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Lake Class inshore patrol boats -HMNZS Pukaki (P3568)

HMNZS Pukaki (P3568) was a Lake-class inshore patrol vessel of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Pukaki commissioned in 1975, deleted in 1991 and sold as a private launch.

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Service history

The class was intended to comprise 6 vessels to replace the wartime harbour protection boats and old converted minesweepers HMNZS Kiama and Inverell used for fishery protection in the 1960s and early 1970s. The Lake class were politically justified as a means of enhancing New Zealand’s capability for patrolling the 200-nautical-mile (370 km) exclusive economic zone, established by the new Law of the Sea of 1977. However they were too small for the task, and gave the crews a roller-coaster ride, resulting in extensive injury and sea sickness. Originally the RNZN had requested slightly larger 37-metre (121 ft) boats from Brooke Marine, but the experience of the over-extended Lake class turned the navy strongly against this type of mini warship. Opposition politicians condemned their introduction as ridiculously expensive and militaristic for fisheries protection. On calm days and in protected waters they could be comfortable and they gave useful early command experience for officers. Pukaki and its class were used to escort the US Navy nuclear submarines Haddo and Pintado into Auckland Harbour in 1978 and 1979 .

Pukaki was one of three ships of this name to serve in the Royal New Zealand Navy and is named after Lake Pukaki.

HMNZS Pukaki is a Lake-class inshore patrol vessel inshore patrol boat of the Royal New Zealand Navy.

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 Pukaki was launched in Whangarei Harbour on 6 May 2008. Its primary duties included border and fisheries protection patrols, surveillance, boarding operations and search and rescue response.

Pukaki was the third ship of this name to serve in the Royal New Zealand Navy and is named after Lake Pukaki.

Pukaki was decommissioned at Devonport Naval Base on 17 October 2019. Regulatory changes in 2012 resulted in operating restrictions around speed and sea states being imposed on them. Subsequently the RNZN assessed them as no longer being suited to the heavy seas typically encountered off New Zealand and further afield.[2]

In 2022, Pukaki, along with her sister Rotoiti, was sold to Ireland for use by the Irish Naval Service.[3] Both ships were purchased by Irish Department of Defence for €26m and transported by the heavy lift transport ship Happy Dynamic.[citation needed] Arriving in Ireland in May 2023,[4] they were delivered to the Irish naval base at Haulbowline in Cork Harbour where they are due to undergo a refit before being used primarily for fishery protection patrols on Ireland’s east coast.