A NAVAL OCCASION

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 77, 28 September 1942, Page 4

A NAVAL OCCASION

In a true sense the launching of the minesweeper Awatere on Saturday afternoon was a naval occasion, for this is the1 first war vessel to be built on the shores of Port Nicholson. It Is not, of course, the first launching in the waters of the harbour. That event occurred almost exactly a hundred years ago when a small coastal craft took to. the sea at Kaiwarra. Some forty years later it began to look as if Wellington might have a shipbuilding industry, at least on a small scale, when, in 1885, a local firm of engineers built and engined the first steel vessel to be constructed south of the Line. This was followed by others, but the hope ofjestablishing a permanent industry was not realised. Thus the Awatere must be. the first seagoing vessel to be launched in Wellington for, about half a century. Though New Zealand, geographically, should be a country of sailors, like the Britain it resembles in many other respects, the people in general have not taken to the sea to any. remarkable^ extent. Even the fishing industry *has been largely left to men from other lands. But it is a fact that New Zealanders, when the occasion arises, make .excellent sailors. In this war they are to be found not only manning New Zealand's own warships, but serving far and wide over the seven seas, further ,even than the bounds the Prime Minister set at the', launching ceremony, "from the Pacific Ocean to the English Channel." They will be found, too, in the escort vessels and merchant ships of Arctic convoys as well as in the "Home boats" that sail round the world carrying New Zealand produce to feed and clothe Britain. It needs the stimulus of war, perhaps, to bring out the dormant qualities inherent in the race, and these can be shown in the building as well as in the sailing of ships. Just at this time, in the unceasing battle of the seas, on which so much depends, every little helps, and craft like the Awatere are a real contribution to the winning of the war. * New Zealand's little fleet of minesweepers may help to ensure the safe transport of many valuable cargoes. . ~