- Yes - In the Tech Tree.
- Yes - Event/BP.
- Yes - Premium.
- No - I would not like to see HMNZS Kiama in game.
Description:
Built as one of sixty Bathurst-class corvettes for the Royal Australian Navy, she would serve through the Second World War in the Royal Australian Navy, before being sold to the Royal New Zealand Navy to become an armed training and coastal patrol vessel.
This suggestion is for her 1952 fit as she was commissioned into the RNZN.
History:
Australian Service:
Built by Evans Deakin & Co, Brisbane, Queensland, the then HMAS Kiama was laid down on the 2nd of November 1942, launching on the 3rd of July 1943, and finally completing fitting out and commissioning on the 26th of January 1944.
She would initially be deployed to New Guinea, arriving in March 1944. She would be primarily escorting small convoys around the coastal area. However, after a small reassignment in June, she would perform anti-submarine patrols in the Solomon Sea. She was again reassigned in September, and would transport supplies and men between New Guinea and New Britain. After this was complete, she re-assumed convoy escorts until the end of 1944, arriving in Sydney on the 21st of December.
Four days after her arrival, she was called upon to assist the SS Robert J.Walker, which had been torpedoed by U-862. HMAS Kiama, Quickmatch, USS PC597, and SS Yandra were sent to rescue the survivors of the sinking, and to destroy the responsible submarine. They were successful in finding survivors, picking up 67 on the 26th, but failed to locate U-862. Soon after, Kiama was assigned to anti-submarine patrols just outside of Sydney.
On the 3rd of January 1945, she received a refit in Adelaide, lasting until February, soon after being assigned to Freemantle for anti-submarine exercises with the US Navy, then returning to New Guinea on the 7th of May 1945. She bombarded several coastal positions in the Bougainville area during this time. Upon the end of the war, she took part in the Japanese surrender at Rabaul, and escorted the de-armed Kashima to New Guinea. She returned to Sydney on the 29th of January 1946, and was placed into reserve on the 3rd of April.
New Zealand Service:
On the 5th of March 1952, HMAS Kiama would be selected for sale to the New Zealand Navy along with three of her sisters. These ships would be acquired for use as training vessels and fishery patrol, and to better meet these requirements, they would be refitted.
Firstly, the mine-sweeping gear was removed. This was viewed as unnecessary weight, as NZ already had mine-sweeping training vessels, notably the HMNZS Kiwi, then the main 4" gun was and 20mm Oerlikon were both replaced by a single 40mm Bofors mount each, such that there was a 40mm Bofors mount both fore and aft.
Upon the completion of her refit, she was recommissioned into the RNZN as HMNZS Kiama. She would serve in the 27th Fisheries Protection Squadron, and alongside fisheries protection she would transport scientists between remote islands along the NZ coast. She would also pay two goodwill visits to Kiama, Australia, the town she was named after. Once in 1966, and another in 1969.
While sailing off Fiji, she came to the assistance of the passenger vessel MV Willisen, which had declared a state of distress. She picked up the passengers and dispatched them at Suva. The MV Willisen was later declared a total loss.
HMNZS Kiama was decommissioned on the 19th of August 1976, being broken up in Auckland in 1979. The mast and bell were retained by the RNZN, with the mast being placed at the Paeroa Historic Maritime Park.
| General Characteristics: | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name: HMNZS Kiama | |||||
| Country: New Zealand | |||||
| Type: Corvette | |||||
| Class name: Bathurst | |||||
| Year of commission: 1952 | |||||
| Refit: 1952 | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Dimensions: | |||||
| Length: 186 ft (57 m) | |||||
| Beam: 31 ft (9.4 m) | |||||
| Draught: 8.5 ft (2.6 m) | |||||
| Displacement: 1,025 t | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Propulsion: | |||||
| Powerplant: 1x triple expansion steam - 2,000hp (1491.4kW) | |||||
| Speed: 15kt | |||||
| Endurance: 2,850 nmi @ 10kt | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||||
| Armament & sensors: | |||||
| Compliment: 85 | |||||
| Primary armament: 2x1 40mm Bofors | |||||
| Secondary armament: nil | |||||
| Tertiary armament: 40 Depth Charges | |||||
| Sensors: -Type 271 radar, Type 291 radar, ADISC | |||||
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
Sources
HMAS Kiama - Wikipedia
HMAS Kiama 1944 - 1946, HMNZS Kiama 1952 - 1976 - Naval Historical Society of Australia
https://seapower.navy.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-02/ABC_of_RAN_Corvettes_0.pdf
https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/media/hmnzs-kiama.83204/
Henshaw, J. (2021). Capable Beyond our Dreams: Australia’s Bathurst - Class Corvettes 1940 - 1960 (pp. 110–111, 120).