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Takapu
 Outside "Tarapunga" at Onehunga in December 1960
JT Diamond collection, Auckland Libraries, JTD-19M-00589-1
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With a displacement of 54 tonnes, she was crewed by a complement of ten, and was powered by two 330hp Grey diesel engines, producing a service speed of up to 12 knots.
Armaments-wise, she was equipped with one twin-mounted .50 water-cooled Browning machine gun, one 20mm Oerlikon, 8 depth charges and two twin-mounted .303 Vickers machine guns.
This vessel was designed in 1939 by the Admiralty for harbour patrol and anti-submarine duties, and for construction in civilian boating companies, in this case, Everett Marine Ways in Seattle, Washington.
The Royal NZ Navy placed their build order for this Harbour Defence Motor Launch in February 1942, and within eleven months, she had been completed.
She was then shipped as deck cargo from Vancouver aboard "Kootenay Place", arriving in Wellington at the end of April 1943, whereupon she was unloaded by floating crane and instantly commenced her sea trials.
Within a month she had been commissioned as Q1188, under which pennant number she served until paid off in September 1945, following the conclusion of World War Two, and laid up at Pine Island and eventually put up for sale.
Six months later, in February 1947, the Government reconsidered their position, and opted to withdraw Q1188 from sale, and recommission her as a Seaward Defence Motor Launch, or survey vessel. The rebuilding process was completed in February 1950, and pennant number P3556 afforded the ship.
The similarity of this pennant number with her sister ship caused confusion aplenty, so after A & B options were used for four years, in July 1955 she was renamed "Philomel", a title she held for three months until the Navy finally got themselves sorted out.
The Maori word for gannet, "Takapu" was assigned to the vessel, and under this name she conducted survey duties around the country, often in partnership with "Tarapunga", until being withdrawn from service and decommissioned in December 1979.
During this time, the pair conducted a six-month survey at Onehunga between October 1960 and March 1961, examining depths, plotting channels and establishing the exact position of the harbour bar.
 Outside "Tarapunga" at Onehunga in December 1960
JT Diamond collection, Auckland Libraries, JTD-19M-00589-2
It was the first major survey of the port since Commander Byron Drury carried out a survey of the Manukau Harbour on the brig "Pandora", a survey which concluded on 3 May 1853.
After decommissioning, her work life wasn't over. She was renamed "Kahawai II" and refitted for use as a support vessel to HMNZS "Toroa" in Otago, where she served for two years before finally being dismantled. She was sold by RNZ Navy in 1984.
Since then, she reverted to "Takapu", and was rebuilt in Tauranga between 1985 and 1987 to operate as a charter vessel out of Whakatane. This she did until 2004, since when she has been a familiar sight in Fiordland waters.
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