HMS New Zealand: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

HMS New Zealand is the name of several Royal Navy ships named after the country New Zealand. The most famous was the battlecruiser flagship of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland in World War 1, a gift to Britain from the people of New Zealand.

As Britain was building up the strength of the Royal Navy at the start of the 20th century, her British Empire nations were invited to assist. The Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time, Sir Joseph Ward, announced in 1909 that his country would fund a battleship as an example to other countries.

The resulting vessel was a battlecruiser of the Indefatigable-class, a sister ship to HMS Indefatigable, and to HMAS Australia which was funded by the people of Australia. HMS New Zealand saw action against the German fleet in all of the three major North Sea battles, contributing to the sinking of two cruisers.

The keel of HMS New Zealand was laid at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering’s yard on the Clyde in June 1910 and the boat was completed in November 1912 at a cost £1,783,190. This was much cheaper than the cost of a battleship, especially the new Lion class which was entering service.

Although roughly the same size as the monster dreadnought battleships of the day, she and HMS Australia and HMS Indefatigable had lighter defensive armour but better manouvrability. She was 590 ft (180 m) long overall, had a beam of 79 ft 10 in (24.3 m), a draught of 30 ft (9.1 m) and a displacement exceeding 19,000 tons. HMS New Zealand had four Parsons turbines providing 44,000 horsepower(33 MW) driving the ship through four propellers to 25.8 knots (48 km/h). During trials she achieved 49,048 horsepower (37 MW) and 26.38 knots (49 km/h).

She had formidable firepower, through eight pairs of 12 in (305 mm) guns and 16 single 4 in (102 mm) guns. Early in the war she had two 3 in (76 mm) ack ack guns which were later replaced by a single 4 in (102 mm). She also had three 18 in (457 mm) torpedo tubes.

HMS New Zealand was taken on a cruise for a 10 month tour of the Dominions in 1913 before joining the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in the Baltic in 1914 where she took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight.

She became flagship of 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet on January 15, 1915 and the following week saw action in the Battle of Dogger Bank. She became flagship to Admiral David Beatty when his own flagship, HMS Lion, was seriously damaged during the battle

During a sweep through the North Sea on April 22 1916 HMS New Zealand and HMAS Australia collided in the fog. The latter suffered sufficient damage to be put out of action for several weeks, but HMS New Zealand returned to the fleet on May 30, a day before the start of the Battle of Jutland which was then the largest of the great battleship engagements. Jellicoe was aboard, directing the battle as Admiral Of The Fleet. She fired 420 12 in (305 mm) shells (the most of any vessel in the battle) and was hit by a 11in shell which struck Turret X without causing casualties or major damage.

She rejoined the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron in September 1916, then underwent a refit at Rosyth in November 1916 before attachment to 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. She was involved in the second Battle of Heligoland Bight on November 17, 1917.

Following the war, in 1919, Admiral Jellicoe took a Royal Navy fleet on another tour of the dominions to give a report on their defences, and chose HMS New Zealand as his flagship. She was particularly popular in New Zealand where crowds flocked to visit her as they had done earlier in 1913 when it was estimated more than a third of the country’s population went aboard during the 11 weeks she was there. Jellicoe was popular too, and he later returned to New Zealand where as Viscount Jellicoe he was Governor General, 1920-24.

HMS New Zealand was decommissioned in 1922 and broken up for scrap in 1923. A medal awarded to officers and crew in 1913 is now a rare collectors’ item.