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Reserve Units

There are four main Naval Reserve units located in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, and the Auckland unit maintains a sub unit in the large port of Tauranga. The units, which all have their own training headquarters, are each commanded by a senior Reserve officer.

Each unit is a commissioned ship that bears a 'Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship' (HMNZS) name; each has between 80 and 120 Naval Reserve personnel. The most senior officer is Captain Naval Reserve, appointed at Naval Staff, Wellington and principal advisor to Chief of Navy on reserve issues.

HMNZS NGAPONA, Auckland
The name NGAPONA is taken from a Maori proverb relating to the three peaks of Rangitoto, a prominent island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf. The ship's badge denotes the Kaka, a native bird that was originally found on Rangitoto.

HMNZS OLPHERT, Wellington
OLPHERT is the only Reserve Division to be named after a person, Captain Wybrants Olphert, the Division's first Commanding Officer. The ship's badge depicts a bird's claw holding an arrow above the waves.

HMNZS PEGASUS, Christchurch
PEGASUS is named after Pegasus Bay on the east coast of Canterbury province. The ship's badge was transferred from a former ship of the same name in the Royal Navy. That ship has battle honours stretching from St Vincent in 1780 to the Battle of the Atlantic in 1941.

HMNZS TOROA, Dunedin
The ship's badge depicts the Royal Albatross that breed in a colony on Taiaroa Head at the entrance to Dunedin's Otago Harbour. Toroa is the Maori name for the Royal Albatross. The Otago Royal New Zealand Navy Volunteer Reserve Association maintains a small, but interesting museum at TOROA.