HMNZS ''Awatere'' was one of eight steel New Zealand-built Castle-class ships built and commissioned by the

Royal New Zealand Navy The Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN; ) is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force. The fleet currently consists of eight ships. The Navy had its origins in the Naval Defence Act 1913, and the subsequent acquisition of the cruiser , whi ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Background

The vessel was ordered after the New Zealand government, facing a requirement for more

minesweepers A minesweeper is a small warship designed to remove or detonate naval mines. Using various mechanisms intended to counter the threat posed by naval mines, minesweepers keep waterways clear for safe shipping. History The earliest known usage of ...

to operate in home waters, chose the design because it was simple enough to be built with the country's limited ship construction facilities at the time.

Operational history

''Awatere'' was the second of the nine steel minesweepers constructed for the

and was commissioned on 28 July 1943. the others being , , '' Maimai'', '' Pahau'', , ''

Waima Waima is a suburb of West Auckland, New Zealand. It is under the local governance of the Auckland Council. The majority of the modest population is clustered around the comparatively prominent Waima superette, situated just off the main art ...

'', , and ''

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

'' (never commissioned). She served with the 95th Auxiliary Minesweeping Group, located at

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

. On 27 July 1945, ''Awatere'' would ram the ''Maimai'' stern-to-stern at Shelly Bay, with minor damage. In March 1946, ''Awatere'' would be sold to Arthur. A. Murrel of Sydney along with ''Pahau''. In October 1946, ''Awatere'' was brought by the Australian Commonwealth Government and was allocated to the UNNRA to rebuild the decimated Chinese fishing industry. She was last seen with the ''Pahau'' and ''Tawhai'' fishing at Formosa (now Taiwan).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Awatere 1943 ships World War II minesweepers of New Zealand Castle-class trawlers of the Royal New Zealand Navy