Requisitioned Minesweepers
Posted: Sat Feb 19, 2022 2:43 am
Minesweeper HMNZS Breeze pictured just after her commissioning c1942..Prior to the Second World War Breeze was part of the inter-island service along with her sister ship Gale (which was also commissioned into RNZN service). In July 1940 the Chief of Naval Staff proposed a mobile flotilla of minesweepers for New Zealand service. This came out of the discovery of the minefields laid by the German raider Orion and highlighted the urgent need for minesweeping off New Zealand ports. Breeze was one of a number of vessels that it was thought would be suitable to conversion to a minesweeper.