HMNZS Waipu

HMNZS Waipu – New Zealand minesweeper from the period of World War II , one of the thirteen built units of type Castle . The ship was launched on July 31, 1943 at the Stevenson & Cook shipyard in Dunedin , and the Royal New Zealand Navy entered in November 1943. The unit was withdrawn from service in 1946.
Design and construction
The ship’s construction was based on a project of British Castle trawlers , built massively from the First World War [1] [2] . Of the planned seventeen units of this type, thirteen were completed, with a hull with a wooden shell made of agatisa , using metal frames [3] .

HMNZS [a] “Waipu” was launched on July 31, 1943 at the Stevenson & Cook shipyard in Dunedin, and entered service in the Navy on November 17, 1943 [2] [3] .

Tactical and technical data
The length between the ship’s risers was 38.1 meters , the width was 7.16 meters and the maximum draft was 4.27 meters [1] [2] . The standard displacement was 447 tons , and the full standard was 635 tons [1] [4] . The ship was powered by a 480- hp triple-expansion steam machine , to which steam supplied a single cylindrical boiler , fired with coal [1] [3] . The maximum speed of the unit driven by one screw was 10 knots [1] [5] .

Artillery equipment consisted of a single 12-pound running universal caliber of 76 mm (3 inches ) QF HA L / 40 [1] [2] . The small-caliber anti-aircraft weapon was a single Oerlikon automatic gun cal. 20 mm L / 70 [1] [2] [b] . For anti-submarine serving pitcher depth charge with a supply of four bomb [1] [2] . Anti-mine equipment was sea ​​trawl [2] .

The ship’s crew consisted of 42 officers, non-commissioned officers and seamen [1] [2] [c] .

Service
“Waipu” served in the RNZN for less than three years, initially marked with the T32 side sign , then changed to T357 [2] . The list of the fleet was written down in 1946 and then sold to the fisheries sector