HMNZS Monowai - wartime service history

1939     October 21     Requisitioned by the Royal Navy and work began to refit her as an armed merchant cruiser at Devonport, Auckland. Then followed a period of indecision.

 

     1940     February 11     Work on her was halted and not resumed until June the 23rd, when it was definitely decided to complete her refit.

1940     August 30     Flying the White ensign and commissioned as the armed Merchant Cruiser HMNZS Monowai, with eight 6 inch guns, two 3 inch anti-aircraft guns and six 20 mm guns, plus some machine guns and depth charges.  Her engineering officers were given commissioned rank and remained with her.  The service consisted mainly of escorting freighters, tankers, and liners between Australia, New Zealand and Fiji, while the threat of German raiders existed.

1940     November 11     A Section of the 8th Infantry Brigade Group of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionar Force (48 Officers and 852 Ordinary Ranks) embarked at Auckland for Fiji on the Rangatira and the Monowai, they arrived at Lautoka on the 14th of November.

1940     November 19     A further section of the 8th Infantry Brigade Group (54 Officers and 766 ORs) embarked at Auckland for Fiji on theRangatira and the Monowai, they arrived at Suva on the 22nd of November.

1941     May 26     The second section of the 1st Relief for the 8th Infantry Brigade Group, of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (33 Officers and 883 Ordinary Ranks) embarked on the Rangatira and the Monowai at Auckland for Fiji.

1942     January 2     A Section of the B Force Expansion of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (85 Officers and 1,668 Ordinary Ranks) embarked on the Rangatira and the Matua for Lautoka, and on the Monowai for Suva.  Escorted by HMNZS Leander, the convoy arrived at their destination on the 6th of January.

1942     January 10     B Section of B Force Extension of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (83 Officers and 1,459 Ordinary Ranks) embarked at Auckland on Wahine, Monowai, Rangatira and Port Montreal for Fiji, arriving there on the 14th of January.

1942     January 16     Monowai was attacked by the Japanese submarine I20.  Once under enemy gunfire Monowai fired with her port side guns, her rounds just finding range as the submarine crash-dived.  She then steamed at high speed through poorly charted waters to avoid possible torpedoes.  Japanese records reveal that I20 had fired four torpedoes, but missed with all.

1942     October 7     A Section of N Force of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (32 Officers and 709 Ordinary Ranks) embarked at Auckland on Wahine and Monowai for Norfolk Island.

1942     October 12     B Section of N Force of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (30 Officers and 693 ORs) embarked on theWahine and the Monowai at Auckland for Norfolk Island, arriving there on 14 October.

1943     February 7     The Eighth Section of Kiwi Force of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (5 Officers and 170 Ordinary Ranks) embarked at Wellington on the Monowai for New Caledonia, arriving at Noumea on the 10th of February.

1943     February 17     The First Section of T Force of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (110 Officers and 644 Ordinary Ranks) embarked at Wellington on the Wahine and the Monowai for Tonga.

1943     March 2     The Second Section of T Force of the 2nd New Zealand Army Expeditionary Force (37 Officers and 738 Ordinary Ranks) embarked on the Wahine and the Monowai at Lyttelton for Tonga.

1943     March 8     The New Zealand Army’s 34th Battalion embarked on the Monowai and the Wahine for New Caledonia from Tonga; it was replaced at Tonga by the 6th Battalion of the Canterbury Regiment.  The 34th Battalion disembarked at Noumea on the 13th of March.

1943     April     Due for a refit at Auckland, but considered surplus in the Pacific she sailed for England via Panama, where she would be of more use.

1943     June 18     Paid off at Liverpool where she was taken over by the British Ministry of War Transport for conversion into an assault landing-ship.  Captain G. B. Morgan, DSO, DSC, a veteran of the 1914-1918 war, was sent to Britain to take command, with Chief Officer J. Billingham to assist him.  Chief Engineer Harold Simmonds and the company’s engineer officers who had served in HMNZS Monowai as naval reservists remained with the ship.  Substantial overhaul, refitting and structural alterations were required, and installation of defensive armaments and replacement of lifeboats with 20 assault boats (LCAs) capable of landing 800 troops and their equipment.

1944     January     With the refit completed, she was now a very different looking ship with her mainmast and hydraulic cranes removed and 20 landing craft slung from davits on both sides of the hull.

 

1944     February     Made a trooping voyage from Glasgow to Port Said and Taranto from where Yugoslav refugees were transported to Sicily.  From Sicily she carried a large draft of troops and a quantity of bullion to Liverpool under escort by a “crack” flotilla of submarine chasers.

1944     April     By the end of the month she was in the Solent with the ever growing number of vessels preparing for the ‘D Day’ landings.

1944     June 2     Captain Morgan was ordered to hospital on and was replaced by Captain W. Whitefield on transfer from the Aorangi.

1944     June 3     1,800 Canadian and British Commando troops were embarked at Southampton.

1944     June 5     Left the Cowes Roads in the evening, she was the largest ship of a veritable armada as they headed for Normandy.  The overnight run was uneventful and she anchored seven miles off “Gold Beach” at dawn on June the 6th and disembarkation began at 6.15 am, when the first wave of assault troops was despatched in Monowai‘s LCAs within 30 minutes of arrival.  They met with strong opposition and casualties were heavy but they achieved their objective and during the day the remaining troops were sent ashore.  One witness, the ship’s surgeon, recalls the mass of shipping all around, with warships forming a complete half circle round the horizon firing continual broadsides inland as the men were landed.  Some hours later a few of Monowai‘s landing craft returned, but only six of the original 20 survived, the remainder being blown up by mines off the beaches.  After embarking about a dozen casulaties Monowai returned to Southampton.  She subsequently made a further run to “Utah Beach.”

1944     June 14     Captain Morgan resumed his command.

1945     January 18-19     Damaged by high winds in the night when she was alongside a pontoon pier at Cherbourg, but fortunately it was only superficial.

1945     March     Apart from two brief occasions during boiler cleaning, steam was on the main engines continuously for twelve months and she had made 45 crossings to France with 73,000 troops to France, including 25 trips to Le Havre with 43,000 troops among a total of 105,000 carried during her war service.

1945     April 22     Sailed from Plymouth for Odessa with 1,610 released Soviet prisoners of war.  There were five ships in the convoy and they carried nearly 10,000 released Russian prisoners in all.  She made two more voyages between Odessa and Marseilles. These were followed by two trips from Suez returning troops to India. She then returned to Marseilles with 1,600 released French prisoners before leaving for Colombo to prepare for operations against Japan and the landings in Malaya, but the sudden surrender of Japan in August 1945 made the landings unnecessary and she was despatched from Karachi as a “mercy ship” for Singapore.

 

1945     September 8     Arrived at Singapore as part of the third convoy, where British and Indian troops and also administration personnel were landed.

1945     September 13     Embarked 650 service personnel and 199 civilians who had been prisoner’s of war in the notorious Changi Prison, some of whom had not seen home for 11 years.

1945     October 8     Arrived at Liverpool, where the populace gave her a great welcome.  The next five months were occupied with trooping voyages from Taranto and Suez to Karachi and Cochin, from Suez to Lagos, and from Suez to Bombay.  After that she spent a further five months running to various ports in the Indian Ocean, visiting Colombo, Cocos Island, Madras, Calcutta, Port Swettenham, Vizagapatam and Rangoon.  By then she was in a very run-down condition.

Throughout her war service, Monowai displayed on her bridge a model of the historical Maori canoe Tainui and a Maori ceremonial cloak presented by Princess Te Puea Herangi.  These were tokens that, according to Maori tradition, afford protection from an enemy.  Indeed, Captain Morgan, as a defiant gesture from the Maori members of his crew, wore the cloak whenever his ship was in danger of attack.  When the liner ended her war service Captain Morgan sent the model canoe and cloak to the Auckland Naval Base where they are now displayed.

1946     August     Arrived at Sydney where she was released by the British government.  The Union Company was far from enthusiastic about restoration of the ship for normal service, but being anxious to resume the trans-Tasman passenger services as soon as possible, decided to put the work in hand.  The company’s workshop at Sydney was fully committed to restore Aorangi, so Monowai was placed in the hands of the Mort’s Dock & Engineering Company.

 

Before and after her refit.1946     September to December 1948     It had been decided to put the Monowai back on to the Tasman run, to replace the six-year oldAwatea, which had been sunk during the North African landings.  It was a long and expensive job involving the renewal of much of the machinery and an almost complete reconstruction of the ship’s interior.  The refit was dogged by industrial troubles and cost more than one million pounds.  Her aft mast was replaced with derricks, the funnels lowered and much of the open promenade was enclosed.  She was modified to carry 179 first class and 205 cabin or tourist class passengers

1948     December 20     Completed her sea trials.

 

 

HMNZS Monowai - wartime service history