East Coaster Kane Sutherland now commander of frigate Te KahaPublished February 09, 2022 1:49PM SHIP-SHAPE: Commander Kane Sutherland took control of frigate HMNZS Te Kaha from Commander Brock Symmons in a ceremony outside the National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy in Devonport last week. Picture supplied ‘I have the ship’: With those words Kane Sutherland, who schooled in Tolaga Bay and Gisborne and has family here, took command of frigate HMNZS Te Kaha last week. Commander Sutherland also marked 20 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy on Saturday. Picture supplied next > A former Gisborne student is now the officer in charge of one of New Zealand Navy’s two combat vessels. Kane Sutherland was appointed to Commander of the frigate Te Kaha earlier this week. Born in Napier and educated at Tolaga Bay and Campion College, he joined the Royal New Zealand Navy in 2002 straight from school. Speaking to The Herald, Commander Sutherland said the position of Commander was one he had been working towards over his near-20-year career. “The primary task for the frigate is to conduct security patrols and surveillance. “We do a lot around South East Asia. We can operate over in the Middle East whether it’s full operations or conducting military exercises with our partners to make sure we can work well with them if we need to. “We have quite a lot of capability. The frigate has the full system of capability in the navy. We have a crew of 178 and can carry a naval helicopter as well.” Commander Sutherland celebrated 20 years in the navy on Saturday. “I’m honoured to have the privilege of being able to get appointed Commander of a frigate. “We only have two of them so it’s not something that’s afforded to everyone.” HMNZS Te Kaha is an Anzac-class frigate armed with a five-inch, 54-millimetre calibre fully automatic lightweight gun, anti-air missile defence and close-in weapons systems, as well as anti-submarine torpedoes. It also has a Kaman Super Seasprite SH-2G(I) helicopter carrying a combination of torpedoes, depth charges, Penguin air-to-ship missiles and an M60 machine gun. from JCs Royal New Zealand Navy https://ift.tt/YQ4cVTZ via JCs Royal New Zealand Navy Ships and News https://ift.tt/oR8vzaJ Georgia Weaver05:00, Feb 07 2022 Eighty years ago, Southland man Lance Thomas was determined to do whatever it took to get a good night’s sleep, even if it put others at risk – both on land and at sea. Georgia Weaver looks at the dark history of one of New Zealand’s most isolated lighthouses. All Lance Thomas wanted was a decent night’s sleep. For the past six months, the prospector had been living on Coal Island, 137km north-west of Invercargill on the Fiordland coast. Every night, a flash of light illuminated his bedroom before falling dark again. Then a few seconds later, it lit up once more in what seemed like an endless, maddening cycle throughout the night. The Puysegur Point lighthouse was becoming a bane of his existence. READ MORE: ADVERTISEMENT It was 1942, and the lighthouse had been operating since March 1879. It was known as a notoriously difficult station to work on due to its inaccessibility and isolation. The area was well-populated for a time, with gold and coal prospectors, as well as sealers and whalers living in and around Preservation Inlet on the northern coast of Coal Island. At one point, there was thought to be at least 800 inhabitants at the township of Cromarty, north-west of Puysegur Point, in Kisbee Bay. Thomas had lived in the area for several years, but most recently on Coal Island, just across the waterway from Puysegur Point. He was no stranger to drama. In 1935, newspapers reported he and three others were missing after they failed to return from a 120km tramping trip from Puysegur Point to Port Craig. The track was reported to be overgrown, and poor weather had flooded the rivers that required crossing. Thomas and his companions appeared safe about nine days after being reported missing. The Puysegur Point Lighthouse was constructed in 1879 after it was realised none in the area serviced the western entrance to Foveaux Strait. It went through its fair share of upgrades, given the harsh environment. But just before equipment assembled to electrify the lighthouse could be installed, Thomas paid it and the keepers a visit. ADVERTISEMENT In early February 1942, Puysegur Point Lighthouse principal keeper George Brown and his wife left the station on annual leave, leaving first assistant keeper Thomas Smith in charge. According to Smith’s account, 80 years ago on February 8, 1942, Thomas signalled to relieving keeper Tim Smith to row his boat across the causeway to the island and asked if he could use his boat to go fishing. He agreed, provided Thomas drop he and his companion Bess Smith at Totara Beach and pick them up later in the afternoon. Believing the lighthouse to now be unmanned, Thomas rowed to Puysegur Point to confront his nemesis – the lighthouse. Assistant keeper Norm Miller rang Thomas Smith, who remained at the station, to tell him someone was lurking about, so Smith went to investigate. He walked towards the lighthouse from the keepers’ houses, expecting to intercept Thomas, but as he approached the radio hut, he heard a commotion. “I broke into a run and threw open the door to find the man in the act of thrusting the butt of our shotgun through the glass case of the Barograph,” Smith later accounted. “I reached out a restraining hand and demanded he stop, but he just stepped back, swung the barrel of the shotgun at my waist and shouted ‘you get the hell out of here, this is the finish of this place’.” Smith was knocked unconscious and Thomas took off. When Smith came around, he went to warn his wife and the other keeper’s families, then he and Miller armed themselves with the only other shotguns and set off to find Thomas. ADVERTISEMENT He was spotted, gun in hand, headed towards the landing. Miller attempted to fix the badly damaged radio transmitter and was able to send a message to police, which read: “Lance Thomas, believed insane, attacked lighthouse station, burned lighthouse and smashed most of radio stop has now disappeared with stolen rifle. Please send help. Unable to receive messages. Lightkeepers.” While Smith kept lookout, he noticed smoke coming from the ventilator on the dome of the lighthouse. As he approached it, he realised the tower was well alight and there was little to no chance of saving the wooden tower. Meanwhile, Miller miraculously received a return telegram saying help would leave from Bluff, some 140km away by boat, as soon as possible. Smoke could also now be seen coming from the Principal Keeper’s house, which the two keepers were able to extinguish with only some furniture damage done. There was no sign of Thomas. At 6pm, Tim and Bess Smith returned to the point, hitching a ride from a local man who took them to the station since Thomas had failed to return for them. On their journey, they noticed their row boat beached on Coal Island, where Thomas had taken refuge. Unaware of the chaos that had been caused at the station, the pair towed their boat across to the landing on the point, inadvertently leaving Thomas marooned on the island. The next morning, six armed police officers arrived on a fishing vessel. Aware that Thomas was watching them from his island, the sergeant ordered his men to spend the day relaxing at the landing or fishing in Preservation Inlet, to give Thomas the impression that he wasn’t a wanted man. ADVERTISEMENT Thomas settled down for what no doubt he expected to be an uninterrupted sleep, with the lighthouse reduced to ashes on the mainland. Just before dawn on February 10, the police surrounded his hut on Coal Island and entered, surprising him in his bed. MORE FROM The group overpowered Thomas and he was arrested. Afterwards, Miller and Smith spoke with Thomas, who acted as if nothing unusual had happened. The Southland Times reported on February 12, 1942 that Thomas appeared in the Magistrate’s Court in Invercargill, charged with committing mischief by wilfully damaging wireless apparatus to the value of £30, the property of the Marine Department. “The prisoner, whose name was suppressed … was a strongly built man, 41 years of age, described as a carpenter by trade. He appeared in the dock handcuffed to a constable,” the paper reported at the time. “On the application of Senior Detective R Thompson, Mr F E R Booth, JP, remanded the accused for one week and ordered that he be placed under medical observation in the meantime. For medical reasons the case is not likely to be proceeded with.” It was determined Thomas was suffering psychological issues and was committed to an institution. The Marine Department later paid the two lighthouse keepers a £25 bonus ($50). Plans had already been made to replace the lighthouse, even before the attack, and were sped up as a need for a light became urgent. ADVERTISEMENT A new concrete tower was erected and fitted with a disused lantern from Godley Head lighthouse, in Canterbury, and lenses from Cape Foulwind lighthouse, near Westport, which had been converted into an automatic light. The new tower was substantially shorter than the old wooden one, and it became the shortest manned lighthouse in New Zealand. The Puysegur Point lighthouse was decommissioned in August 1980, in favour of automatic lights at nearby Cape Providence and Windsor Point. The keepers remained for a time to provide regular weather reports. The light at the station was re-established in 1987 when the Windsor Point light was shut down. However, its revival was short-lived, and the light was automated and solarised in 1989, and the keepers were flown out for the final time. from JCs Royal New Zealand Navy https://ift.tt/1Ljw7Cv via JCs Royal New Zealand Navy Ships and News https://ift.tt/lsuiP6I Jennifer Eder08:21, Feb 07 2022 What happened when the Treaty of Waitangi arrived in Marlborough? Reporter Jennifer Eder finds a tale of scepticism, negotiation, and bloodshed. Could the next chapter be the promised partnership? When missionary Reverend Henry Williams arrived in the Marlborough Sounds with a copy of the Treaty of Waitangi in May 1840, most Māori had very little contact with Pākehā compared to iwi in the north, except for a few resident whalers and their rough-and-ready crews. Williams brought one of eight copies of the treaty that was first signed by chiefs at Waitangi, in the Bay of Islands, on February 6, 1840. He had translated the treaty himself, with the help of his son, drawing on the te reo Māori he learnt in his 17 years working as an Anglican missionary in the Bay of Islands, trying to stop missionaries trading muskets with Māori, baptising many and schooling their children. READ MORE: However, his Māori version of the treaty, known as Te Tiriti o Waitangi, did not clearly reflect the English version, and he had been explaining it to Māori rangatira it in the best possible light. On a schooner named the Ariel, Williams arrived in Tōtaranui Queen Charlotte Sound on May 4, 1840. Te Ātiawa was the resident iwi, having moved south during the Musket Wars, along with allies from Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Rarua and Ngāti Koata, using muskets to win land from the Kurahaupō iwi around 1830. Williams collected 27 signatures in various bays and islands over two days. Then the Ariel headed northwest to Rangitoto ki te Tonga Durville Island, where Williams collected 13 signatures from Ngāti Koata, including a wahine rangatira, or female chief, named Pari. Major Thomas Bunbury arrived on Marlborough’s east coast a month later, on the HMS Herald. Bunbury met Ngāti Toa chief Nohorua at Port Underwood. He was a tohunga (priest) and older brother of Te Rauparaha, a war leader made notorious in the Musket Wars. Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Toa Rangatira iwi archivist Ammon Katene, a descendant of Nohorua, said his ancestor was particularly distrustful of British intentions. He feared signing te tiriti would result in loss of land, and refused. The next morning Nohorua, his relatives and other chiefs came on board the HMS Herald. Among them was Maui Pū, who was in favour of te tiriti. He had previously visited Tasmania and learned good English, to Bunbury’s surprise, and aided the discussion. Finally Nohorua agreed to sign the treaty, as long as his English son-in-law, whaler Joseph Thoms, would witness it, thinking if his grandchildren lost his right to land as a result, at least their father would share the blame. Thoms was the only Pākehā to sign te tiriti alongside the Māori chiefs, on June 17, 1840. Ria Waitohi, daughter of paramount chief Te Pēhi Kupe, was also prepared to sign but Bunbury would not allow it because she was a woman, Katene said. “Her husband Rāwiri Pūaha, himself a chief, was so insulted at the affront to the mana of his wife that he refused to sign. Rāwiri is the brother of Te Kanae, who did sign.” Eight Ngāti Toa chiefs signed te tiriti that day at Kakapō Bay, and one Rangitāne chief: Ihaia Kaikōura, the only Kurahaupō member to sign. Kaikōura was a Rangitāne chief who maintained some of his status even after defeat and absorption by Ngāti Toa. After the signatures, Bunbury decided he had enough to declare British sovereignty, which he did at Horahora-Kākahu Island. What led to the signing of the most important document in New Zealand’s history? Marlborough woman Lorraine Eade was a descendant of two signatories; Te Kanae and Ihaia Kaikōura. “Personally I believe they signed in good faith that the treaty would be adhered to, but obviously similar to Nohorua, with a level of doubt that the contents would be upheld,” Eade said. But three years after the signing at Port Underwood, on June 17, 1843, the Wairau Affray north of Blenheim showed the treaty had not guaranteed what Williams and Bunbury claimed. “That event was a significant marker in New Zealand’s history, the first land war between iwi and by the government of the day,” Eade said. The New Zealand Company was surveying land in Marlborough’s Wairau Valley with a fraudulent deed, when Te Rauparaha, certain the Wairau had not been sold, escorted them from the land, pulling up survey pegs and burning down their makeshift huts. A party of 50 British settlers then arrived to arrest him on arson charges, which turned into a battle, claiming the lives of 22 Europeans and at least four Māori. Te Rauparaha was later taken captive while the Government pressured the younger Ngāti Toa chiefs to sign away the Wairau, which happened in 1847, Eade said. “Over 100,000 acres of Wairau land, gone. “Te Rauparaha peacefully tried many, many times to avoid the conflict, as did other Ngāti Toa chiefs. NZ Company was just so hell-bent on getting the Wairau. “Te Rauparaha was only protecting his land and his people as any good rangatira would do, yet through the centuries his actions were vilified by many Europeans, even though Te Rauparaha’s actions were exonerated publicly. “The loss of the whenua, subsequent government policies and the colonisation process has had a huge impact on the overall wellbeing of Māori, which is still felt today and will be for generations to come.” Stuff’s NZ Made/Nā Nīu Tīreni project: When the Treaty of Waitangi was signed, Māori owned more than 66 million acres of land. By 1975, almost 97 per cent had been sold or taken. (Last published February 1, 2021.) Eade said hoped Blenkinsopp’s Cannon could be returned to Ngāti Toa, so the iwi could make its own decision about where the historic object should reside. The cannon was originally given by whaler Jacky Guard to Nohorua as a payment, so he could set up a whaling station at Kākāpō Bay in the 1830s. The cannon was named Puhuriwhenua, or “earth shaker”. The cannon was later stolen by Captain John Blenkinsopp, and offered to Te Rauparaha for access to wood and water for his ship. Blenkinsopp claimed it was in exchange for land at Port Underwood, but this was later rejected by colonial authorities. Eade said she usually marked Waitangi Day by going to Te Pātaka o Wairau, a public event intended to bring many cultures together to experience Te Ao Māori, or the Māori world, but this year’s event was cancelled due to Covid-19. Te Ātiawa o te Waka-a-Maui vice chair Rita Powick said with treaty settlements completed and New Zealand history being added to the school curriculum, there was a lot to celebrate on Waitangi Day. “We celebrate the journey our tūpuna laid out for us … We acknowledge our tūpuna for their tenacity and we’re learning from it as we go forward with new confidence. “We’re not stakeholders, we’re a partner, a treaty partner. That’s an awesome space to be in … we’re not the passengers in the back of the bus any more, we’re co-navigating.” Although there was also caution, as iwi had learned from the treaty breaches of the past, she said. The new pou installed at Blenheim and Picton were examples of post-settlement confidence and the feeling that Te Ātiawa and other iwi were an important part of the community. “It’s that sharing of the space which is what the treaty is about, that shared cultural recognition, being able to participate in that. ADVERTISEMENT “We’re positive and keen players in our community, for our people, and anyone else wanting to be part of it. That’s the partnership. It’s like that whakataukī: nau te rourou, naku te rourou, ka ora te katoa – with your food basket and my food basket, everyone is better off.” A pou which tells stories of a spiritual ancestor, a tribal chief and Marlborough’s whaling history has been unveiled in Picton. Te Ātiawa o te Waka-a-Maui chair Rachael Hāte said the treaty signing created a whole new landscape for Māori, and was followed by legislation that immediately sought to negate or undermine what te tiriti promised. But she hoped Waitangi Day in the future would be less about remembering what happened then, and more about reflecting on what was now being done to achieve true partnership between iwi and the Crown. Māori history lecturer Dr Peter Meihana, who was also on the rūnanga at Rangitāne o Wairau, said he learnt he was descended from treaty signatories after being cast as Thoms in a school play, only to learn from family that he was actually descended from Thoms, along with Nohorua and Kaikōura. Later he studied the motivations of his ancestors in signing the treaty, which he believed would have been different to the northern rangatira who had a completely different experience of Pākehā by 1840. Meihana said he liked watching Māori TV coverage of Waitangi Day events. But Rangitāne o Wairau always made sure to mark June 17 (when the treaty was signed) in some way too, he said. Corey Hebberd, 26, speaks about his Papa, Manaia “Nugget” MacDonald and his connection to the Wairau Bar. Rangitāne o Wairau general manager Corey Hebberd said it was hard to commemorate the treaty signing as a community while taking precautions against Covid-19, but he would like to see more public events and educational activities on Waitangi Day in Marlborough. “Sharing korero and teaching history in schools is really good, but I think we need to be open to sharing stories about what it means, not just historically but also in modern Aotearoa, what does it mean today? “So much of what the Crown does now is built on the treaty. How we put it into action is something we could provide more learning opportunities about.” from JCs Royal New Zealand Navy https://ift.tt/qE6HPX9 via JCs Royal New Zealand Navy Ships and News https://ift.tt/yCIWF4x Naval News February 2022 Navy Forces Maritime Defense Industry POSTED ON FRIDAY, 04 FEBRUARY 2022 10:06 According to information published by the New Zealand Ministry of Defense on February 4, 2022, the auxiliary ship HMNZS Aotearoa has now sailed from Lyttelton and is heading south to support Antarctic environmental and scientific programs. Auxiliary ship HMNZS Aotearoa (Picture source: U.S. DoD) As well as being Aotearoa’s first trip to Antarctica, it will be the first time in more than 50 years that a Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) ship will be conducting an Antarctic resupply of McMurdo Station and Scott Base. With the construction of HMNZS Aotearoa, the NZDF now has a purpose-built, polar-class sustainment vessel specifically able to operate deep into the Southern Ocean and Ross Sea with an ice strengthened hull and upper deck trace heating. For the RNZN Maritime Component Commander, Commodore Garin Golding, Aotearoa’s maiden sailing to Antarctica has been long-awaited. HMNZS Aotearoa, formerly the Maritime Sustainment Capability project, is an auxiliary ship of the Royal New Zealand Navy. Builder Hyundai Heavy Industries delivered the ship to the Navy in June 2020, and she was commissioned into service on 29 July 2020. The 26,000-tonne (26,000-long-ton) ship will provide marine diesel oil and aviation fuel. It stores food and ammunition in 20-foot (6.1 m) containers. Aotearoa has a Kelvin Hughes Integrated Naval Bridge System and is equipped with Farsounder-1000 sonar. For navigation radar sensors it uses SharpEye S and X-Band with an S-Band SharpEye sensor optimised for helicopter approach and control. It is armed with a Phalanx CIWS and two Mini Typhoon mounts and has a flight deck and hangar for helicopter operations. from JCs Royal New Zealand Navy https://ift.tt/ixbCth8 via JCs Royal New Zealand Navy Ships and News https://ift.tt/DEsKpRz |
AuthorJohn Currin served 15 years in the Royal New Zealand Navy and has retained an interest in naval, marine, military and happenings around the world. Archives
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