Parades in Auckland (on 23 February) and Wellington (on 2 April) drew huge crowds onto the streets. _got=6;_goi=3;_gol='Get online stats by GoStats';_GoStatsRun(); "It's important to do these things, to remember those who aren't with us any more. "But for some reason, that day he would break his own rule and seek an engagement with the three cruisers," said naval historian Michael Wynd. In the early morning murk, the Graf Spee spotted the Achilles alongside British cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter. 1924, First trans-global radio transmission to London, Home At one time she carried the unusual DH.82 Queen Bee which was a radio-controlled unmanned aircraft, normally used as a drone. 21 6-inch turret is the ‘Y’ turret from HMS/HMNZS Achilles and was the aft turret when she went into action at the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939. Batt travelled home to Napier. Achilles Point - crew list. German captain Hans Langsdorff had previously stuck to a self-imposed tactical rule of not engaging enemy warships. Tom was in the New Zealand navy with the service number RNZN 9147. He was a past President and Patron of Eden-Roskill Returned Services Association. Bill lived in Auckland and he gave me one of his tiddly collars which I think was an Aussie one. Sortable list of commissioned vessels of the Royal New Zealand Navy from its formation on 1 October 1941 to the present. Appointments of Defence Expert Review Panel. The writers and contributors of the RNZN Communicators Association have been a wonderful source of information. After 82 minutes of intense combat, the out-powered, sweating gun crews of the Achilles had fired more than 200 broadsides at the Germans. Veteran Bob Batt who served on the HMNZS Achilles at River Plate, at the Royal New Zealand Navy's 73rd birthday church service at Old St Paul's with his great nephew, serving Lieutenant Jonathan Bentin, The Battle of the River Plate victory boosted the nation, writes Kurt Bayer. Achilles played herself in the film The Battle of the River Plate in 1956. Stan was a telegraphist on HMS Gambia for the 1952 to 1954 commission. Flag-waving patriots lined the wharves at Devonport to give the bewildered sailors a heroes' homecoming. The German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee had been sighted about 400km from the busy shipping lane of Rio de la Plata, off Uruguay, in December 1939. The ship had been in commission with a nucleus crew only, from 20 April 1917. He passed away in December 1980. The German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee had been commerce raiding in the Atlantic and Indian oceans since the beginning of the war in September. Aucklanders gave the Achilles crew an enthusiastic welcome in 1940. Both had previously been divorced and Lilian lived at 11 Waller Avenue, Bispham, Blackpool. Achilles as seen from Ajax at the Battle of the River Plate. He was the husband of Vera, and the father of Karen and Trevor. That suited Bob Batt. My mother’s cousin Bill Ashbolt was a crew member on Achilles at the River Plate, he was in the degausing (magnetic mines) branch. We just looked at it as being that was what we were in for.". The ship never engaged in ship-to-ship action after the Battle of the River Plate. This resulted in her being sent back to Britain for repairs and a refit, following which she returned to the Pacific war, stationed off Okinawa at the end of the war with Japan. "As a boy, I had my own canoe, was always on the water, just lived for it.". Sold to Indian Navy 5 July 1948 and commissioned as INS Delhi. The rest of the war was relatively quiet for Batt and the Achilles. Stuck in the bowels of HMS Achilles, he was studiously intent on his critical task. [5] After Japan entered the war, she escorted troop convoys, then joined the ANZAC Squadron in the south-west Pacific. This short film clip is of HMS ACHILLES on her return to Auckland after her action with the GRAF SPEE at the Battle of the River Plate. After German raider activity in the South Pacific during 1940 Achilles escorted the first Trans-Tasman commercial convoy, VK.1, composed of Empire Star, Port Chalmers, Empress of Russia, and Maunganui leaving Sydney 30 December 1940 for Auckland. He took part in the Normandy Landings and served on the staff of Allied Naval Commander-in-Chief of the Expeditionary Force in 1944. Meet the NZHistory team, Crowds in Wellington welcoming the crew of HMS Achilles (Alexander Turnbull Library, 1/4-049251-F), Fighting for Britain – Second World War - overview, After the battle – Battle of the River Plate, Battle of the River Plate – Battle of the River Plate, HMS Achilles in the Battle of River Plate (War Art). Welcome to Forces Reunited the place where you can find information and friends from HMS Achilles.. We are the largest and fastest growing community of UK forces veterans on the web with over 500,000 members! It was a proud moment, especially since he shared the lectern with his great-nephew, serving Lieutenant Jonathan Bentin. When the ship rolled, he operated two levers that controlled a dot in the middle of a square. After the war, Achilles was returned to the Royal Navy at Sheerness in Kent, England on 17 September 1946. A parade on Auckland's Queen St for Battle of the River Plate veterans will be held at 11am next Saturday as part of the 75th anniversary. The Achilles had acquitted itself well. She remained in service until decommissioned for scrap in Bombay on 30 June 1978. But during the shootout it was winged by shell fragments that would claim four lives, including two New Zealanders. Bruce had a pennant he aquired at the Japanese surrender, in 2015 it was at Ex-navalmens Club in Domain Street, Palmerston North, New Zealand. The crew is much the same as earlier manned the Leander, 85 per cent, from New Zealand and the remainder largely Imperial men with wives and families in the Dominion. The marriage was performed by Rector Henry Ward and the witenesses were Alfred Salisbury and Sarah Sherwin. Stoker Don Dale and the HMNZS Achilles. Achilles was the first Royal Navy Cruiser to have fire control radar, with the installation of the New Zealand-made SS1 fire-control radar in June 1940.[4]. In 1966, he was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) while in the Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve. 4 × 4 in guns A Leander-class light cruiser, HMS (later HMNZS) Achilles displaced 7270 tons, measured 555 ft (169 m) in length and was capable of 32 knots.It was armed with eight 6-inch (152 mm) guns in four turrets, four 4-inch (102 mm) secondary guns and eight 21-inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes, and also carried a seaplane. Batt's mate, fellow boy seaman Arthur Hunt, 16 years at the time of the battle, would later recall: "My action station was in the forward magazine and, as I changed my boots for the felt slippers that reduced the danger of sparking the cordite, my foot clattered on the deck like a Morse key. Members who served with HMS Achilles. Commercial re-use may be allowed on request. He passed away on September 11, 2005. Initially out of service, she was loaned to the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1936. In the middle of it all, alongside more than 300 Kiwis, was 17-year old Batt. See RNZN Communicators Association site for original post. 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Batt intends to attend the 75th anniversary commemorations of the Battle of the River Plate this month. My mother’s cousin Bill Ashbolt was a crew member on Achilles at the River Plate, he was in the degausing (magnetic mines) branch. Fighting for Britain – Second World War - overviewAfter the battle – Battle of the River PlateBattle of the River Plate – Battle of the River Plate, '100,000 Aucklanders welcome home HMS Achilles ', URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/page/welcome-home-hms-achilles-crew, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 7-Oct-2020. Her crew was approximately 60 per cent from New Zealand. Mr. Coulter was an able seaman serving on HMS Gambia's 1955 to 1956 commission. ", Afterwards, victory buoyed not just their spirits, but the morale of the entire Allied war effort: "I suppose you could call it jubilation, that at last we had done something worthwhile.". His service number then was NZV 111005. But there was never any question he was going to join the Navy. HMS Achilles played herself in the film ‘The Battle of the River Plate’ in 1956. John was born in 1936 and was a Royal Marine who served on HMS Gambia for the 1957/58 commission. All the while he kept half an ear open for progress reports from on deck: "The only people that really know what is really going on are those on the bridge and the signallers. List of vessels and hulks for sale 19 Mar 1902 31 Jan 1908 . The range reduced to about 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) at around 07:15 and Graf Spee broke off the engagement around 07:45 to head for the neutral harbour of Montevideo which she entered at 22:00 that night, having been pursued by Achilles and Ajax all day. In November 2018, Shane Scott wrote that the crew member 4th from the right in the above photo looks like his granddad, Lindsy Cummings. Britannia!" ← HMNZS LEANDER; The Mystery of North Head → One thought on “ HMS ACHILLES ” Brian Moyse ex LRO NZ15837. In 1943, William Chorlton was aged 38, and a Stoker Petty Officer on HMS Gambia. This page created April 16, 2017; last updated January 30, 2019, _gos='monster.gostats.com';_goa=488353; He then took his own life. She would serve with the Royal Navy's New Zealand Division from 31 March 1937 up to the creation of the Royal New Zealand Navy, into which she was transferred in September 1941 and renamed HMNZS Achilles. "I lived on the water," he said. Upgraded to Improved Leander-class, she could carry an aircraft and was the first ship to carry a Supermarine Walrus, although both Walruses were lost before the Second World War began. In 1948 he became Chief of Naval Staff (Commander-in-Chief) of the Royal Indian Navy. Bill passed away on May 5, 2008, aged 86. 12 × 0.5 in machine guns. HMS LEANDER was built in His Majesty's Dockyard Devonport, England, being the name ship for a class of light cruisers.LEANDER was laid down on 8 September 1930, launched on 24 September 1931 and commissioned into the Royal Navy on 23 March 1933.The ship was acquired by New Zealand, on loan, along with a sister ship HMS ACHILLES, to replace HM Ships DUNEDIN and DIOMEDE, respectively.