RFA Tidespring has three stations for diesel fuel, aviation fuel and fresh water (Picture: UK Carrier Strike Group 25 X)
A Duke-class frigate has arrived in Indonesia, while RFA Tidespring has conducted a dual replenishment at sea with HMS Richmond and New Zealand vessel HMNZS Te Kaha.
HMS Richmond is on her third trip to Jakarta after going ahead of the Carrier Strike Group 25 with Spanish frigate Méndez Núñez.
The vessel’s visit to the Indonesian capital is to improve the UK’s diplomatic, economic and security collaborations in the Indo-Pacific region.
“A heartfelt thank you to the Indonesian government, particularly the Navy for the warm welcome and making this visit memorable,” the British Embassy in Indonesia and Timor-Leste said.
“It has brought our peoples even closer together as we lay the groundwork toward UK-Indonesia Strategic Partnership!
“Terima kasih Indonesia!” Terima kasih means “thank you” in Malay.
The company received garlands when they arrived in the Indonesian capital.
The latest port call comes ahead of Exercise Talisman Sabre in Australia.
CSG25 will participate in the eleventh edition of the large-scale Australian-led multinational exercise, which involves significant US forces.
It will consist of a live-fire exercise and field training exercises incorporating force preparation activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvres, and air combat and maritime operations.
— UK Carrier Strike Group (@COMUKCSG) July 6, 2025
Meanwhile, RFA Tidespring, a Tide-class tanker, has provided replenishment at sea for Richmond and HMNZS Te Kaha, according to UK Forces Tracker, an X account which monitors Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels.
HMNZS Te Kaha has now left CSG25, the CSG25 X account has revealed.
A replenishment at sea is where a tanker gives another vessel fresh water and fuel while sailing, so it can continue onwards without stopping.
RFA Tidespring has three stations for diesel fuel, aviation fuel and fresh water, as well as an extra rig available for astern replenishment.
The CSG25 deployment, also known as Operation Highmast, involves around 4,500 British military personnel, including nearly 600 RAF and 900 soldiers, alongside 2,500 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines.
Australia marks the final destination of the voyage.
For more reports about Carrier Strike Group 25, click here
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A tinted postcard of the hospital ship Maheno. In accordance with the requirements of the Hague Convention, the vessel is plainly marked as a hospital ship, with red crosses and green stripes on a white background. https://nzhistory.govt.nz/keyword/tss-maheno
Maheno leaves Wellington, 1915
The hospital ship Maheno leaves Wellington for the Dardanelles, 10 July 1915.
Maheno at Port Chalmers, 1915
The hospital ship Maheno fully dressed and nearing completion at Port Chalmers mid-1915.
The Maheno brings patients to Lyttelton
The Maheno brings Canterbury patients to Lyttelton after a long voyage from Europe (note the worn paintwork). People turned out in large numbers to welcome or farewell hospital ships.
The Maheno washed up on Fraser Island
After breaking loose from the tow to Japan for scrapping in July 1935, the First World War hospital ship Maheno fetched up high on Fraser Island, Queensland. Many mariners thought it a miracle that it made it that far.
Maheno (ship) ‘Maheno’ aground on Fraser Island . (Description supplied with photograph).Fraser Island, Shipwreck of Maheno (ship, 1905)
SS Maheno was an ocean liner belonging to the Union Company of New Zealand that operated in the Tasman Sea, crossing between New Zealand and Australia, from 1905 until 1935.
She was also used as a ship by the New Zealand Naval Forces during World War I; as His Majesty’s New Zealand Hospital Ship No. 1. She was washed ashore on K’gari (Fraser Island) by a cyclone in 1935 where the disintegrating wreck remains as a popular tourist attraction.
Construction
The 5,000-ton steel-hulled ship was built by William Denny and Brothers of Dumbarton, Scotland, and launched on 19 June 1905.[1] At 400 feet in length and 50 feet in the beam, she was powered by three Parsonsturbines, giving a speed of 17.5 knots. She could carry up to 420 passengers: 240 in 1st class, 120 in 2nd and 60 in 3rd, and also had a refrigerated cargo hold. Accommodation for first class passengers included a dining room, smoking room, and music room with Bechstein grand piano. The ship was lit by electricity, and was fitted with all the latest safety equipment, which included Clayton sulphur dioxide fire extinguishers.[2]
Service history
The ship was named after Maheno, a township in Otago,[3] and entered service on 18 November 1905. She was employed on routes between Sydney and Melbourne via ports in New Zealand and Hobart, Tasmania, and also made regular voyages between Sydney and Vancouver.[2]
HMNZHS Maheno arrived at Moudros, the naval base of the Gallipoli Campaign, on 25 August 1915, and the next day was off ANZAC Cove, loading casualties from the Battle of Hill 60. Over the next three months, she carried casualties from Gallipoli to Malta. They were cared for by members of the New Zealand Army Nursing Service including Evelyn Brooke.[7]Maheno arrived back at New Zealand on 1 January 1916 to refit, then returned to Egypt in February to collect patients for transport back to New Zealand. She then sailed to the UK, arriving at Southampton on 3 July 1916, just after the start the Battle of the Somme. Until October 1916 she operated in the English Channel, returning large numbers of wounded and sick troops from the Western Front to England.
Maheno sailed back to New Zealand in December 1916, and then made six more voyages between New Zealand and the British Isles, bringing back patients.[4] There were criticisms of the Maheno making several trips to New Zealand to refit or to transport wounded soldiers home when most could have gone in a troopship; and also that the ship has been run by the governor (Liverpool) as “His Exc’s pet patriotic hobby”. The chief medical officer was William Collins on her first voyage and James Elliott on her second and third voyages. In 1915, Collins “raised hackles by denying nurses their officer status and deluding himself that he could command the ship’s commander, the master” (Captain McLean). In 1917, British Major Gretton was critical of the staff and said that Liverpool “puts his friends on the ship when they want soft jobs” and that the ship was nicknamed “Liverpool’s yacht”. The complaint got as far as the Secretary of State for the Colonies; Liverpool said Gratton behaved like a cad.[8]
At the war’s end in November 1918, Maheno was released from military service and returned to her business owner to resume her commercial life.
Running aground on K’gari (Fraser Island)
At the end of its commercial life, on 3 July 1935 Maheno left Sydney under tow[9] by the 1,758-ton ship Oonah, a former Tasmanian Steamers Pty. Ltd.Bass Strait ferry, built in 1888, which along with the Maheno had been sold to the shipbreaker’s yard Miyachi K.K.K. in Osaka, Japan.[10] The ships were linked by a 900-foot (270 m) 6.75-inch (17.1 cm) wire rope.[9]
On the afternoon of 7 July,[10] about 50 miles from the coast,[10] the towline parted in a cyclone. Attempts to re-attach the towline failed in the heavy seas, and the Maheno, with a skeleton crew of eight men aboard, drifted off and disappeared.[9] The Oonah, with its steering gear temporarily disabled, broadcast a radio message requesting assistance for Maheno, whose propellers had been removed.[11]Maheno was subsequently found on 10 July by an aircraft piloted by Keith Virtue, beached off the coast of K’gari (Frasier Island).[12] The crew had set up camp onshore, waiting for the Oonah to arrive, which it did on 12 July.[13] The wreck was also the location of the marriage of Dudley Weatherley and Beatrice McLean (instead of at Townsville), at the invitation of Captain Takaka, to notes from the ship’s Bechstein piano.[14][15][16] The stranded ship was also used as a venue for an experiment in ‘rocket mail’ in August 1935.[17]
The ship was subsequently stripped of its fittings,[18] but attempts to refloat her failed. The wreck was subsequently offered for sale, but no buyers could be found for it.[19]
Wreck
Maheno has remained at the location since, slowly corroding away. Owing to the now dangerous condition of the ship, access is prohibited.[20] The Australian Department of Defence lists the wreck as a site of unexploded ordnance (UXO) contamination.[21][3]
Annual Anzac Day services are held at the site of the wreck and a replica of the ship’s bell is located there.[22]
HMS Prince of Wales leads CSG25 to exercise in Australia
Carrier Strike Group 25 has been joined by Australian frigate HMAS Sydney as the warships prepare to take part in Exercise Talisman Sabre.
Talisman Sabre 2025 will be the 11th and largest iteration of the exercise.
It will consist of a live-fire exercise, and field training exercises incorporating force preparation activities, amphibious landings, ground force manoeuvres, and air combat and maritime operations.
Before linking up with CSG25, HMAS Sydney had been working with the Royal Navy’s offshore patrol vessel HMS Spey.
Leading CSG25 is HMS Prince of Wales, accompanied by Type 45 destroyer HMS Dauntless and RFA Tidespring.
One ship returning to the fold is is Canadian vessel, Ville de Quebec, which had been in Port Klang in Malaysia but has now rejoined CSG25.
Other vessels had temporarily broken away too.
HMS Richmond and Spanish frigate Méndez Núñez had previously gone ahead of the CSG and have been visiting the Indonesian capital of Jakarta.
HMAS Sydney is the latest vessel to sail alongside the carrier strike group as it heads to Australia (Picture: MOD)
HMS Prince of Wales crossed the Equator on 30 June and is in the Java Sea. The aircraft carrier has been hosting senior Indonesian defence officials during the passage and has been accompanied by Indonesian ship KRI Halasan.
On 23 June, the two ships carried out Freedom of Navigation Activity by sailing close to the disputed Spratly Islands in the South China Sea.
These tiny islands are claimed by China and the passage was carried out in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known as UNCLOS.
The area has recently been a conflict point between the Philippines and China, with routine incidents happening between the two countries.
CSG25 is well protected by the F-35Bs on board HMS Prince of Wales (Picture: MOD)
Prior to that, HMS Spey had transited the Taiwan Straits on 20 June. This was the first time a Royal Navy ship had passed through this strait since HMS Richmond in 2021.
Passage through the Taiwan Strait is considered highly provocative by the Chinese, but various navies periodically sail through the area to assert their right to use this route.
CSG25 is set to join Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025 off the northern coast of Australia in mid-July.
Following this, HMS Prince of Wales will sail to Japan for a visit in August.
It’s possible CSG25 will transit the South China Sea after visiting Japan – but it’s not yet clear if it will conduct any further Freedom of Navigation Activity near the Chinese-claimed islands.
For more reports about Carrier Strike Group 25, click here.
The Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) has established its first dedicated space unit with the reactivation of No. 62 Squadron today.
04 July, 2025
Minister for Space Judith Collins, Chief of Defence Force Air Marshal Tony Davies and Chief of Air Force Air Vice-Marshal Darryn Webb attended the ceremony at RNZAF Base Auckland.
“This reflects our commitment to protecting New Zealand’s interests and security in the rapidly evolving space domain,” Ms Collins says.
“Space is vital for modern life. We rely on space-based infrastructure for a range of critical services, from weather observation to financial transactions.
“This is an important signal that we’re taking space security seriously.”
Originally active during World War II, No. 62 Squadron supported Allied operations through the innovative use of radar technology. Now, its mission shifts to space domain awareness.
“The squadron’s initial focus will be on monitoring, analysing, and understanding space activity to safeguard national and international interests,” Ms Collins says.
“Recent global developments have highlighted the need for resilient, advanced defence capabilities. This move is part of the work the New Zealand Defence Force is doing to maintain a combat-capable, flexible force.”
The reactivation supports the recent Defence Capability Plan which outlined $12 billion of planned commitments to upgrade the Defence Force over the next four years.
The hospital ship ‘Maunganui’ in Lyttelton Harbour.Hospital ship Maunganui at anchor off Port Tewfik. Taken circa May 1941 by an official photographer.
Port Tewfik, now known as Suez Port, is a harbor located at the southern entrance of the Suez Canal on the Red Sea in Egypt.
Maunganui was converted from a 30-year-old oil burner, and was larger than the previous ships operated by the RNZN, those being the Maheno and Marama. She had electric lifts installed which could carry two stretchers each from deck to deck and a fresh water tank holding up to 700 tons of water. Also installed were an operating block containing rooms for sterilization, massage, X-ray and diathermy. Initially planned to have accommodation for 390 patients with 100 swinging cots, 100 single fixed cots and 95 fixed two-tier cots she ultimately ended up with 365 cots, 22 for fractures, 84 single cots and the rest two-tier cots. In total these conversions cost the New Zealand government around £50,000. By 21 April 1941, the conversions had been completed.[1]
Once completed she had a crew of 104 medical officers, nurses and orderlies and an indeterminate amount of crew. She set sail for Suez a day after finishing conversions, leaving on 22 April 1941 to assist 2 NZEF. She arrived at Suez on 22 May 1941 taking casualties from Greece and Crete before returning to New Zealand on 10 June 1941 full with patients. This was a voyage she completed a total of 14 times.[1]
On her 15th voyage, the ship was diverted to the Pacific to assist around various islands making repeated voyages to pick up and treat patients until the end of the war when she brought back one final load of 2 NZEF casualties from Italy and Egypt. By the end of the war the total number of patients she had taken on numbered 5,677
The hospital ship Maunganui, which arrived today with ex-prisoners from Japanese camps in the Far East. In the background is the Duttch hospital ship Tjitjalengka, ivhich arrived from Auckland yesterday.AF (Evening Post, 08 October 1945)
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