HMNZS Monowai
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HMNZS Monowai was a survey ship of the Royal New Zealand Navy, which was use during the Second World War in the Pacific and during the invasion in Normandy.
The name of the the ship (Monowai) is derived from the Māori word for "channel full of water" and is a glacial lake in the South Island of New Zealand.
[edit] History
To date two ships of the Royal New Zealand Navy have been named "Monowai"
1939-1946 It was taken over by the Royal Navy in 1939 and converted to an armed merchant cruiser and later again to a troop ship. Attacked by the Japanese submarine I20 in 1942 and was the only New Zealand ship to take part in the Normandy Landings. The ship was returned to its owners in 1946.
1977-1998 In 1977 the RNZN took over the former Pacific Island ferry "Moana Roa" as a replacement for WWII era HMNZS Lachlan. The ship was converted in the United Kingdom and returned to NZ for service as the "ghost of the coast".
In 1985 Monawai deployed to Fiji with a platoon of naval gunners who were to act as a landing party in the event that the coup became bloody.
In 1994 Monawai again entered the news, when the ship rescued a number of people from a yachts in distress during a storm.
The ship was decommissioned in 1998 and sailed for the UK later that year for refitting as a liner. The project never proceeded and it is likely the ship will be scrapped.
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