N.Z. NAVY CHANGE

Grey River Argus, 13 September 1946, Page 5

N.Z. NAVY CHANGE

ACHILLES TO BELLONA Formers’ Crew Welcomed in England (Special to Press Association) (Rec. 6.30). LONDON, Sept. 12. New Zealand’s last farewells and grateful tribute to the cruiser Achilles were said yesterday at Sheerness when Rt. Hon. W. J. Jordan paid a special visit to the cruiser to mark her paying off and the severance of her historic association with the Royal New Zealand Navy. “This ship, in its way, means as much to New Zealand as the Victory means to Britain”, said Mr Jordan, addressing the ship’s company assembled on the quarterdeck. “I hope, when she has finished her service, use may still be found for her in 'New Zealand, so that she may end her time there”. Mr Jordan emphasised the pride that the people of New Zealand felt in the Achilles and her war record. Although many of the young New Zealanders serving in her were new to Britain, they could be sure of a welcome, both for themselves as New Zealanders, and for the tradition that their ship represented. In the same way, any of the Imperial members of the ship’s company who returned to New Zealand could be sure of a welcome from the people of the Dominion. New Zealand saw the departure of .the Achilles from its Navy with deep regret, and even now hoped a way might be found eventually to return her to New Zealand. At the’ call of the officer commanding, Captain W. E. Banks, three lusty naval cheers were given for Mr Jordan. The High Commissioner, who was,' accompanied by Mr S. R. Skinner, New Zealand Naval Affairs Officer in London, lunched with Captain and Mrs Banks and the senior officers, and then carried out an informal inspection of the lower deck, where they spent a considerable time talking with the men. Before leaving Sheerness, Mr Jordan received permission of the officei 1 commanding The Nore, Admiral Sir H. M. Burrough, to ask Captain Banks to order “the splicing of the main brace” on the Achilles.

The cruiser’s eight weeks’ voyage from New Zealand was; made in calm weather, and included calls at Darwin, Colombo, Port Said, Algiers, Malta, and Gibraltar. Steaming up the Australian coast, she travelled for' a period inside the Great Barrier Reef, and at Darwin was visited by Air Vice-Marshal Nevill and Mrs H. G. R. Mason, who, with their party then were awaiting air transport to Britain from there. ' The traditional ceremony of crossing the line was observed with an impartiality which did not even spare the captain from immersion by Father Neptune. During two days the cruiser spent in Colombo, leave parties were able to visit Kandy in the interior on the eve of a famous festival, that of the sacred tooth. The call at Algiers was not scheduled, and was made for the purpose of landing an appendicitis case. At Malta, the cruiser found two of her war-time associates, the Leander and Ajax. Sufficient time was spent at Port Said to give leave parties an opportunity to visit Cairo, and a,t Gibraltar to enable leave personnel to inspect! the defences of the Rock. The Achilles will be dry-docked at Chatham, and will then transfer to the Indian Navy. As soon as am-, munition is unloaded and necessary work is carried out prior to dry docking, the majority of the ship’?, company will go on leave in Britain. Approximately 370 of them will then transfer to the cruiser Bellona, which is' to replace the Achilles on the New Zealand station. Others will take their discharge. Some of the officers will commence courses at British naval stations. On board the cruisei - when she arrived at Sheerness there were over two thousand food parcels’, purchased by members of the ship’s company for friends and relatives in Britain, and 113 cases of foodstuffs presented by the Ladies’ Auxiliary of the Wellington Navy League for distribution through the Royal Navy Benevolent' Fupkl Organisation. / One oil the ranks’ most valued momentoes of the ship’s- final cruise in New Zealand waters is a collection of photographs taken at New Zealand anchorages, views of receptions given the ship’s company in New Zealand ports, and an album of press cuttings recording the cruiser’s farewell tour.

Although not many of the .original company who manned the Achilles at the outbreak of war, and who fought with her so gallantly at the River Plate still remain on board, it was obvious that both the Royal Navy and New Zealand naval personnel were deeply impressed by the warmth of the reception they were given in the Dominion. The Bellona, which will replace the Achilles is a Dido class cruiser of 5450 tons, and a sister ship of the Black Prince, which is already on the New Zealand station. The Bellona is expected to be commissioned on October 1, and to sail for New Zealand on October. 10. Of her total complement of 530, some 478 officers and men will be New Zealanders’. The majority of these will transfer from the Achilles, but approximately 100 go from the Gambia. The Bellona will leave Britain equipped to the highest possible level of fighting efficiency for her shin class. Dido class cruisers are the latest to be commissioned before the end of the war, although some later vessels’ of a similar type were building when the war ended. The Bel- ( lona is commanded by Captain M. B. 1 Daing, C.8.E., R.N., who held a number of important service and administrative appointments during the war. At the outbreak he was posted to the staff of the vice-admiral commanding the northern patrol, and later went to the operations division of the Admiralty. Then he was posted ,to temporary command of the aircraft carrier Furious until 1942, when he was appointed a member of the British naval mission to Washington as liaison officer of the American Pacific Fleet. On relinquishing this post, he became Deputy Chief of Staff to. the Commander-in-Chief of the Mediterranean, a post he held until given command of the Bollona. He was awarded the M.B.E. in 1942, and was mentioned in dispatches for distinguished services- in the organisation of amphibious operations in the Mediterranean in 1945, and was’ made C.B.E. later the same year.