HMNZS ''Resolution'' (A14) was a hydrographic ship 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 ...

(RNZN). Originally the

United States Naval Ship United States Naval Ship (USNS) is the prefix designation given to non- commissioned ships that are property of the United States Navy (USN). Definition United States Naval Ships are unarmed auxiliary support vessels owned by the U.S. Navy ...

USNS ''Tenacious'' (T-AGOS-17), the ''Stalwart''-class ocean surveillance ship was used by the United States to locate and track Soviet submarines from 1989 to 1997, when she was transferred to the RNZN for use as a hydrographic survey ship. She served until 27 April 2012. She was subsequently sold to EGS Group, a private surveying company, and renamed RV ''Geo Resolution''.

Construction

The ship's construction contract was awarded 20 February 1987 to VT Halter Marine, Inc. of

Moss Point, Mississippi Moss Point is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 12,147 in 2020, a decline from the figure of 13,704 in 2010. The Moss Point Historic District and several individual buildings are listed on the National Reg ...

, under then name ''Intrepid''. Her keel was laid down 26 February 1988, she was launched 17 February 1989 and commissioned as USNS ''Tenacious'' on 29 September 1989. The renaming was prompted by protests from veterans of the ''Essex''-class aircraft carrier , who felt that the surveillance ship was not a fitting vessel to carry on the carrier's name.

Operational history

United States

During the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Ocean Surveillance Ship A spy ship or reconnaissance vessel is a dedicated ship intended to gather intelligence, usually by means of sophisticated electronic eavesdropping. In a wider sense, any ship intended to gather information could be considered a spy ship. Sp ...

s patrolled the world's oceans searching for

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

submarines. Data was collected using the

Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System The AN/UQQ-2 Surveillance Towed Array Sensor System (SURTASS), colloquially referred to as the ship's "Tail", is a towed array sonar system of the United States Navy. SURTASS Twin-Line consists of either the long passive SURTASS array or the T ...

(SURTASS), consisting of listening devices and electronic equipment that transmit the acoustic data via satellite to shore for analysis. SURTASS is a linear array of deployed on a tow cable and neutrally buoyant. The array could operate at depths between . ''Tenacious'' was stricken from the

Naval Vessel Register The ''Naval Vessel Register'' (NVR) is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from t ...

and sold to New Zealand on 6 February 1997.

New Zealand

On commissioning into the RNZN on 13 February 1997, the ship was renamed HMNZS ''Resolution'', after the sailing sloop , used by

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

during his

second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

and

third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

voyages of exploration, in recognition of the extensive

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...

work done by Cook. ''Resolution'' replaced HMNZ Ships and as the navy's primary survey and acoustic research vessel. She undertook various marine survey tasks, including for the

Land Information New Zealand Land Information New Zealand (LINZ; ) is the public service department of New Zealand charged with geographical information and surveying functions as well as handling land titles, and managing Crown land and property. The minister responsible ...

agency. SMB ''Adventure'' was operated by ''Resolution'' as a tender and

survey motor boat A survey motor boat (abbreviated SMB), is a vessel equipped for commercial and/or military hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine constructi ...

. ''Resolution'' sponsored a scholarship for under-privileged high school students to participate in a 10-day passage on the sail training ship ''

Spirit of New Zealand The tall ship ''Spirit of New Zealand'' is a steel-hulled, three-masted barquentine from Auckland, New Zealand. It was purpose-built by the Spirit of Adventure Trust in 1986 for youth development. It is 42.5 m in total length and carries ...

''. On occasion, university and high school students were embarked aboard ''Resolution'' as part of the 'Students at Sea' programme. On 22 February 2011, ''Resolution'' was underway off Christchurch when the

2011 Canterbury earthquake A major earthquake occurred in Christchurch on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at 12:51 p.m. local time (23:51 UTC, 21 February). The () earthquake struck the Canterbury Region in the South Island, centred south-east of the centr ...

occurred. NZ Navy Today said later : '..the feeling onboard was that the engines had been set in full astern with associated shuddering and shaking. It was only when a dust cloud over Christchurch was observed and chatter on VHF soon alerted the bridge team of the enormity of the disaster. With Captain Dean McDougall (CTU 654.0.1, Captain Fleet Operational Support) in an established headquarters on HMNZS Canterbury in Lyttelton, ''Resolution'' reported for duty and was subsequently called in to conduct a hydrographic confidence survey of the main channel into the Port of Lyttelton.S/Lt Dave Jaquiery, 'End of an Era,' Navy Today, April–May 2012, 12. ''Resolution'' was decommissioned at Devonport Naval Base on 27 April 2012. She was subsequently sold to EGS Group, a private surveying company, and renamed RV ''Geo Resolution''. Following the sale she left Devonport Naval Base for the final time on 11 October 2014.

References

External links