HMNZS RESOLUTION
Maintenance Completed - Surveying Resumed!
By LT J Brown RN
After a busy first half of the year at sea with Shipping Lane Four survey tasking off Gisborne, it was with some apprehension that we entered into RESOLUTION’s recent maintenance period. However with the usual ‘no nonsense’ approach, the ship’s Engineers, the Fleet Support Organisation and VTF staff pooled together to conduct routine maintenance, a docking period and various onboard enhancements.
It was during the period in dry-dock that RESOLUTION trialled a daily lock-up routine along the lines of the previously-approved single ship lock-up routine utilised during extended leave periods. The duty watch conducted a final set of safety and security rounds each evening then locked the ship, releasing the duty watch until the following morning when the ship was unlocked for a new day. This greatly enhanced the ability to release members of the ships company to proceed on various courses, leave and more importantly, the expeditions!
Two groups of ship’s company set off to conquer the Lower Mohaka River in rafts, and after record amounts of rain in the area this proved to be no easy task. The first group discovered this when two members departed the safety of the raft and swam through a particularly challenging section of Grade 5 rapids. However once they were safely recovered, the more sedate option of carrying the rafts around the more tricky sections was performed more often than not! The second expedition group discovered that they were ‘in the same boat’ as even more rain fell prior to their traverse of the river when they almost made it to the sea!
During the maintenance period the ship also conducted a week at the Whangaparaoa weapons range, led by the Whole Ship’s Coordinator, CPOSCS Simm, where personnel were put through their paces and re-qualified on the handling and operation of Naval fire-arms.
As serenely as we went into dry dock, out we came, gleaming with a new coat of paint and just a few outstanding jobs to complete. We moved into the harbour training phase, welcoming LTCDR Julian Conway onboard as the new XO with LTCDR Phil Rowe departing to assume command of HMNZS MANAWANUI. In no time at all, various damage control exercises were carried out and harbour checks were completed in readiness for the Sea Acceptance Trials and survey calibrations required prior to the up and coming survey season. Safety assessments were conducted by the Maritime Operational Evaluation Team with minimum fuss, once again proving RESOLUTION was ready in all respects to safely fulfil her role at sea.
During the survey calibrations in the Hauraki Gulf, the Maritime Component Commander, CDRE Parr MVO, RNZN, visited the ship to witness first hand survey operations and to discuss with ship’s company the challenges facing the ship and the Navy as a whole. MCC’s visit was in stark contrast to the conditions encountered during the Chief of Navy’s visit to RESOLUTION earlier in the year; during that overnight passage from Wellington to Gisborne the Wairarapa coast provided a sea state that at times was only conducive to assuming a horizontal position unless on watch!
Following MCC’s visit and completion of trials, the ship returned to Devonport for some well deserved weekend leave prior to embarking on the first OP ACHERON survey period. The target is to complete over 950nm of survey lines in the vicinity of Great Barrier Island before setting sail in early September for a much-anticipated 3 months of survey work in the sunnier climes of the South Pacific working throughout the Islands of Tonga and Samoa.
The Deployable Hydrographic Survey Unit
Since taking part in EX CROIX DU SUD, the DHSU played a similar role in Ex JOINT KIWI alongside the divers and the MCM team. In August we conducted a reconnaissance of Pukapuka atoll, in the Cook Islands, in preparation for a survey that the DHSU will undertake when deployed with RESOLUTION. The DHSU is to join RESOLUTION on 22 September until 10 Dec to conduct small boat survey ops around Tonga and Samoa.