Cold Warriors: The Essex Class in the Cold War
Apr 4, 2021 18:08:56 GMT
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Post by ssgtc on Apr 4, 2021 18:08:56 GMT
February, 12, 1959
Wellington, New Zealand
The discussions within the Ministry of Defence mirrored those being held in Canberra, London and Washington. Phil Connolly, the Minister of Defence, was sitting at the head of a long table with his service heads, aids and intelligence officials arranged down both sides. He did not like what he was hearing. New Zealand did not have a large military. They simply could not afford to maintain a large standing military, particularly given the ever increasing costs of modern equipment. But what he was hearing now was painting an even bleaker picture than normal.
Currently, New Zealand had the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Regiment deployed to Malaya with the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group alongside No 75 Squadron at RAF Tengah flying loaned English Electric Canberra bombers. But 1st Battalion was preparing to be withdrawn from Malaya and replaced with 2nd Battalion. Those orders would have to be rescinded and the preparations already carried out would need to be undone. Not an insurmountable obstacle, but an obstacle none the less. He had already floated the idea of deploying 2nd Battalion to Malaya anyway to reinforce the 28th, and while it had support from the Army, he wasn't so sure the rest of the government would agree. Maintaining two battalions deployed simultaneously was expensive. At least he could give the battalion warning orders so they wouldn't be completely unprepared to deploy should the decision be made to send them to Malaya.
The idea of sending No 14 Squadron from Ohakea back to RAF Tengah or RAAF Butterworth had also been brought up, but the squadron was in the middle of converting from de Haviland Vampires to Canberras. To be useful, the conversion would either have to be sped up or postponed. Neither option was particularly appealing, but he had ordered Air Vice Marshal Malcolm Calder to find out which option was the more feasible of the two based on where the squadron was in their conversion.
More alarming to Minister Connolly was that, outside of the de Haviland Vampire, New Zealand could not provide any fighter cover to their squadrons or ground forces in Malaya. All their combat aircraft were either transports, maritime patrol aircraft or bombers. Indonesia was acquiring front line fighters from the Soviets while Australia had also recently begun final negotiations for new fighters from the United States. He had even heard rumors that the Philippines was beginning to investigate the possibility of buying modern fighter aircraft. With the situation heating up in Indonesia, he would need to broach the subject of thoroughly modernizing the military at the next Cabinet meeting.
From the Navy, several suggestions had flowed. Among them was the possibility of reactivating the Dido class light cruiser Black Prince to pair with her sister, Royalist. While that particular idea was fairly rapidly shot down as unfeasible in the short term given the material state of the ship and the lack of manpower to crew her, the Navy was authorized to begin drawing up plans to bring her back into service in short order should the need arise. In the meantime, Rear Admiral Michael Villiers, the Head of the Navy, was ordered to place Royalist along with the two Loch class frigates Kaniere and Pukaki on alert for possible deployment to Singapore to reinforce the Far East Strategic Reserve. Additionally, pending approval from Australia, the Bathurst class corvettes Echuca and Inverell would be pulled from reserve and training duties and deployed to HMAS Tarangau in Papua New Guinea.
If this war between Indonesia and the Netherlands escalated, New Zealand would need every ounce of combat power she had. Giving his orders to his service heads, New Zealand's military moved to higher state of readiness. That was the easy part. The hard part was convincing the government that these moves were necessary and worth the cost.
Wellington, New Zealand
The discussions within the Ministry of Defence mirrored those being held in Canberra, London and Washington. Phil Connolly, the Minister of Defence, was sitting at the head of a long table with his service heads, aids and intelligence officials arranged down both sides. He did not like what he was hearing. New Zealand did not have a large military. They simply could not afford to maintain a large standing military, particularly given the ever increasing costs of modern equipment. But what he was hearing now was painting an even bleaker picture than normal.
Currently, New Zealand had the 1st Battalion, Royal New Zealand Regiment deployed to Malaya with the 28th Commonwealth Infantry Brigade Group alongside No 75 Squadron at RAF Tengah flying loaned English Electric Canberra bombers. But 1st Battalion was preparing to be withdrawn from Malaya and replaced with 2nd Battalion. Those orders would have to be rescinded and the preparations already carried out would need to be undone. Not an insurmountable obstacle, but an obstacle none the less. He had already floated the idea of deploying 2nd Battalion to Malaya anyway to reinforce the 28th, and while it had support from the Army, he wasn't so sure the rest of the government would agree. Maintaining two battalions deployed simultaneously was expensive. At least he could give the battalion warning orders so they wouldn't be completely unprepared to deploy should the decision be made to send them to Malaya.
The idea of sending No 14 Squadron from Ohakea back to RAF Tengah or RAAF Butterworth had also been brought up, but the squadron was in the middle of converting from de Haviland Vampires to Canberras. To be useful, the conversion would either have to be sped up or postponed. Neither option was particularly appealing, but he had ordered Air Vice Marshal Malcolm Calder to find out which option was the more feasible of the two based on where the squadron was in their conversion.
More alarming to Minister Connolly was that, outside of the de Haviland Vampire, New Zealand could not provide any fighter cover to their squadrons or ground forces in Malaya. All their combat aircraft were either transports, maritime patrol aircraft or bombers. Indonesia was acquiring front line fighters from the Soviets while Australia had also recently begun final negotiations for new fighters from the United States. He had even heard rumors that the Philippines was beginning to investigate the possibility of buying modern fighter aircraft. With the situation heating up in Indonesia, he would need to broach the subject of thoroughly modernizing the military at the next Cabinet meeting.
From the Navy, several suggestions had flowed. Among them was the possibility of reactivating the Dido class light cruiser Black Prince to pair with her sister, Royalist. While that particular idea was fairly rapidly shot down as unfeasible in the short term given the material state of the ship and the lack of manpower to crew her, the Navy was authorized to begin drawing up plans to bring her back into service in short order should the need arise. In the meantime, Rear Admiral Michael Villiers, the Head of the Navy, was ordered to place Royalist along with the two Loch class frigates Kaniere and Pukaki on alert for possible deployment to Singapore to reinforce the Far East Strategic Reserve. Additionally, pending approval from Australia, the Bathurst class corvettes Echuca and Inverell would be pulled from reserve and training duties and deployed to HMAS Tarangau in Papua New Guinea.
If this war between Indonesia and the Netherlands escalated, New Zealand would need every ounce of combat power she had. Giving his orders to his service heads, New Zealand's military moved to higher state of readiness. That was the easy part. The hard part was convincing the government that these moves were necessary and worth the cost.
