‘Lifeline’ vessel visits home port
It may not be armed with guns and missiles but the HMNZS Endeavour plays a vital role in New Zealand’s naval fleet.
The 138 metre replenishment tanker set sail from its home port in New Plymouth yesterday morning after a five-day visit during the long weekend.
Commander Martin Doolan, who has been at the helm since August 2015, said it had been a fantastic time.
‘‘It’s not just a port visit, it’s a port visit to our home town,’’ Doolan, who served 25 years in Britian’s Royal Navy, said.
‘‘I think for the ship’s company, we feel even more welcome.’’
The Endeavour can refuel the Navy’s combat fleet at sea using its specialist replenishment at sea rig or in overseas ports from its four tanks which contain 5500 tonnes of fuel. The vessel can also refuel helicopters as they hover over its flight deck.
Doolan, who was a specialist in anti-submarine warfare and spent time tracking Russian subs through the North Atlantic, said the ship was the lifeline to the Navy. ‘‘We don’t want combat vessels of any description having to go back to port to refuel.
‘‘We don’t have guns, we don’t have missiles but the ships that have those can’t go anywhere without us.’’
He said while the ship’s role didn’t sound as glamorous as chasing enemy submarines, it had its challenges, including refuelling vessels, 30m apart while travelling at 15 knots, in rough seas and in the dark.
‘‘It’s a different sort of excitement, it concentrates the mind, I can tell you.’’
The vessel is due to be decommissioned in 2018, 30 years after it went into service in 1988, but Doolan had already spoken with New Plymouth’s freshly elected mayor Neil Holdom about the possibility for its replacement’s home port to also be in Taranaki.
Doolan said the ship’s company would like to exercise its right to march through town with bayonets fixed and open the vessel up to the public.
‘‘We would like to generate more interest from the community rather than the visits once every 18 months as it is now.
‘‘We want to maintain that relationship with the town.’’
Taranaki’s regional Naval officer Janet Lean agreed.
‘‘That’s something that we are working on for the next visit.’’