NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

<EM>Jack Welch</EM>: Sailing into uncertainty

30 Mar, 2005 09:14 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Opinion

I recently attended a number of events to commemorate the decommissioning of our last Leander class frigate, the Canterbury.

Those gathered were mainly former Canterbury men and women who had served in the ship. In my case, I had been gunnery officer in 1973-74 and I commanded her in 1983-84.


During my first time aboard we were, among many other activities, present at the French nuclear-weapon testing at Mururoa Atoll. While I was in command, we served in the Indian Ocean in support of the Royal Navy, which was involved in the Falkland Islands.

As might be expected at such a gathering, I met many former shipmates and the usual stories were swapped - some absolutely authentic, others slightly distorted by the passage of time. Memories were both sad and hilarious.

It was rather like a funeral in some respects, where we celebrated the good things we had achieved and modified the less memorable to an acceptable extent.

We remembered those who had served and those who had passed on. Characters were enhanced and assassinated in the same sentence. In all, it was a typical naval reunion and great fun.

But the events were invariably coloured by the knowledge that the Canterbury, after 34 years' service, was to be consigned to the knackers' yard or sunk for recreational use by divers.

No longer would she live as a warship with up to 260 souls crammed into her inadequate spaces.

Never again would she come to life as boilers were flashed and the 1001 duties carried out to bring the ship to a state where she was ready for sea.

The endless tasks of preparing, rehearsing and refining both the ship and her company for the ultimate act of war-fighting would no longer occur in her lifeless hull.

While the occasion was, of course, inevitable and the Canterbury had been operational for more than 10 years past her designed life as a warship, it was also a time for contemplation.

We noted the end of an era of steam-propelled ships in our Navy, particularly the Type 12 ships Otago, Taranaki and Blackpool and their successors, the Leander class ships Waikato, Canterbury, Southland and Wellington.

These ships, usually four in the fleet at a time, had served the country so well from the early 1960s to today.

Although very heavy on maintenance demands, fuel consumption and manpower, they were modern for their time, able to take their place in international fleets and make contributions to coalitions of the willing where naval power was needed.

They served from local seas around New Zealand on resource-protection duties, throughout the Pacific, in the Indian Ocean, and in Far Eastern waters.

Attracting even greater discussion, however, was the structure of today's Navy and its future.

No one to whom I talked had any reservations about the people who serve today - they are clearly as professional and able as any who have served at sea for this nation.

While they may do things differently to the old days, they achieve similar excellent results. But there is very real concern that the main force structure of the modern Navy has been changed to that of a coastguard.

With the introduction of three new classes of ships over the next few years, it is clear that the fundamental notion of providing for our maritime defence has been amended to provision of essentially a police force in our local area and deploying the Army for peace operations.

None of us was convinced that this is what our populace understands as it hears Government PR which would have us believe the Navy is being revitalised with seven new ships.

What is generally less appreciated is that they will not be combat vessels able to go in harm's way. Rather, they will be built to merchant ship standards, without the redundancy or modern weapons systems necessary for self-defence in a war or near-war.

They will be able to deliver the Army's vehicles and heavy equipment to benign theatres, patrol against errant fishermen and smugglers, and provide a presence in the local area.

Lightly armed and able to overwhelm unarmed fishing boats, their roles will be very limited. In a hostile environment, they would become a liability, requiring protection of more capable ships.

The new ships will add to the fleet: one multi-role vessel, a converted vehicle ferry which is to be tasked in the main with very occasional transport of the Army's heavy vehicles and stores, fishery protection and training; two offshore patrol vessels for patrolling the outer exclusive economic zone, sub-Antarctic and Pacific Islands; and four inshore patrol vessels.

Together with the two Anzac frigates, a tanker, a survey ship and a diving tender, there will be seven different types of ships to man and maintain in the Navy.

There are few similarities between the ship types and few of the skills for one type are transferable to another.

The only warships we retain are the two excellent and already overworked Anzac-class ships Te Kaha and Te Mana. They represent the fighting capability of the Navy, with their large guns, anti-air missiles, torpedoes and helicopters, which can themselves deliver anti-shipping missiles.

(As an aside, the Navy now retains the only weapons of any significance held by New Zealand that can be employed at long range. With the loss of the Skyhawk strike aircraft, this capability is limited to the two frigates and embarked helicopters.)

The new patrol vessels were acquired as the result of perceived future plundering of our fishing grounds by foreign vessels, and increasing illegal immigrants arriving by sea. If there are, indeed, such threats to our resources and borders, there is a case for new money to be found to provide a coastguard capability.

Instead, we have witnessed the evisceration of the Navy to provide for civil policing tasks.

My colleagues and I are concerned about the integrity of our vital trade routes that look increasingly unsafe in this unstable world.

For reasons of ship maintenance, training demands and manning issues, our two frigates will be able to make only a very occasional contribution to maintaining our maritime security interests.

New Zealand's failure to make a proportionate effort will be viewed with contempt by our friends who will need to make up the numbers. Our standing in the international community will be further diminished.

And so farewell to Canterbury. Her departure reduces our combat fleet by a third, with no prospect of this deplorable situation being redressed soon.

* Rear Admiral Jack Welch is a former Chief of Naval Staff (1994-97).

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

live
New Zealand

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM
New Zealand

St John defends decision not to send ambulance to toddler who broke jaw in fall

11 Jul 06:00 PM
New Zealand

Green light for fires on Napier beaches after council quietly revokes bylaw

11 Jul 06:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin
live

Wild weather set to ease across the country, clean-up efforts begin

11 Jul 06:00 PM

The North Island is expected to get off to a wet start this morning, with lingering rain.

St John defends decision not to send ambulance to toddler who broke jaw in fall

St John defends decision not to send ambulance to toddler who broke jaw in fall

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Green light for fires on Napier beaches after council quietly revokes bylaw

Green light for fires on Napier beaches after council quietly revokes bylaw

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
'Courage is contagious': The return of the Rainbow Warrior and other Auckland news

'Courage is contagious': The return of the Rainbow Warrior and other Auckland news

11 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP