H.M.S. AUCKLAND

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22443, 2 July 1938, Page 20

H.M.S. AUCKLAND

LAUNCHING THIS WEEK

FIRST NAVAL VESSEL NAMED AFTER CITY

Special Service.!

AUCKLAND, July I

The time when the city of Auckland will see the first ship of the Royal Navy ever named after it has been brought considerably closer by the launching at Dumbarton, Scotland, this week of H.M.S. Auckland. The ship, which was originally called the Heron, had- the name Auckland assigned to it by the Lords Commitsioners of .the Admiralty through a suggestion by the Mayor of Auckland, Sir Ernest Davis, through the Minister for Defence (the Hon. F. Jones), j It has been suggested that the Auckland would succeed the Imperial Escort Vessel Leith on the New Zealand station, since it has always been understood that the ship would be sent out to the country which has given her a name. However, a far more likely course is that she will be sent out to Auckland to relieve the Admiralty surveying ship Endeavour. It* was stated last year that the Endeavour would not complete the survey which she has started on the New Zealand coastline. This task is estimated to take about 20 years, and at present the Endeavour is not due to stay here' for much longer than two years. Force to probability that the Auckland will relieve the Endeavour is given by the fact that of the several vessels which have been regarded as possibilities to come out to Auckland, the Heron, as the Auckland wds originally laid down,'was looked upon as the most likely. Although it is now definite that the Auckland is being fitted as a survey ship, she was planned as a sister ship, under the 1936 Naval estimates, to the escort vessel Egret, and she is still officially der scribed as “escort ship, convoy class.

Light Armament

In place of the Egret’s eight 4-mch angle guns, however, the Auckland will carry only one small threepounder gun aft, just as the Endeavour does. This gun is not necessarily intended for combative purposes, but enables ships of the Royal Navy to take advantage of certain massage privileges which are not available for merchantmen. Although her armament will consequently be limited, the Auckland will be readily transformed into a warship if need arises. She is, like any other ship of her class, equipped with the regulation armour-plating, and in other respects bears resemblances rather to a war vessel than to a survey ship. . ~ The dimensions of the Auckland are as follows (comparative figures for the escort vessels Wellington and Leith being given in parenthesis):— Displacement 1190 tons (990 tons)., Length 282 feet (226 feet). ! Draught Bft 6in (7ft 6in). Horse-power 3300- (2000). The cost of building the Auckland, which should be delivered by Denny and Brothers. Ltd., in November, will be about £159,366.