ANNUAL SUMMER CRUISES

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22240, 3 November 1937, Page 5

ANNUAL SUMMER CRUISES

♦ H.M.S. ACHILLES LEAVES FOR LYTTELTON DETAILS OF SHIPS' MOVEMENTS TO APRIL 28 ITHE PRESS Special Service.] AUCKLANP, November 2. With the de'parture to-day of the flagship H.M.S. Achilles, for Lyttelton, the annual summer cruises of the warships of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy are now well under way. The only remaining sea-going ships at the Devonport Naval' Base will be the mine-sweeper H.M.S. Wakakura, which has been taking detachments of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for training cruises, and the Imperial escort vessel,- H.M.S. Leith, which will remain in port until No-

vember 29, when she will make a short cruise to the Hauraki Gulf and Tauranga. The other escort vessel, H.M.S. Wellington, left last week for southern ports, and the second' cruiser, H.M.S. Leander, is at present making her first cruise to the south. Another unit of the division, the ketch H.M.S. Viking, was commissioned to-day from H.M.S. Philomel by Lieutenant-Commander E. W. Monckton, and sailed with a small detachment of seamen boys in training, on a cruise of two or three days to Hauraki GulS. The remaining ship of the division, H.M.S. Philomel, will go in to Calliope dock about Novem-1 ber 29 for an. overhaul to last four or five days. This will be the first time in four years that she has been docked. . The cruisers, Achilles and Leander, have an exceptionally busy programme arranged for them this sum-1 mer and autumn. When they have completed their cruises to southern ports' they will return to Auckland for a short period before going to the Hauraki Gulf with the two escort vessels lor combined exercises. On January 20 they will leave on their first cruise to Australia, H.M.S. Achilles going direct to Sydney, and H.M.S. Leander to Melbourne. From there they will go to Jervis Bay to visit the ships of the Royal Australian Navy, and after completing a short I

cruise of other Australian ports, they will make independent cruises to the South Island, joining company again at Wellington in April. They will spend some days together in the Hauraki Gulf for exercises before returning to Auckland on April 28. Their annual winter cruises to the South Paciiic Islands will probably begin fairly soon afterward. In addition to giving Captain I. G. Glennie.- of H.M.S. Achilles, and Captain J. W. Rivett-Carnac, of H.M.S. Leander, and their officers and men, full opportunity of studying the New Zealand coastline and ports, the summer cruises to the south arc also regarded as valuable because of the association formed between ships of the division and the civic authorities and people of the southern ports. To assist with the necessary amount of entertaining, a number of the wives of the ships' officers will also go by land to the ports being visited. Itinerary of Cruises The New Zealand and Australian programme for H.M.S. Achilles for the next six months, is as follows: Lyttelton, November 5 to 15; Akaroa, November 15 to 17; Wellington, November 18 to 25; Auckland, November 27 to 29; Hauraki Gulf. November 29 to December 8; Auckland, December 8 to January 20; Sydney, January 25 to Feb-

ruary 7; Jervis Bay, February 7 to 15; Melbourne, February 18 to 26; West Coast Sounds, March 2 to 7; Bluff. March 7 to 10; Dunedin. March 11 to 16; Auckland, March 19 to- 22 «for fuelling); Russell, March 22 to 30; Wellington, April 1 to 19; Hauraki Gulf, April 21 to 28; Auckland, April 2a The programme of H.MJS. Leander will be:—Lyttelton, November 5 to 12; Akaroa, November 12 to 17, when she will be inspected by Rcar-Admiral the Hon. E. R. Drummond; Hauraki Gulf. November 29 to December 4; Auckland. ; December 4 to January 20; Melbourne. 'January 26 to February 7; Jervis Bay. February 9 to 15; Hobart, February IS to 24; Auckland, March Ito 2 (for fuelling); Wellington. March 4 to April 4; Picton and Marlborough Sounds, April 4 to 9; Nelson, April 9to 12: Wellington, April 13 to 19; Hauraki Gulf, April 21 to 28; Auckland, April 28.