HMNZS Otago – F111

HMNZS Otago – I was on the bridge when photo taken. Description courtesy of Jim Blackburn – also onboard. The photo was taken at 1128 on Monday 29 October 1962.

Posted byCurrin FamilyMarch 21, 2024Posted inHMNZS Otago F111 frigateEditHMNZS Otago – I was on the bridge when photo taken. Description courtesy of Jim Blackburn – also onboard. The photo was taken at 1128 on Monday 29 October 1962.

Otago Had just fired a salvo of 6 live Limbo mortar bombs
Directly ahead and was “hard a starboard” to avoid running over the top of them. A second salvo was to be fired immediately but when the bombs were being
loaded the ones from the Port
Magazine ran back in to the
Handling room and so the second salvo was not fired.
Royalist and Pukaki were in company for this operation
“Shop Window” and most of
Parliament were aboard the
ships. From memory, we, Otago had Walter Nash , and the Minister of Defence, and
CNS Rear Admiral Sir Peter Phipps on board.
When the mortar bombs detonated, the Royalist went “dead in the water” for about 45 minutes.

HMNZS Otago F111

•  Brian Twyman
•  Feb 23, 2007
•  Tagshmnzs otago f111

Displacement: 2144 tons, length 370ft overall, beam 41ft, draught 17ft. Complement: 250
Armament : 1 quadruple Seacat missile launcher, 2 x 4.5in guns in twin turret, 2 limbo 3 barrelled depth charge mortars, 8 x 21in. later replaced by 6-12.75 in. AS torpedo tubes
Machinery: two sets geared turbines, two shafts, 30,000 shp. Spd.: 30 kts. Pennant No.:F111

Completed as Rothesay Class frigate to specific NZ modifications, HMNZS Otago commissioned at Southampton, 22 June 1960 and arrived in NZ in 1961. She was fitted with the Seacat sea-to-air missile system in 1963. During her long service OTAGO took part in regular deployments to the Far East, to North America, Hawaii, Australia and the Pacific Islands for multi-national exercises. In NZ waters she took part in ceremonial occasions, SAR, royal tours and supply duties to outlying islands. In 1973 Otago was sent by the NZ Government to protest against French atmospheric nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll. On 28 June, OTAGO sailed from NZ bound for the test zone. The first bomb took place on 21 July and the frigate flashed news of the explosion to the world. OTAGO finally decommissioned on 7 November 1983 and was subsequently scrapped in Auckland

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