HMNZS Maimai
{{Short description|A castle class minesweeper built for the navy}}
| {{Infobox ship begin
| infobox caption = }} {{Infobox ship image | Ship image = HMNZS_MAIMAI._1944.jpg | Ship caption = HMNZS Maimai }} {{Infobox ship career | Ship country = New Zealand | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|New Zealand|naval-1941}} {{shipboxflag|New Zealand |
| Ship name = Maimai
| Ship ordered =
| Ship builder = Stevenson & Cook, Port Chalmers
| Ship launched = 18 February 1943{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ESD19430218.2.33 |title=THIRD MINE SWEEPER |work=Evening Star |page=4 |date=18 February 1943 |access-date=26 January 2025 |via=Papers Past}}
| Ship commissioned = 15 September 1943
| Ship decommissioned = 1945
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| Ship fate = Scrapped in 1966
| Ship identification = Pennant number: T338
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Ship class = {{sclass2|Castle|minesweeper}}
| Ship displacement = 625 tons
| Ship length = {{cvt|135|ft}}
| Ship beam = {{cvt|23|ft}}
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| Ship propulsion = Single screw, triple reciprocating engine
| Ship speed = {{convert|10|kn}}
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HMNZS Maimai was one of eight steel New Zealand-built Castle-class ships built and commissioned by the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War II.
Background
The vessel was ordered after the New Zealand government, facing a requirement for more minesweepers to operate in home waters, chose the {{sclass2|Castle|trawler|0}} design because it was simple enough to be built with the country's limited ship construction facilities at the time.{{Cite web |date=2015-10-06 |title=HMNZS Waiho Castle-Class Minesweeper |url=http://forum.rnzna.org.nz/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=110.0;attach=39 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091221205319/http://forum.rnzna.org.nz/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=110.0;attach=39 |archive-date=2009-12-21 |access-date=2023-11-07 |website=National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy |language=en-GB}}
Operational history
Maimai was the fourth of the nine steel minesweepers constructed for the Royal New Zealand Navy and was commissioned on 15 September 1943. the others being {{HMNZS|Aroha||2}}, Awatere, {{HMNZS|Hautapu||2}}, Pahau, {{HMNZS|Waiho||2}}, Waima, {{HMNZS|Waipu||2}}, and Waikato (never commissioned). She served with the 95th Auxiliary Minesweeping Group, located at Wellington.{{Cite web |title=CHAPTER 18 — The Minesweeping Flotillas {{!}} NZETC |url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-c18.html |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=nzetc.victoria.ac.nz}} In March 1944, Maimai accidentally fired her port depth charge thrower while berthed at Picton.{{Cite book |last=McDougall |first=R.J. |title=New Zealand Naval vessels |year=1989 |publisher=GP Books, Informing New Zealanders |isbn=0-477-01399-6}} The unexploded depth charge was recovered four weeks later. On 27 July 1945, she was rammed by Awatere stern-to-stern at Shelly Bay, with minor damage. In December 1945 she accompanied the aircraft carrier HMS Indefatigable on exercises in New Zealand waters.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19451203.2.74.2 |title=EXERCISE WEEK |work=Evening Post |page=8 |date=3 December 1945 |access-date=26 January 2025 |via=Papers Past}} After the war, Maimai was disarmed but remained in service for ammunition dumping. In 1946, Maimai was purchased by the Maimai Trawling Company Ltd. to be used as a side trawler.{{cite news |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19460524.2.44 |title=Trawler Sold |work=Northern Advocate |page=4 |date=24 May 1946 |access-date=26 January 2025 |via=Papers Past}}
In 1947 she caught nearly {{cvt|100000|lb}} of fish, being considered a record for four days of fishing at the time.{{Cite web |title=N.Z. Record Catch Of Fish |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NA19471108.2.12?items_per_page=10&page=4&query=Trawler+maimai&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} On 28 July 1950, waste oil in Maimai{{'}}s bilges caught fire, but was quickly extinguished by the Wellington Fire Brigade.{{Cite web |title=OIL FIRE ON TRAWLER AT WELLINGTON |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/GEST19500728.2.58?items_per_page=10&page=7&query=Trawler+maimai&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}}{{Cite web |title=Seaman Overcome By Fumes |url=https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ODT19500729.2.152?items_per_page=10&page=7&query=Trawler+maimai&snippet=true&sort_by=byDA |access-date=2023-11-29 |website=paperspast.natlib.govt.nz}} As the years went by, catches got smaller and smaller, with conditions onboard of Maimai deteriorating. {{Cite book |last=Makarios |first=Emmanuel |title=Nets, Lines and Pots: A history of New Zealand fishing vessels. |publisher=IPL Books |year=1996 |isbn=9780908876983 |edition=1st |location=New Zealand}} And with smaller and efficient fishing vessels being built, it became harder for Maimai to get a crew, with Maimai still sailing without a full crew. At the end of 1966, Maimai was sold for scrap and was broken up in Wellington by Pacific Scrap Ltd, which would take 6 weeks. {{Cite web |title=Marine News 1980 Vol 30 Issue 03 |url=https://www.nzshipmarine.com/nodes/view/1796 |access-date=2024-05-25 |website=New Zealand Ship and Marine Society |language=en}}
References
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Category:World War II minesweepers of New Zealand
Category:Castle-class trawlers of the Royal New Zealand Navy