HMNZ Kiwi and Moa at Guadalcanal

[kookaburra]

I’ve been writing a lot about little ships lately and - while comparisons of courage and determination on different days of war are silly – I just haven’t heard a more compelling story than that of the NZ corvettes Kiwi and Moa at Guadalcanal.

One of those excellent Kiwi filmmakers really should make a film. Hmmm, yes, with Sam Neill as LtCmdr (later VA Sir) Peter Phipps of Moa, I’d say.

And its no wonder that LtCommdr Gordon Brickson and his crew of Kiwi were marched in honour through the streets of Auckland later, when she was the one of the little pair to make it back home again. (4th pic)

HMNZSs Kiwi, Moa and Tui were three 923 tons deep load Bird Class corvettes built at Henry Robb’s shipyard at Leith, armed initially with one four-inch, two Vickers .303 mgs, a twin Lewis and 40 depth charges. Moa got a 20mm Oerlikon in place of the Lewis in a Boston shipyard later, and ‘unofficially’ took on another from a torpedoed freighter off Guadalcanal in 1942, increasing her displacement to 1025 tons.


On December 9, 1942, all three Birds and the auxiliary minesweeper HMNZS Matai left Noumea to take a convoy to Tulagi in the Solomons, and thence commenced patrol work off the hotly-contested island of Guadalcanal. Moa’s first hair-raising adventure came three weeks later when, on guard of Kukum Beach on the night of January 2-3, a Japanese invasion force with eight ships came down the Slot right into the bay where she was laying. They didn’t see her, and the little corvette lay silent against the dark coast a mile away as the Japanese unloaded throughout the night, the NZers sitting breathlessly at their guns as the Japanese voices floated clearly across the water to them.

In the morning the Japanese were gone. Kiwi and Moa’s big night would come later in the month, on the night of the 29th, when they took on the 2135 ton surface-weight Japanese Junsen (cruiser-type) submarine I-1, both submerged and in a surface gun battle, in what would be one of the classic small ship actions of the Pacific War.


Even the circumstances in which they found the sub are graphic in their imagery. Kiwi and Moa were patrolling off Cape Esperance when suddenly they could see, clearly, the phosphorescent outline of the big sub below them in the clear tropical waters. Kiwi immediately dropped six depth charges over her, and then made another run and dropped six more, forcing the submarine to the surface with its electric motors disabled. Switching on its diesels the submarine, commanded by LtComdr Eichi Sakamoto, made a run for it, all three vessels exchanging gunfire.

As the submarine altered course to starboard, Kiwi rammed it on the port side abaft the conning tower, while its guns were raking the submarine’s from stems to stern. Kiwi backed off and came in for a second ram, while Moa was lighting the scene with star shell. Kiwi's bow went high up on the submarine, and with its guns still firing, from Japanese action reports later, it seems probable that LtCmdr Sakamoto, who was conning the submarine himself, and most others on the bridge were killed at this time.

More Japanese officers, under Navigator Lt Koreeda Sadayoshi came up armed with swords, and with their main guns now unable to train, rifles were handed out to marksmen to continue the fight. At some point, one Japanese swordsman grabbed the corvette’s rail as she slid back, and was pulled into the water while trying to get board the NZ ship.

Kiwi made a third glancing ram which disabled the submarine’s foreplanes, but Acting Leading Signalman Campbell H. Buchanan, training a 10-in searchlight on the submarine, was mortally wounded by the Japanese rifle fire. Both vessels are now damaged, and as the submarine limps away, listing, Moa takes up the chase, training continuous gunfire on a now indistinct target wreathed in smoke. Two hours after the action had begun, however, the I-1 ran hard up on Fish Reef, 330 yards off the Kamimbo Coast, and was abandoned as she slid back, leaving 40-50ft of her bow projecting from the water.

A total of 27 Japanese crew had been killed, but 66 made it ashore to join Japanese garrison there. Two more wounded Japanese were still on the submarine when the corvettes come into inspect the wreck the next morning, one of whom was killed in a further exchange of machine gunfire, and the other of whom was captured, as were some the submarine’s secret documents.

For Kiwi, her stem damaged, this part of the Battle for Guadalcanal was ending – but not for Moa.


On patrol again off Cape Esperance the very next night, the 31st, she spotted four armed landing barges, destroyed two, but was herself hit by a four inch shell during the fight, suffering a number of minor casualties.

While the little corvette was engaged in a number of other operations, her days were almost over.

On 7 April Moa was refuelling in the crowded Tulagi Harbour when Coastwatcher reports came in that flights of 67 Japanese Val dive bombers and 110 Zeke fighters had been sighted leaving Bougainville for the Guadalcanal area, a report confirmed some time later by observers on Savo Island. In the heavy attack, concentrated on the big oil tanker USS Kanawha, Moa was struck by what has been variously reported as a 500lb bomb, or two bombs, with damage to the Commanding officer’s cabin and the engine room. HMNZS Moa sank within four minutes, with five of her crew killed.

They were Leading Seaman J. C. O. Moffat, Able Seaman K. Bailey, Leading Stoker H. D. Crawford, Stoker E. J. Buckeridge and Telegraphist C. Duncan. Lt Com Phipps and seven others were severely wounded, another seven having received lesser injuries. Both Phipps and Brickson were awarded the DSC, and a number of other decorations were awarded.


Today HMNZS Moa lies at a depth of 40 metres in the middle of Tulagi Harbour [correction from Kevin D], and is a popular dive site.

My sources here are from Geocities, Michael McFayden’s always well-researched dive website, and RNZN sites. The dive photo below is by kind permission from the forum’s own prolific wreck diver Kevin Denlay, who tells me that it is actually Mrs D. who is descending to the Moa’s stern depth charge rails in pic 9.


What valiant little ships these RNZNs were. I'm hoping Kevin might post some more photos from the dive location.
Oh, if anyone has a further pic of HMNZS Moa please post it - she didn't have a long life and they seem to be hard to find. K.

[astraltrader]

Edited as required Jeff. Another fine post.

[Kevin Denlay]

Good job Jeff on writing up the activities of those gallant little ships!

Just a slight correction.

Moa is actually 'in the middle' of Tulagi harbour, as opposed to off a beach (see attached chart) as no beaches per se inside harbour confines really. And sadly the visibility there is more often than not very poor, but still a great (historical) dive. DC racks are shallowest part while bow is buried up to deck level into the soft silty muddy bottom at about 42m.

Attached another image of the racks and a chart of the wrecks in the area. (Sorry I don’t have more images of Moa on hand to put up but they were taken before I went digital and I don’t have them ‘scanned in’. Oh and the images were taken without a strobe (flash) using very high speed black and white film, which was my 'style' at the time - and what I miss with digital - hence the ‘grain’ – which I like, but others often don’t, which is their misfortune I suppose. ;)

Positions I have marked on (an old) chart are;
1) USS Aaron Ward (a destroyer sitting upright in 72m)*
2) HIJMS Kikuzuki (a Japanese destroyer beached, towed ‘inland’ and heavily salvaged
3) Six Kawanishi Mavis flying boats (two dots with white centers are very very very broken up, others fairly intact, some more so than others, depths 30 to 40m).
4) USS Kanawha (the very first fleet oiler (tanker) the US had, upright in 60m)*
5) HMNZS Moa*
6) Bow of USS Minneapolis (cut off and dumped here after the cruiser took a Long Lance during a night engagement. About 15m, if I recall correctly.

* All sunk same day by air attack

The painting (a print of which I have) is of Jim Swetts Wildcat by the artist Stan Stokes and is entitled The Unlucky Eight and shows Kanawha in background trying to escape the confines of Tulagi Harbour. Swett was unfortunately shot down for his efforts that day (and we have tried to locate his plane several times, but so far no luck).

http://www.aviationarthangar.com/tuneif6favar.html
Situation: Jim Swett’s first combat yielded seven aerial victories for the young USMC pilot on April 7, 1943. He officially got credit for 7 Vals on this mission in his F4F Wildcat, although Jim thinks he may have gotten 8. For his efforts, this ace-in-a-day was awarded the Medal of Honor. He ended the War with 16.5 aerial victories.

EDIT. Added map from Google Earth with some additions so one has an overview of the 'bigger picture'.

[kookaburra]

Thanks for those very interesting additions Kevin. And yes, I'd forgotten that - I've not been to the Solomons, but Esprit De Santo and Vila, and beaches there seemed quite rare: jungle down to the shoreline.

Terry, thanks very much too for the rapid response on my heading request. I've also now fixed a few other typos in the text - I often can't spot these things very late at night.:)

[BECA@CLEAR.NET.NZ]

Kiwi leaving Wellington harbour 24th May, 1951.

[kookaburra]

Wonderful contribution again Colin - totally unseen before outside the Shakey Isles I'll bet.

Appreciated your other posts from the Alexander Turnbull Library too - including the excellent three previously unseens of Renown in NZ in Photo Galleries.

[BECA@CLEAR.NET.NZ]

Wonderful contribution again Colin - totally unseen before outside the Shakey Isles I'll bet.

Appreciated your other posts from the Alexander Turnbull Library too - including the excellent three previously unseens of Renown in NZ in Photo Galleries.

How very good of you Kookaburra to say so in such a nice way. Shakey Isles is correct, we have just had a quake of large magnitude but luckily at the very tip of the South Island. It was a 7.8 and we are all hoping that it does'nt trigger off any more.
I have to dig very deeply for some of the old pictures but I feel that the effort is worth it.
A pal has just sent me a whole lot of pictures that 'Time' has just released and I have enclosed one of them here for your comment. I appreciate that this picture is probably in the wrong venue so I will probably get told off!
Regards,
Colin.

[kookaburra]

Don't worry Colin - there are people on this forum who just love pics of Herr Hitler ;)

[Robert McDougall]

Moa and Kiwi's battle with the sub yielded something that was even more valuable. The latest japanese naval code book, proved invaluable for the Americans at that time. I saw a documentary and there was an interview with the Captain of Kiwi relating about the ramming the sub. He called the Chief said what he wanted to do, the Chief asked how are you do that? Don't know but will give it a go. If you get to see that interview you will get to see a real character of similar attitude to Sir Ed Hillary.

[Don Boyer]

kookaburra and all the others:

Just outstanding to see detail on Kiwi and Moa. All my (US written) histories of Guadalcanal mention Kiwi and Moa, of course, and in terms of greatest respect for the tough little ships and tougher crewmen. But of course these ships get only the minimal coverage due -- particularly the I-1 incident.

It is good to see posts that go into more detail. It's a sad trait in American writing to "slide over" all but the most heroic contributions from Britain, Australia and New Zealand to combat success in the Pacific war, as well as your colonial allies of the time. It's a huge gap in WWII knowledge here in America, and a lot of it is due to lack of prime source documents, but a portion is also a prejudiced viewpoint as well, for which I personally find no excuse.

The days of MacAurthur's deliberate belittling and ignoring of the contributions made by our compatriots is long over, and so are the days of the "we aren't going to help you re-establish your empire" drivel.

I wish somebody here in America would gather up the prime source material and best of the published books and cover the Pacific war actions that were primarily British, Australian or New Zealand ops. And by that, I mean those operations out in the islands, not the Burma-India campaign which is well-covered.

AND FOR OUR DIVER EXTRAORDINAIRE, Kevin Denlay: My God, man, publish a book! Those pictures of the Guadalcanal ships are history "in depth" (I couldn't resist!) The colorful and interesting coverage of Guadalcanal by Ballard is nice, since it goes where the divers can't, but still you have a gold mine of historical photos there, obviously, that goes beyond anything he covered. For example, I had no idea there were photos of Moa on the bottom. And if you have published a book, let me know, as it obviously is needed to fill that one last empty spot on my bookshelves.

[Don Boyer]

Since Colin asked for comment, did anyone notice in Colin's photograph of Herr Hitler, there is one and only one individual giving the military salute rather than the Nazi salute? One presumes this is the crew of the pocket battleship in the background. The guy obviously had some stones, as those ships were PR jewels and as such attracted all the appropriate attention from mouthpiece Goebbels staff. and thereby of the SS stooges who worked within the organization.

I am almost tempted to suggest a poll of where you think that individual's next duty post was after the picture was published?

(We have seen a similar photo, but not in the presence of the man. That was when Captain Ludendorff of the Graf Spee attended the ship's crew's funerals. The German ambassador is giving him the look for not using the Nazi salute, but then he was planning on shooting himself anyway. No penalty there.

[Benbow]

Interesting Blow by Blow report of the I-1


HIJMS Submarine I-1: Tabular Record of Movement

http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-1.htm

[ptking]

Kookaburra,

Is there any design information on the Bird class ships? Or when and where they were built? I'm interested in building a model of Kiwi but it seems details are lacking.

Thanks,

Gene K.

[astraltrader]

Welcome to the forum Gene.

Unfortunately Kookaburra is off on holiday for as far as I know about another two weeks.

I am sure that when he returns he will come back to you if he has any more information about this class of corvette. :)

[ptking]

Thanks, Terry. I can wait till then.

After a casual glance of the photos here, they sort of resemble Flower-class corvettes.

Cheers to all,

Gene K.

[Kevin Denlay]

To Don Boyer,

Pardon delay in this reply but only back on line after a lightning strike knocked out my main computer two weeks ago. Luckily all my data was saved though! As I have said in the PM to you, thanks for the kind comments but unfortunately no book on the horizon. But given your interest as soon as I am back up to speed with my new system (Windows 7) and my data loaded back up I will post a few more of my underwater photos of another ship sunk the same day as Moa, and it’ll be over on the US ships thread.:)

[Woodbutcher]

Replying to ptking about a Kiwi ship model--
An ex HMNZS Kiwi seaman aboard during the sub ramming, name Pat Jeffries, had a very good model of "Kiwi" in the window of his shoe repair shop, in Lyall Bay, Wellington during the 1950's. Possibly his Children still have it, or perhaps a local Returned Services Association, has it on display?

[Kevin Denlay]

A few more photos from the wreck of HMNZS Moa.

Images 1 and 2) show the bow, buried deeply into the muddy bottom of Tulagi Harbour. In left foreground is the 20mm Oerlikon at the very tip of the bow that the crew, shall we say, ‘liberated’ from the Americans; center is the anchor winch and background is her forward 4” gun. From this on can get a good idea of how deep the bow is buried into the bottom. Photos taken on an unusually good visibility day for this wreck.

Image A) shows a diver pointing her dive light at the bomb (hole) that went through the starboard side just under the aft end of wheel house superstructure.

Image B) is a close up of the same hole, lower center.

Image C) is looking at the same hole from inside (upper center) and also showing the ‘next’ hole it made (lower center) as it went through the interior deck.

Image D) is the 2nd bomb (hole) that penetrated amidships almost directly inboard from the first hole, say just a meter or so aft, and almost directly forward of the funnel, at the very aft of the wheelhouse superstructure.

Image E) is same as, but just a different angle to, Image D.

Image F) is the Starboard Bilge Keel almost directly under the bomb penetration hole in the side; which shows that the bombs effectively ‘broke her back’ and hence why she sank so quickly.

The historical image shows the 'position' of the two bomb hits. This image taken prior to the ‘purloining’ and installation of the 20mm.

[Don Boyer]

As always, Kevin, thanks for the wonderful update pictures. Makes the whole saga of those two little fighters all that much more poignant and "real" to those of us who only know the bare bones of the story. Do you publish you dive photos and stories online somewhere??

Regards..hope you had a great Christmas holiday.

[Kevin Denlay]

Hi Don,

My photos are on several websites, but I don’t have my own.

Below are several articles, inc my photos, that I have written over the years for dive magazines concerning either wrecks we have discovered (as in the case of the first two) or a noteworthy wreck, as in the case of HIJMS Amagiri.

http://www.divetheblue.net/pdf/ART%20CRUISERS%20copy.pdf

http://www.divetheblue.net/pdf/artUSSPerchBB.pdf

http://www.divetheblue.net/pdf/ARTAMAGIRI.pdf


And a bunch of my underwater photos of Kawanishi H6K Mavis seaplanes (sunk on August 7th, 1942, not far away from where the wreck of Moa is now) can be found on the following thread on another forum (where they are being used in a currently ongoing discussion re identification of the wrecks themselves - i.e. are they H6K-4’s or H6K-5’s - and also location of some historical photos).

http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?topic=8609.0


You will have to join up to see the pics, which is not a big deal of course, simply ‘fill in the blanks’ as you did here on this forum. And have plenty of time on your hands as it is a long thread with several parties putting forth their various 'arguments' as to why/why not! (My u/w photos in the above thread have actually uncovered serveral errors in the historical record re how these planes have been erroneously portrayed in models and artwork over the years, and also spurned a couple of other threads re 'Mavis's' on same forum.)

By the way, for anyone interested in the IJN in WWII (aircraft in this instance) who is reading this, I can HIGHLY recommend this forum and its sister forum for the IJN ship side. Both these forums are frequented by serious IJN historians and authors, that is, by many of the most knowledge people in the western world with regards the IJN in WWII (myself not included in that group of course). And I don’t say that lightly!

IJN ships http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?board=5.0

IJN aircraft http://www.j-aircraft.org/smf/index.php?board=3.0

[Don Boyer]

Kevin: The holidays have slacked off, and I was able to get back to some posts.

Truly appreciate your posting the websites and such where your dive work can be seen and appreciated, as well as all the associated history. You can be sure I'll be all over that.

Hope you had a great holiday season. Stay safe out there, and best wishes for the new year.

Regards,

[Kevin Denlay]

Kookaburra,Is there any design information on the Bird class ships? Or when and where they were built? I'm interested in building a model of Kiwi but it seems details are lacking.
Thanks,Gene K.

Gene, a largish model of her sister ship Moa exists in the Devonport Navy Museum in Auckland, NZ.

Below are some photos of same sent to me by a Kiwi friend. Unfortunately not very big images but...........................tis' all I have at present.

[Don Boyer]

Kevin -- nice of you to get in the model posts.

I was looking at the model, imagining a dark night off Guadalcanal, with bullets flying and a dangerous enemy looming ahead when my wife walks in with some of her latest batch of cookies and a "Oh, what a cute little boat!"

The times, they have changed!

Hope the New Year finds you and yours all well!
Regards,

[Old Salt]

Here are the details of the Japanese submarine I-1 :

Japanese submarine I-1
Builder : Kawasaki, Kobe
Class : J1 type submarine
Commissioned: 10 March 1926
Displacement: 2135 tons (surfaced) 2,791 tons (submerged)
Length 320 ft (98 m) Beam: 30 ft (9.1 m)Draught: 16.5 ft (5.0 m)
Propulsion: twin shaft MAN 10 cyl. 4 stroke diesels 6000 bhp, 2 x electric motors 2600 ehp
Speed: 18 knots (surface) 8 knots (submerged) Range : 24.400 nm at 10 knots
Complement : 68 officers and men
Armament: 2 x 140mm (5.5 in.) 1943 aft gun replaced with 46 ft. Daihatsu barge,
6x 533mm torpedo tubes 20 x type 95 oxygen-driven torpedoes
Max depth : 80m.(260 ft.)

On 7 December 1941: I-1 was stationed off Pearl Harbor to attack escaping ships and then bombarded Kahului, Maui and, Hilo, Hawaii, before sinking 8,806-ton Dutch steamer Siantar .and returning to Tokyo. After a patrol off the Aleutians in 1942 she was adapted to a cargo role. Her aft 140 mm (5.5 inch) gun was removed to make room for a 46-foot (14 m) Daihatsu barge. After evacuating Japanese troops from Goodenough Island to Rabaul, she arrived at Buin on 24 January 1943 and loaded food supplies into the barge for a resupply mission to Guadalcanal.

On 29 January 1943 she encountered the New Zealand corvettes, HMNZS Kiwi and Moa, who depth charged, rammed and engaged with guns, wrecking 1-1 in shallow water at Kamimbo Bay, Guadalcanal. A total of 27 sailors were killed or missing including the CO, Lt.Cdr Sakamoto Eiichi ; 66 survivors reached the shore and joined the IJA garrison The wreck partially protruded from the water; code and log books were recovered. The Japanese command tried unsuccessfully to destroy the boat with air and submarine attacks and removed I-1 from the Japanese Navy List

Notes : 1. In 1973 Australian treasure hunters blew up the bow section of the I-1, causing much damage since live torpedoes were still inside. The bow section of the sub is still there, but split open. The front one-third of the submarine is destroyed but the remaining section is still intact. The I-1 lies with her bow in 45 feet (14 m) and her stern in 90 feet (27 m) of water. A popular dive spot.
2. The 140mm gun taken from the wreck of is located at the RNZN Museum in Auckland.

[Don Boyer]

Old Salt: Any info on why yon treasure hunters thought there would be anything so valuable on I-1 in the first place and what the purpose was of blowing up part of a ship that was perfectly accessible to start with???

Regards,

[Old Salt]

Old Salt: Any info on why yon treasure hunters thought there would be anything so valuable on I-1 in the first place and what the purpose was of blowing up part of a ship that was perfectly accessible to start with???

Regards,

Hi Don

In Wikipedia it states they were looking for valuable metals. I presume they were more interested in the interior. Perhaps their nationality had something to do with it !! (Now ducking swiftly !)
Brian

[Kevin Denlay]

Perhaps their nationality had something to do with it !! Brian

Well, well, Old Salt, that is the pot calling the kettle black!:rolleyes:

Left out of the Wiki article is that the impeccable Australian gentleman in question had a partner..........and..............guess what nationality he was?:D

Yep, you guessed it..............an NZer!:o

[Old Salt]

Well, well, Old Salt, that is the pot calling the kettle black!:rolleyes:

Left out of the Wiki article is that the impeccable Australian gentleman in question had a partner..........and..............guess what nationality he was?:D

Yep, you guessed it..............an NZer!:o

Oooooooops !! what sort of partners were they ?
You never know these days !!

Brian

[muz]

Hi, My father served on the HMNZS Matai at this time,I was wondering if you had any information on the Matai?

Thanks
Murray

[Bro Palmer]

Hi Don

In Wikipedia it states they were looking for valuable metals. I presume they were more interested in the interior. Perhaps their nationality had something to do with it !! (Now ducking swiftly !)
Brian

There may be two possible answers to the reason for blasting the sub, I was born and spent a lot of my life in the Solomons, and as per usaul there are always rumours flying around, most without any foundation at all.
The No 1 rumour is that there was gold stolen from the Phillipines, cached somewhere on Gualdalcana by one of the Japanese commanders, one rumour has it that the sub was there to retreive this gold. and reason No 2 is that right from when I was a kid I heard that the sub had a hollow section in the keel, running from stern to bow, which contained several tons of mercury, which ws used as a movable ballast. I guess someone decided to check it out.:confused:

[Old Salt]

Hi, My father served on the HMNZS Matai at this time,I was wondering if you had any information on the Matai?

Thanks
Murray

HMNZS Matai (T01)was a Marine Department steam lighthouse tender requisitioned by the RNZN in January 1941, converted and used as a minesweeper during WW2.

She was built in 1930, 1050 tons, Length 209ft, Beam 35.1 ft. Draft 11.3 ft.

Propulsion: triple expansion steam reciprocating, 1,050 ihp, twin shaft, oil
Speed: 13/10 knots
Complement: 81
Sensors : asdic
Armament: 1x4 inch gun, 2x20mm Oerlikons, 2 MGs, 40 depth charges,


On commissioning on 1 April 1941, Matai took over as the flotilla leader of the 25th Minesweeping Flotilla from Muritai and the flotilla began clearing a German minefield in the Hauraki Gulf.



Used a Transport 1944, Paid off 25 April 1945. Returned to owners 1946.

For more info, see :http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://www.nzetc.org/etexts/WH2Navy/WH2NavFCo(w100).jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-c20.html&usg=__3PcWJjWsk3CApEmTny7lHv-0iyc=&h=161&w=100&sz=10&hl=en&start=38&um=1&itbs=1&tbnid=qmTCJ-DBr5smGM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=61&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dhmnzs%2Bmatai%26start%3D20%26um%3D1%2 6hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4GGLR_enNZ311NZ311%26n dsp%3D20%26tbs%3Disch:1

This is the index for the RNZN in WW2..... look under Matai .

Hope this helps, I cannot find a phpto at the moment though.

Cheers

Brian

[Old Salt]

Track Chart - HMNZS KIWI

Along with her sister ship HMNZS Moa; HMNZS Kiwi engaged the Japanese submarine I-1 during the night of 29 January 1943 off Guadalcanal. This chart shows her track as she searched for the submarine and dropped depth charges that bought the submarine to the surface. Kiwi rammed the submarine in a close encounter that resulted in the submarine being sunk. The RNZN Museum has the 5.5-inch gun that was carried by I-1 in its collection

Source : RNZN Museum

Brian

[Old Salt]

Acting Leading Signalman Buchanan

Acting Leading Signalman Buchanan, who was born in Port Chalmers in 1920, joined the Otago division of the Naval Reserve.
Buchanan was posted to HMNZS KIWI when she and HMNZS MOA engaged the Japanese submarine I-1 near Cape Esperance on 29th January 1943.

KIWI was patrolling a line off Komimbo Bay when an ASDIC contact was made at 3000 yards and classified as a submarine. MOA was unable to confirm the contact, but KIWI attacked with depth charges. A second attack resulted in the submarine becoming stationary. ASDIC contact was lost, but it was reported that the submarine was on the surface and an immediate decision was made to ram. The 4-inch gun's star shell failed to detonate. KIWI first rammed the submarine just aft of the conning tower. Then KIWI's gunfire began to hit the submarine, which had landing craft lashed on deck. Despite having been holed, the submarine continued to make about nine knots through the water. A further attempt to ram delivered only a glancing blow aft that probably damaged the hydroplanes. During this part of the attack, it was observed that a person on the conning tower was hit by gunfire.

Acting Leading Signalman Buchanan was in charge of the searchlight. Throughout the attack, he trained the searchlight and 10-inch signal lamp on the submarine. Even though he was mortally wounded, he remained at his post until relieved. He died on the 31st January 1943.

Buchanan was the only casualty during this ferocious action. He was mentioned in despatches and awarded the United States Navy Cross posthumously.

[Old Salt]

I have just found the citation for the posthumous award of the U.S. Navy Cross to Campbell Buchanan for his bravey at Guadalcanal ...... which cost him his life.

Campbell H. Buchanan
• Date of birth: 7-Apr-20
• Date of death: Killed in Action
• Place of Birth: Port Chalmers, New Zealand
• Home of record: Port Chalmers, New Zealand
• Status: KIA
•
AWARDS AND CITATIONS
1. Navy Cross

Awarded posthumously for actions during the World War II
The President of the United States of America takes pride in presenting the Navy Cross (Posthumously) to Leading Signalman Campbell H. Buchanan, Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve, for extraordinary heroism and distinguished service in the line of his profession as Leading Signalman of the HMNZS KIWI, during an engagement with a Japanese submarine at Kamimbo, near Guadalcanal, on 29 and 30 January 1943. Although mortally wounded and gallantly disregarding his own serious condition, Leading Signalman Buchanan remained at his battle station, skillfully training the searchlight and illuminating the target for the guns of his ship. Dauntlessly performing his task, while the corvette attacked with depth charges, forcing the Japanese submarine to the surface and ramming it, Leading Signalman Buchanan, by his intrepid devotion to duty, aided materially in the destruction of the enemy vessel.
General Orders: Bureau of Naval Personnel Information Bulletin No. 315 (June 1943)
Action Date: January 29 & 30, 1943
Service: Royal New Zealand Naval Volunteer Reserve
Rank: Leading Signalman
Division: HMNZS Kiwi

[The Loftsman]

Hello Gene,
The 3 Bird class ships, KIWI, MOA and TUI were all built in the Leith shipyards of Henry Robb in Scotland, the design was based on an original design that the yard designed and built a few years before HMS BASSET which was the first in class of all subsequent armed trawlers for the next ten years or so.
Cheers.


Kookaburra,

Is there any design information on the Bird class ships? Or when and where they were built? I'm interested in building a model of Kiwi but it seems details are lacking.

Thanks,

Gene K.

[The Loftsman]

Hi Kookaburra,
What a fine rendition of this tremendous story, would you mind if i quote some of it on my history about the Great little ships, and the men on the ships.

Thanks,


I’ve been writing a lot about little ships lately and - while comparisons of courage and determination on different days of war are silly – I just haven’t heard a more compelling story than that of the NZ corvettes Kiwi and Moa at Guadalcanal.

One of those excellent Kiwi filmmakers really should make a film. Hmmm, yes, with Sam Neill as LtCmdr (later VA Sir) Peter Phipps of Moa, I’d say.

And its no wonder that LtCommdr Gordon Brickson and his crew of Kiwi were marched in honour through the streets of Auckland later, when she was the one of the little pair to make it back home again. (4th pic)

HMNZSs Kiwi, Moa and Tui were three 923 tons deep load Bird Class corvettes built at Henry Robb’s shipyard at Leith, armed initially with one four-inch, two Vickers .303 mgs, a twin Lewis and 40 depth charges. Moa got a 20mm Oerlikon in place of the Lewis in a Boston shipyard later, and ‘unofficially’ took on another from a torpedoed freighter off Guadalcanal in 1942, increasing her displacement to 1025 tons.


On December 9, 1942, all three Birds and the auxiliary minesweeper HMNZS Matai left Noumea to take a convoy to Tulagi in the Solomons, and thence commenced patrol work off the hotly-contested island of Guadalcanal. Moa’s first hair-raising adventure came three weeks later when, on guard of Kukum Beach on the night of January 2-3, a Japanese invasion force with eight ships came down the Slot right into the bay where she was laying. They didn’t see her, and the little corvette lay silent against the dark coast a mile away as the Japanese unloaded throughout the night, the NZers sitting breathlessly at their guns as the Japanese voices floated clearly across the water to them.

In the morning the Japanese were gone. Kiwi and Moa’s big night would come later in the month, on the night of the 29th, when they took on the 2135 ton surface-weight Japanese Junsen (cruiser-type) submarine I-1, both submerged and in a surface gun battle, in what would be one of the classic small ship actions of the Pacific War.


Even the circumstances in which they found the sub are graphic in their imagery. Kiwi and Moa were patrolling off Cape Esperance when suddenly they could see, clearly, the phosphorescent outline of the big sub below them in the clear tropical waters. Kiwi immediately dropped six depth charges over her, and then made another run and dropped six more, forcing the submarine to the surface with its electric motors disabled. Switching on its diesels the submarine, commanded by LtComdr Eichi Sakamoto, made a run for it, all three vessels exchanging gunfire.

As the submarine altered course to starboard, Kiwi rammed it on the port side abaft the conning tower, while its guns were raking the submarine’s from stems to stern. Kiwi backed off and came in for a second ram, while Moa was lighting the scene with star shell. Kiwi's bow went high up on the submarine, and with its guns still firing, from Japanese action reports later, it seems probable that LtCmdr Sakamoto, who was conning the submarine himself, and most others on the bridge were killed at this time.

More Japanese officers, under Navigator Lt Koreeda Sadayoshi came up armed with swords, and with their main guns now unable to train, rifles were handed out to marksmen to continue the fight. At some point, one Japanese swordsman grabbed the corvette’s rail as she slid back, and was pulled into the water while trying to get board the NZ ship.

Kiwi made a third glancing ram which disabled the submarine’s foreplanes, but Acting Leading Signalman Campbell H. Buchanan, training a 10-in searchlight on the submarine, was mortally wounded by the Japanese rifle fire. Both vessels are now damaged, and as the submarine limps away, listing, Moa takes up the chase, training continuous gunfire on a now indistinct target wreathed in smoke. Two hours after the action had begun, however, the I-1 ran hard up on Fish Reef, 330 yards off the Kamimbo Coast, and was abandoned as she slid back, leaving 40-50ft of her bow projecting from the water.

A total of 27 Japanese crew had been killed, but 66 made it ashore to join Japanese garrison there. Two more wounded Japanese were still on the submarine when the corvettes come into inspect the wreck the next morning, one of whom was killed in a further exchange of machine gunfire, and the other of whom was captured, as were some the submarine’s secret documents.

For Kiwi, her stem damaged, this part of the Battle for Guadalcanal was ending – but not for Moa.


On patrol again off Cape Esperance the very next night, the 31st, she spotted four armed landing barges, destroyed two, but was herself hit by a four inch shell during the fight, suffering a number of minor casualties.

While the little corvette was engaged in a number of other operations, her days were almost over.

On 7 April Moa was refuelling in the crowded Tulagi Harbour when Coastwatcher reports came in that flights of 67 Japanese Val dive bombers and 110 Zeke fighters had been sighted leaving Bougainville for the Guadalcanal area, a report confirmed some time later by observers on Savo Island. In the heavy attack, concentrated on the big oil tanker USS Kanawha, Moa was struck by what has been variously reported as a 500lb bomb, or two bombs, with damage to the Commanding officer’s cabin and the engine room. HMNZS Moa sank within four minutes, with five of her crew killed.

They were Leading Seaman J. C. O. Moffat, Able Seaman K. Bailey, Leading Stoker H. D. Crawford, Stoker E. J. Buckeridge and Telegraphist C. Duncan. Lt Com Phipps and seven others were severely wounded, another seven having received lesser injuries. Both Phipps and Brickson were awarded the DSC, and a number of other decorations were awarded.


Today HMNZS Moa lies at a depth of 40 metres in the middle of Tulagi Harbour [correction from Kevin D], and is a popular dive site.

My sources here are from Geocities, Michael McFayden’s always well-researched dive website, and RNZN sites. The dive photo below is by kind permission from the forum’s own prolific wreck diver Kevin Denlay, who tells me that it is actually Mrs D. who is descending to the Moa’s stern depth charge rails in pic 9.


What valiant little ships these RNZNs were. I'm hoping Kevin might post some more photos from the dive location.
Oh, if anyone has a further pic of HMNZS Moa please post it - she didn't have a long life and they seem to be hard to find. K.

[Old Salt]

Kookaburra has got it right, of course.

The official NZ story is online at :

http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy.html

Brian

[Tizme]

In Kookaburra's first post above he mentioned
"..Moa got a 20mm Oerlikon in place of the Lewis in a Boston shipyard later, and ‘unofficially’ took on another from a torpedoed freighter off Guadalcanal in 1942,..."

I note in Dad's diary the entry 25th May 1944 aboard HMNZS Kiwi (they arrived from NZ the previous afternoon) says in part -
"25th - Laying in Tulagi. Party went ashore to get 2 more oerlikons and ship motor boat........"

Seems it may have been common practice later in the War out there ?

[tomar9]

In post #36, I think that Lt/Cdr Gordon Brickson should have read "Bridson"

I could be wrong, of course.

[Kevin Denlay]

In Kookaburra's first post above he mentioned
"..Moa got a 20mm Oerlikon in place of the Lewis in a Boston shipyard later, and ‘unofficially’ took on another from a torpedoed freighter off Guadalcanal in 1942,..."?

One of those 25mm's can be seen with barrel pointing vertically on far left in first two pics in post #18, page one this thread.

[Old Salt]

In Kookaburra's first post above he mentioned
"..Moa got a 20mm Oerlikon in place of the Lewis in a Boston shipyard later, and ‘unofficially’ took on another from a torpedoed freighter off Guadalcanal in 1942,..."

I note in Dad's diary the entry 25th May 1944 aboard HMNZS Kiwi (they arrived from NZ the previous afternoon) says in part -
"25th - Laying in Tulagi. Party went ashore to get 2 more oerlikons and ship motor boat........"

Seems it may have been common practice later in the War out there ?

Indeed it was ! To have as many weapons as possible in that theatre was a good idea , and in the Kiwi way they seem to have aquired them. I have read somewhere that the ships quietly removed them before any powers that be saw them, because it affected their trim and they did not want to be ordered to remove them.

Brian

[Old Salt]

In post #36, I think that Lt/Cdr Gordon Brickson should have read "Bridson"

I could be wrong, of course.

Hi Tomar 9

You are quite correct, the name is Bridson. It is also spelt wrongly in post #1

Well spotted, have an extra one at tot time !