Oct 05 - TE MANA in dry dock
During dry-dock TE MANA underwent several major, and many minor, machinery repairs and enhancements.
S LT Duncan Mackenzie reported that the minor actions included painting of decks, bulkheads and deck heads, rust removal and getting various ship fittings back to a near-new state. It was a regular occurrence to see parts of equipment in passageways and on the flight deck ready to be removed for work. Many pieces are so obscure and rarely seen that members of ship's company wondered where all the parts came from!
Image on right: TE MANA in dry dock at Devonport Naval Base
TE MANA's 'big ticket' maintenance was a major overhaul of her generators and main engines. Contract workers pulled the Port Propulsion Diesel Engine (PDE) to pieces, with large parts of it worked on ashore. At one stage the entire upper half of the engine was not attached to the lower!
Both shafts were also removed and taken to Kawerau to be inspected and worked upon. It was a strange sight to walk onto a ship with no propellers. With the shafts removed, there was also the opportunity to have the 'A' bracket inners replaced.
For the seamen, maintenance was an opportunity to remove the anchors for cleaning and painting, and to determine if they were the correct length, as well to give the capstans a little TLC.
TE MANA was in the Calliope Dry Dock until late October, when she was moved back to one of the more regular Devonport Navy Base wharves in order to complete the finishing touches before sailing in late November.