Military milestone for war memorial's silent sentinels

The thousands of people who attended Anzac Day commemorations at Auckland's War Memorial in the Domain on Saturday also celebrated another milestone in New Zealand military history.

In March 1909, Prime Minister Sir Joseph Ward announced the country had agreed to buy an 18,000-tonne warship for Britain's Royal Navy.

One hundred years later, as thousands on Saturday paid their respects to its military, two guns from that ship pointed in silent vigil over Auckland's Hauraki Gulf, from where they were mounted below the Cenotaph at Auckland Museum.

The Indefatigable class battle cruiser HMS New Zealand was laid down in Glasgow in 1910 and commissioned in 1912.

But it was not until 1945, when World War II ended, that the New Zealand Government made the last payment for the ship.

Parliament had approved spending £2 million ($4 million) $ on the "gift ship" as a gesture of patriotism and loyalty to Britain from New Zealand.

When the ship was named HMS New Zealand, an existing battleship with the same name was renamed HMS Zealandia.

The huge warship, which had a crew of 800 and a top speed of 26 knots, was initially powered by coal but later converted to oil.

Its formidable armament included eight 12-inch guns, 16 four-inch guns, three-inch anti-aircraft guns, two torpedo tubes and, later, an aircraft.

The ship was decommissioned in 1922 after only 10 years' active service because of the Washington Naval Treaty, which limited the size of nations' navies.

It was scrapped the next year and its four-inch guns were sent to New Zealand, where they were mounted in two six-gun saluting batteries, one at Pt Jerningham, in Wellington, and the other at North Head in Auckland.

The other two were mounted in front of the museum in 1932 but in 1940, an attempt was made to restore both guns. Only one could be restored - the unserviceable gun was stored in the museum and the other mounted at Fort Takapuna.

All the guns except two were scrapped or sent overseas and the remaining two were mounted again in front of the museum in the 1960s and carry the numbers 927 and 928. They were refurbished several years ago.

HMS New Zealand was known as a "lucky ship" and fought in three big North Sea battles against the German Navy during World War 1 - Heligoland Bight in August, 1914, Dogger Bank in January, 1915, and the Battle of Jutland in May, 1916.

During action it helped sink two German cruisers but was hit only once with no loss of life.

Its tag as a lucky ship was believed to be because Captain Lionel Halsey wore a sacred tiki and piupiu, which were presented to the ship by a Maori chief during its visit to New Zealand in 1913.

The piupiu has a permanent home at the Navy Museum at Devonport.

- NZPA