HMNZS ''Philomel'' is the main administrative base of 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 ...

. Originally a

training base Military education and training is a process which intends to establish and improve the capabilities of military personnel in their respective roles. Military training may be voluntary or compulsory duty. It begins with recruit training, proceed ...

on board the cruiser from which it takes its name, it is part of the

Devonport Naval Base Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and has been in use as a n ...

on the North Shore of

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

History

The

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that usu ...

was founded in 1921 when the

New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy The New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy also known as the New Zealand Station was formed in 1921 and remained in existence until 1941. It was the precursor to the Royal New Zealand Navy. Originally, the Royal Navy was solely responsible for ...

was first formed. The old cruiser HMS ''Philomel'', with her engines and armament removed, was moored at the Admiralty reservation, Devonport Dockyard,

, and re-commissioned as a naval training base. HMS ''Philomel'' has been described as the "Cradle of the Navy." In October 1941, on the creation of the

, HMS ''Philomel'' was recommissioned as the training base HMNZS ''Philomel''. Because of wartime demands for increased training many of her training functions were transferred, along with the ship's main mast, to a new base HMNZS ''Tamaki'' situated at

Motuihe Island Motuihe Island (official name: Motuihe Island / Te Motu-a-Ihenga) lies between Motutapu and Waiheke islands in the Hauraki Gulf of New Zealand, near Auckland. The island measures , of which around are remnants of coastal forest. The island ...

. Over the years ''Philomel'' sprouted many creative additions on her decks in an effort to provide more space for her operations. These physical extensions then spilled over to the use of onshore buildings. In January 1947 the boat ''Philomel'' was finally decommissioned and HMNZS ''Philomel'' became a land establishment. In 2000, HMNZS Tamaki was decommissioned with its functions absorbed again by HMNZS ''Philomel''.

Current

Today ''Philomel'' is a sprawling land establishment located at

Devonport, New Zealand Devonport ( ) is a harbourside suburb of Auckland, New Zealand. It is located on the North Shore, New Zealand, North Shore, at the southern end of the Devonport Peninsula that runs southeast from near Lake Pupuke in Takapuna, forming the north ...

. It is the home of the Naval Support Services, responsible for the logistics and organisation of Naval personnel, and for visits to the base by foreign ships. Its Naval Community Office provides support for families of naval personnel, and its Te Taua Moana

Marae A ' (in Māori language, New Zealand Māori, Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian language, Tahitian), ' (in Tongan language, Tongan), ' (in Marquesan language, Marquesan) or ' (in Samoan language, Samoan) is a communal or sacred place that serves reli ...

is the cultural home for all naval personnel, regardless of

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

or upbringing. It incorporates the naval college ''Tamaki'', formerly HMNZS ''Tamaki'', which coordinates training within the naval base from new entry or officer training to damage control and command schools that everyone must attend at stages of their career. There are also schools for naval specialisations such as marine engineering, Officer of the Watch, hydrography and communications. The base includes a navy band and a fleet gymnasium.RNZN College
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Navy museum

The first Royal New Zealand Navy museum was established in 1974 and was housed in a single room within HMNZS ''Philomel''. It moved to a separate building in 1982. In 2010 it moved to new, larger facilities at Torpedo Bay, becoming the

Torpedo Bay Navy Museum The Torpedo Bay Navy Museum is the official museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Located in Devonport, Auckland, it opened in 2010 to replace an earlier naval museum. History The first Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) museum was established in ...

References and notes

* McDougall, R. J. (1989) ''New Zealand Naval Vessels,'' Pages 11–13, 157–158, Government Printing Office. * Other, A.N
HMNZS Philomel: The cradle of the Royal New Zealand Navy
article in ''Naval Historical Review'', March 1983. * Walters, Sydney David (1956) ''The Royal New Zealand Navy: Official History of World War II'', Department of Internal Affairs, Wellingto

{{coord, -36.82958, 174.78422, format=dms, display=title Royal New Zealand Navy bases 1921 establishments in New Zealand

History

Current

Navy museum

See also

References and notes