Devonport Naval Base

This article is about the Royal New Zealand Navy base in Auckland. For the Royal Navy base in Plymouth, see HMNB Devonport.

Royal New Zealand Navy

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The base headquarters building.

Canterbury berthed at the base.

Devonport Naval Base is the home of the Royal New Zealand Navy, located at Devonport, New Zealand on Auckland's North Shore. It is currently the only base of the navy that operates ships, and was a navy base from as far back as 1841.^[1] The base consists of HMNZS Philomel (the administration centre for the base), the Fleet Support Organisation, and the Fleet Personnel and Training Organisation.

Operation

All operational units of the Royal New Zealand Navy are based at Devonport. Senior naval staff are located at the NZDF headquarters in Wellington. The operational headquarters is located at Trentham Military Camp in the Upper Hutt suburb of Trentham. Within the Royal New Zealand Navy many land-based facilities and services ensure support for ships and personnel when deployed.

Facilities

Shore based support is predominantly based at the Devonport Naval Base, Auckland, with a long and varied list of services and facilities, including facilities for training, sports, and cultural activities, dry dock, as well as engineering and flight support and the Navy Hospital (and Hyperbaric Unit).

The base also has a modern converter system to supply the substantial power even a berthed navy ship requires. As NZ's navy ships use NATO standard 60-hertz power, such converters were needed to enable the base to use power supplied by the national grid. The new converters were installed in the late 2000s for $10 million, and will offer significant savings over using diesel generators, or having the vessels use their own power systems while in port.^[2]

RNZN College

The RNZN College is also situated at Devonport Naval Base. Navy training encompasses numerous disciplines, from Recruit Training Squadron, Junior Officer Common Training and Sea Survival Training Squadron to specialised training for Operational, Technical and Trade, and Support Logistics branches.

Calliope Dock

Main article: Calliope Dock

One of the more famous elements of the base is the Calliope Dock, a drydock built in 1888 and still in use. At that time, it was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere, and a strategic asset for the Royal Navy. It was named for Calliope Point, out of which it had been hewn by hand over three years. Coincidentally, one of the two first ships to enter it (as a show of her capacity) was the HMS Calliope. Administered at first by the Auckland Harbour Board, the dock was transferred to the navy when the Auckland naval base moved from Torpedo Bay to Devonport, into a swamp area next to the dock.^[1][3][4]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Devonport Naval Base (from the New Zealand Naval Museum website. Accessed 2008-06-16.)
2. ^ A question of Frequency - e.nz magazine, IPENZ, November/December 09, Page 24
3. ^ Calliope (from Te Ara Encyclopedia of New Zealand, 1966 Edition. Accessed 2008-06-16.)
4. ^ Development of naval repair facilities at Auckland, New Zealand 1841-1962 - Bell, J.A.; AMRINA Deputy Constructive Manager HMNZ Dockyard

External links

• HMNZS PHILOMEL (official base website)
• Navy Museum (official museum website)
• Auckland Naval Base Murders (from the crime.co.nz website)

Coordinates: 36°49′49″S 174°47′10″E / 36.830241°S 174.786236°E / -36.830241; 174.786236