Name HMNZS Moa (T233) Ordered September 1939 Commissioned 12 August 1941 Draft 4.66 m | Namesake Moa Laid down 22 March 1940 Construction started 22 March 1940 | |
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Sponsored by Lady Ferguson, wife of former governor-general Sir Charles Fergusson Builders Henry Robb, Leith, Scotland | ||
HMNZS Moa (T233) was a Bird class minesweeper of the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) that served during World War II.
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Construction and design
The first of three Bird-class minesweepers, Moa displaced 607 tons standard and 923 tons at full load. She was 168 ft (51 m) long overall, had a beam of 30 ft (9.1 m) and a draught of 15.3 ft (4.7 m). She had a top speed of 13 knots (24 km/h) and a crew of between 33 and 35 personnel. Moa's main armament was a single 4-inch Mk IX naval gun, which was supplemented by anti-aircraft guns. She also carried minesweeping equipment and 40 depth charges for anti-submarine operations.
Operational history
Commissioned into the Royal New Zealand Navy on 12 August 1941, Moa was the first of two vessels with this name to serve in the RNZN and was named after a native bird from New Zealand.
On 29 January 1943, in concert with her sister ship Kiwi, Moa helped ram and wreck the Japanese submarine I-1. At the time Moa was under the command of Lieutenant Commander Peter Phipps, later Vice Admiral Sir Peter Phipps.
In February 1943, Moa participated in Operation Cleanslate, the occupation of Russell Islands. However, when the Moa put the forces ashore, they were informed by local natives the Japanese had left ten days beforehand.
On 7 April 1943 Moa was refuelling from the USS Erskine M. Phelps at Tulagi Harbor when Japanese aircraft attacked. The Moa sustained a direct hit from a 500-pound bomb and was damaged by two near misses. She sank bow first within about four minutes. At some point after the sinking of the I-1, the Moa crew acquired and mounted a 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun, which the crew were able to use against their attackers prior to their sinking. Five ratings were killed and seven were seriously wounded, including Phipps.
Postscript
Seventy-one years after her sinking, Moa's name plate was recovered by divers and is being restored for eventual display at the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum in Auckland, New Zealand. The Torpedo Bay Naval Museum already has on display the main deck gun recovered from the wreck of the I-1.