The deployment of HMS PHILOMEL
Acquisition
The Admiralty had agreed in 1913 to lend HMS PHILOMEL to New Zealand as a seagoing training cruiser to form the nucleus of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy. HMS PHILOMEL was commissioned for New Zealand service on 15 July 1914 at Wellington. With the outbreak of war in August 1914, the cruiser cut short its training cruise and embarked a number of Reservists and volunteers to complete the crew. HMS PHILOMEL formed part of the ocean escort for the New Zealand Force which occupied German Samoa (now Western Samoa). Following this, the ship helped escort the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force as far as Western Australia. The cruiser then sailed with HMS PYRAMUS for the Middle East via Singapore.
During the early part of 1915 HMS PHILOMEL operated in the Mediterranean and on 8 February landed an armed party at Alexandretta (now Iskenderun), in Southern Turkey. A large force of Turkish soldiers was encountered, resulting in three seamen killed and three wounded.
Subsequently HMS PHILOMEL was deployed in the Red Sea to assist in the defence of Aden. The ship landed a party of seamen with a machine gun, to support the Army. HMS PHILOMEL operated in the Persian Gulf, supporting Allied operations in Mesopotamia.
Throughout these operations HMS PHILOMEL was operated as a New Zealand ship, at the cost of the New Zealand Government.
By 1917 the ship needed a refit and HMS PHILOMEL returned to New Zealand. Her armament was removed and fitted on New Zealand merchant ships. She re-commissioned in April 1917 as a depot ship at Wellington with a nucleus crew, and supported minesweeping operations until May 1919.