courtesy Sydney Heritage Fleet

HMNZS Pahau was one of eight steel New Zealand-built Castle-class trawlers built and commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II.

Background[edit]

The vessel was ordered after the New Zealand government, facing a requirement for more minesweepers to operate in home waters, chose the Castle-class design because it was simple enough to be built with the country’s limited ship construction facilities at the time.[1]

Operational history[edit]

Pahau was the fifth of the nine steel minesweepers constructed for the Royal New Zealand Navy and was commissioned on 12 February 1944. the others being Aroha, Awatere Hautapu, Maimai, Waiho, Waima, Waipu, and Waikato (never commissioned). She served with the 95th Auxiliary Minesweeping Group, located at Wellington.[2] In March 1946, Pahau would be sold to Arthur. A. Murrel of Sydney along with Awatere. [3][4] On 22 May, 1946, while being towed to Australia by the Matai, Pahau would break free from the Matai, becoming adrift.[5] She would be located a few days later and would arrive at Sydney on 28 May 1946.[6][7] In October 1946, Pahau was brought by the Australian Commonwealth Government and was allocated to the UNNRA to rebuild the decimated Chinese fishing industry.[3] She was last seen with the Awatere and Tawhai fishing at Formosa (now Taiwan)