HMNZS Taranaki for ex HMNZS Taranaki crew

A small replica of the ship is now on display at Inglewood’s FUN HO NATIONAL TOY MUSEUM much to the delight of the people who new her best.
Mr John Hickman (80) was the first person from Taranaki to board the Frigate and reckons the replica is the spitting image—just a little smaller “I can’t fault it.”

The Taranaki Branch of the Royal New Zealand Navy Association didn’t know the model existed until it saw it for sale 2008.
With a bit of juggling the Taranaki Branch of the RNZN Assn., managed to raise $4,400.00 with the help of the Taranaki Electricity Trust to purchase the model for the people of Taranaki said Secretary Mr Peter Hamilton of Inglewood.
Mr John Hickman and Mr Garry Cousins from Taranaki were among the crew to bring the frigate back to New Zealand arriving at New Plymouth on 28 October 1961 from the United Kingdom.
The ship was built by J.Samuel White of Cowes in the Isle of Wight. The ship was decommissioned in 1982.
Thanks Garry Cousins for this info

Welcome to the website dedicated to those who served on the "Tiddly T" in the Royal New Zealand Navy. Commission on 27 March 1961 and decommissioned 18 June 1982, HMNZS Taranaki was a much loved ship, which served its various crews well during her life.

This website was originally set up in 1998 as a resource for a reunion held in Christchurch of that year, and it is now in its 3rd version. There has been a number of reunions held for HMNZS Taranaki ships company over the years, the latest was held in Auckland on Labour Weekend October 22-24 2005. Our next reunion will be held in Auckland on Labour weekend (Oct 20-22) 2007.

HMNZS Taranaki of course is no more. But memories live forever, and while some of the ships company are now in their seventies, all still cherish their time on our favourite frigate HMNZS Taranaki.

Enjoy having a look around our site. Old ships company can join the site as members and can view some resources that are not available to the public. If you know of a Navy person that could have served on HMNZS Taranaki, please tell them about our site. We are confident that they will enjoy reliving their time onboard our "Tiddly T"