History
New Zealand
NameInchkeith
NamesakeInchkeith, Firth of Forth
BuilderJohn Lewis & Sons Aberdeen
Laid down6 November 1940
Launched10 July 1941
Commissioned17 October 1941
Decommissioned12 February 1946
General characteristics
Class and typeIsles-class trawler
Displacement782 tonnes full load
Propulsion1 shaft triple expansion coal fired
Speed8.5–10 knots (15.7–18.5 km/h; 9.8–11.5 mph)
Complement40
Sensors and
processing systems
ASDIC
Armament
  • 1 × 12 pdr single mounted gun
  • 3 × 20 mm single mounted gun
  • 2 × machineguns
  • 30 depth charges

HMNZS Inchkeith was an Isles-class minesweeper of the Royal New Zealand Navy. She was one of the first ships to be commissioned into the newly created Royal New Zealand Navy. She was bought alongside three other ships for a price of £65,000 each. On 15 March 1942 Inchkeith was involved with a collision with HMS Marsdale, damaging her superstructure.

During World War II, HMNZS Inchkeith worked escorting various convoys in both the Atlantic and Pacific theatres before transitioning to a primarily minesweeping role around the Hauraki Gulf and the Bay of Islands, although filling some escort duties.

Due to coal shortages Inchkeith along with her sister ships were laid up in October 1945, and by February 1946 the corvettes HMNZS Arabis and HMNZS Arbutus were fitted with minesweeping gear, and the four Isles-class ships were placed in reserve. By 1957, Inchkeith was declared surplus and were sold for scrapping in August 1958, and was broken up along with her sister ships at the Lighter Basin in Freemans Bay, Auckland.[1]

References

  1. "Inchkeith – Minesweeper". National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
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