Fletcher Slierendrecht was unsure of what direction his life would take once he left the school gates of Nayland College in Stoke.
Now known to his crew as Lieutenant Slierendrecht, the 26-year-old has navigated a defence career pathway that has led him to assume command of the Royal New Zealand Navy’s inshore patrol vessel HMNZS Taupo.
As the Navy’s newest captain for 2021, the Nelson man took command of the 55-metre Inshore Patrol Vessel in a ceremony at Devonport Naval Base on January 29.
“You picture yourself as a Commanding Officer. You ask ‘are you ready for it?’ I wasn’t expecting a nomination for another year or two. But it’s very pleasing to find out you’ve been chosen,” Slierendrecht said.
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Capable of carrying a total complement of 38 personnel, including 24 core crew, HMNZS Taupo is designed for maritime surveillance and patrol missions around New Zealand’s 15,000-kilometre coast and out to the 200 nautical mile limit of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
Working with government agencies such as Primary Industries, Customs, Police and the Department of Conservation, the ship regularly undertakes patrols around New Zealand’s major fishing grounds.
Slierendrecht’s work this year will involve teaching junior warfare officers their trade, interspersed with fisheries and customs patrols around New Zealand.
Not bad for someone who was unsure of his next move as he prepared to enter the big wide world at the end of 2013.
It was a Defence Force recruitment bus at a career roadshow visiting Nelson that prompted him to look into naval life.
“I’m from a very outdoor-oriented family and I’ve grown up with boats. My parents said, ‘why don’t you apply, give it a shot?’.”
Slierendrecht joined the Navy the following year at the age of 18 and started his junior officer training on his first ever visit to Auckland.
“It’s a big adjustment, and you do question yourself. That’s when you stop, look around, see the people around you. You can see everyone’s similar, all doing it together, so you think, let’s get it done.
“The hardest part about training is the cutting off of support. You’ve got plenty of support from your peers, but think about it – you’re an 18-year-old in your first job, you’re with a bunch of strangers in the military, and you don’t have a cellphone or the ability to talk to family. You find out if you’ve got what it takes.”
Slierendrecht has managed to accomplish plenty in the seven years since.
As a warfare officer, he started his training on HMNZS Taupo’s sister ships HMNZS Rotoiti and Hawea, then on frigates and Offshore Patrol Vessels.
He was deployed on HMNZS Taupo as Navigating Officer during that vessel’s fisheries patrol mission to Fiji in 2018 – his first navigation job and a highlight of his career to date.
Other highlights include a South East Asia tour in frigate HMNZS Te Kaha in 2017 and an exchange with the US Navy, serving on an aircraft carrier and a destroyer.
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