HMS New Zealand (1911)
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| Career | 
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| Ordered: | |
| Laid down: | June 1910 |
| Launched: | 1 July 1911 |
| Commissioned: | November 1912 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap |
| Struck: | 19 December 1922 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 19,100 tons (22,800 tons fully loaded) |
| Length: | 590 feet (179.8 m) |
| Beam: | 80 feet (24.4 m) |
| Draught: | 27 feet (8.2 m) |
| Propulsion: | Parsons turbines, 33,000 ihp, four screws |
| Speed: | 25.8 knots |
| Range: | |
| Complement: | 820–1,200 |
| Armament: | Eight 12-inch guns; sixteen 4-inch guns, four 3-pounder guns, three 18-inch torpedo tubes |
HMS New Zealand was the battlecruiser flagship of Admiral Sir John Jellicoe at the Battle of Jutland in World War I.
She was a gift to Britain from the people of New Zealand. As Britain was building up the strength of the Royal Navy at the start of the 20th century, the Commonwealth nations were invited to assist. The Prime Minister of New Zealand at the time, Sir Joseph Ward, announced in 1909 that his country would fund a battleship as an example to other countries.
The resulting vessel was a battlecruiser of the Indefatigable class, a sister ship to HMS Indefatigable, and to HMAS Australia which was funded by the people of Australia. HMS New Zealand saw action against the German fleet in all of the three major North Sea battles, contributing to the sinking of two cruisers.
The keel of New Zealand was laid at Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering’s yard on the Clyde in June 1910 and the boat was completed in November 1912 at a cost £1,783,190. This was much cheaper than the cost of a battleship, especially the new Lion class which was entering service.
Although roughly the same size as the monster dreadnought battleships of the day, she, Australia and Indefatigable, had lighter defensive armour but better maneouvrability.
New Zealand was taken on a cruise for a 10 month tour of the Dominions in 1913 before joining the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet in the Baltic in 1914 where she took part in the Battle of Heligoland Bight. Walter Cowan was her Captain in 1914/1915.
She became flagship of 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron of the Grand Fleet on January 15, 1915 and the following week saw action in the Battle of Dogger Bank. She became flagship to Admiral David Beatty when his own flagship, HMS Lion, was seriously damaged during the battle
During a sweep through the North Sea on April 22 1916 New Zealand and HMAS Australia collided in the fog. The latter suffered sufficient damage to be put out of action for several weeks, but New Zealand returned to the fleet on May 30, a day before the start of the Battle of Jutland which was then the largest of the great battleship engagements. Jellicoe was aboard, directing the battle as Admiral Of The Fleet. She fired 420 12 in (305 mm) shells (the most of any vessel in the battle) and was hit by a 11in shell which struck Turret X without causing casualties or major damage.
She rejoined the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron in September 1916, then underwent a refit at Rosyth in November 1916 before attachment to 1st Battlecruiser Squadron. She was involved in the second Battle of Heligoland Bight on November 17, 1917.
Following the war, in 1919, Admiral Jellicoe took a Royal Navy fleet on another tour of the dominions to give a report on their defences, and chose New Zealand as his flagship. She was particularly popular in New Zealand where crowds flocked to visit her as they had done earlier in 1913 when it was estimated more than a third of the country’s population went aboard during the eleven weeks she was there. Jellicoe was popular too, and he later returned to New Zealand where as Viscount Jellicoe he was Governor-General, 1920-24.
New Zealand was decommissioned in 1922 and broken up for scrap in 1923. A medal awarded to officers and crew in 1913 is now a rare collectors’ item.
See HMS New Zealand for other Navy ships of this name.