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HMNZS "HINAU" T-17

A WW2 Composite Castle-Class minesweeper built for the RNZN, made by LJKMagic
This model shows her before she had her PND changed to T399.
History:

Hinau was laid down in late 1940, shortly after the Manuka was laid down. Along with the Rimu, and Manuka, Hinau would be a composite trawler (Kauri wood on steel frame) due to an urgency for minesweepers. All 3 composite trawlers would use boilers and engines from ships in the Rotten row, with the Hinau getting an engine and boiler from the Rarawa, which was laid up in 1929. Their designs were not of traditional Castle-Class trawlers, being modified to be able to
fit the boiler and engine into the ship. Hinau and her sisters would use magnetic minesweeping gear along with acoustic sweep “Kango Hammers” for acoustic mines.
Hinau was launched on 28 August, 1941. Being the first ship ever launched for the RNZN.


Hinau would be completed in early 1942, with trials being held in April 1942. It was noted that the steering gear was stiff, needing 2 men for manoeuvring, and her boiler room was full of problems, with the report stating at the end “It is apparent that “HINAU” will not be able to operate effectively as a L.L. sweeper without further modification to her boiler room. With it being noted in another steam trial in June 1942 that the ship would be unworkable in hot weather. The navy would try to combat these issues the best they could, though Hinau and her sisters' engine rooms would be hot and uncomfortable for those who would work in the engine rooms throughout the war. Hinau was commissioned on 23 July 1942, and would serve out of Auckland along with the Rimu, and Manuka, forming the LL Group (which was later renamed to the 194th Auxiliary Minesweeping division) She and her sisters occasionally would visit the South Island and other North Island ports. While in Lyttelton on 18 August 1943, Hinau would suffer a small fire in her forward mess, quickly being extinguished, there would be minor damage. Hinau would have refits in March 1943, August 1943, and October 1944. With her pennant number being changed from T17 to T399 in her last refit.
Once World War II ended, she would be laid up at the Devonport Naval Base and put in reserve along with the Manuka, and Rimu. In 1954 she was sold to F. Appleton of Penrose to be scrapped at the Viaduct Basin along with the Rimu, and the tug Toia, being hulked along with the Rimu. Between 1956 and 1958, Hinau would be towed to the Parry Bros Ltd shingle quarry in Whakatīwai, and run aground there for use as a shingle bin and breakwater. In 1987 preservationists from the HMNZS Ngapona base salvaged the propeller of the Hinau, and would place it at the base, it would stand there as a memorial for the minesweeper and men of the naval reserve. After the base closed, it would be moved to the Torpedo Bay Navy Museum, where it remains today as a playground fixture.
In 1988, Cyclone Bola would hit Whakatīwai, and the hulk of the Hinau
would capsize onto its starboard side, requiring large winches to pull the hulk back upright.
In 1998 Hinau would feature on the cover of The Islander, written by Dave Dobbyn.

Sources:
Emmanuel Makarios. Nets Lines and Pots: a history of NZ Fishing Volume 2
Former Stevensons Quarry workers
HMNZS Hinau Minesweeper. Torpedo Bay Navy Museum Website
McDougall, R.J. (1989). New Zealand Naval vessels.
Ships - Minesweeper Initial Correspondence Hinau and Rimu (Archives NZ)
Ships - "B" Class Composite Minesweeper (Archives NZ)