OF THE ROYAL NEW ZEALAND NAVY

This page details the location, construction and history of the anti-submarine indicator loop defences installed by the Royal New Zealand Navy during World War 2.

If you have further information about the stations please contact:
If you worked there or have any feedback please contact me:
 
 Email: Dr. Richard Walding (waldingr49@yahoo.com.au)
 Research Fellow - School of Science
 Griffith University
 Home Phone: 61 (0)7 3206 4976
 69 Summit Street, Sheldon, Q, 4157, Australia

LINKS TO RELATED PAGES:
  • Indicator Loops around the World (Home Page)
  • How an indicator loop works
  • Bribie Island (Australia) Indicator Loop Station
  • Oban Bay, Scotland, Indicator Loop Station
  • United States Navy Indicator Loop Stations
    • HARBOUR DEFENCE COME TO NEW ZEALAND
    The following information comes in part from Peter Corbett's article "Auckland's Extended Defences 1939-1945" published in the Defence of NZ Study Group's journal Forts and Works, December 1997, pp8-11 which he based on his study Motutapu Island Military Structures Conservation Plan for the NZ Department of Conservation, Auckland Conservancy.

    By the outbreak of WW2 in September 1939, coastal defences in NZ were in no state of preparedness. The NZ Navy Board considered various methods but cost, a shortage of materials and a belief that NZ was immune to attack hindered progress. In 1940 the NZ Naval Board requested the advice of Cmr Harvey Newcomb (RN) head of HMAS Rushcutter Antisubmarine School in Sydney.  He travelled to Auckland by small passenger ship and thence to Wellington by rail and to Christchurch by plane.  He gave advice on the location of indicator loops at the three harbours.  By April 1941, the NZ War Cabinet approved indicator loops across the Hauraki Gulf channels but did not begin construction so that when Japan entered the war in December 1941, NZ still remained unprepared. The Navy Board requested information about costs and availability of indicator loops from Australia on 26 February 1942. A patrolling Japanese submarine (I-26) was seen off Auckland in the Harukari Gulf on 13th March 1942, and very quickly loops were laid in Auckland Harbour. At NZ's request, the Australian Naval Control Board approved the use of its naval auxiliary ship HMAS Mernoo for loop laying in NZ. Mernoo arrived in Auckland on 27 February 1942, completed laying the six loops by 29th March and sailed for Melbourne two days later.  By late September 1942, seven HDAs (Harbour Defence Asdics) were laid on the sea bed. The Fixed Defence Stations Puna and Emu were completed by the end of November 1943. By then the Japanese threat had abated and harbour defences became of less significance.
    NZ INDICATOR LOOP LOCATIONS
     Anti-submarine ‘indicator loops’ are long lengths of cable laid on the seabed in shipping channels of strategically important ports. They rely on the production of an induced current in a stationery loop of wire when a magnet (in this case, a submarine) moves overhead. Indicator loops were a part of the RNZN's Fixed Seaward Defence Stations. Fixed harbour defences, including indicator loops, were located at:
  • Auckland (Takapuna)
  • Wellington (Port Nicholson, Worser Bay)
  • Lyttelton

    •
    AUCKLAND - FIXED HARBOUR DEFENCES
     Fixed defence of Auckland Harbour was by a series of booms, controlled minefields, hydrophones, indicator loops and harbour defence Asdics (HDA). The minelayer HMAS Bungaree laid 422 mines in 3 days in Auckland Harbour. On the 25th August 1942, the minelayers Atreus and Alsey began laying a total of 8 controlled minefield (656 mines) in NZ ports. Minefield JL1 was laid in Auckland from 9th to 18th September 1942 and began operating on 24th September.  Six indicator loops were installed later in 1942. The following diagram shows the location of these loops and other defences:
     
    LEGEND: 1. No. 4 Indicator Loop; 2. Controlled Mine Station JL1; 3. Controlled Minefield - Whangaparoa Passage; 4. Two lines each of 200 of contact mines; 5. No. 3 Indicator Loop; 6. No.2 Indicator Loop; 7. 16 Contact mines; 8. No.1 Indicator Loop; 9. 6 Contact mines; 10. Emu Anti-submarine Fixed Defence Station - Sandy Bay; 11. "B" Indicator Loop (see note below); 12. Hydrophone Array; 13. Harbour Boom - North Head; 14. Takapuna A/S Fixed Defence Station (loop control hut) - Takapuna Head; 15. "A" Indicator Loop Map (opposite) Position 12: Looking from Takapuna Loop Station over Takapuna Beach and across Rangitoto Channel to the North end of Rangitoto Island. The loop cables would have passed down this slope along a 2' deep trench in the beach and across to the island.
    The "B" Indicator Loop across Motu Korea Channel was made up of five small loops called MIL Loops (for Minature Indicator Listening Loop) with a total coverage of 2300 yards. They were developed by the Royal Navy to counter midget submarines and human torpedos being used by the Imperial Japanese Navy. MIL Loops used at Auckland were the conventional three-leg design but only 500 yards long (instead of the usual 2000 yards) with a spacing of 25 yards between each leg (instead of 200 yards) and an overlap of 50 yards. Spacing of loop legs should be about the same as the length of the boat being detected.

    Various cable types were used: the loops themselves were lead-loaded 7 core Adm. Patt. No. 13142 (8000 yards); the tail cable from the loops to Takapuna Head was Admiralty Pattern No. 13150 (18 core, 8000 yards); and the tails from the loops to the junction box containing the main 18 core cable were made of Adm. Patt. No. 13135 (7 core,1500 yards) and A.P. 13149 (3 core, 2200 yd).

    The "A" Loop across Rangitoto Channel consisted of 10 MIL Loops, each of 350 yards length and a leg spacing of 25 yards. They covered a total distance of 3050 yds. Two 18 core tail cables (AP 13150, 4000 yd) were used from the loops to Takapuna Hd. The loops were 7 core AP13142 (11500 yd) and the tails from the loops to the junction box on the near ends of the main tails were AP 13135 (6000 yd) and AP 13149 (4000 yd).
     
    Puna Fixed Defence Station - (Loop Control Hut) -Takapuna Heads circa 1944.  Photo from RNZN Museum - Serial No. ACF0019. Author inspects the building as it exists today (December 2004) -  although the alcove on the front has been demolished and a top added.

     

    Engine Room - Takapuna Heads A/S station, November 2004 Command Post - Takapuna Heads A/S station, November 2004


    Looking SE down Takapuna Beach from the headland in front of the loop hut.



    Emu - Anti-submarine Fixed Defence Station - Sandy Bay - as it looked in 1998.
    The observation slots at the front of the hut are clear. At the top right is the 6 inch Battery Observation Post.

    Harbour Defence Asdics (HDA) were also installed in the approaches to Auckland Harbour. These are shown on the following map. The circles indicate the range of the Asdic signal. This is about 2500 yards. A "ping" with a frequency between 12kHz and 20kHz and lasting about 1/10 s is sent out by a condensor that dumps its charge into a steel/quartz oscillator every 3 seconds. The echo of the first ping has to be received in the 3 seconds to be useful, so an object has to be no further than 1.5 seconds away to a underwater sound pulse. Sound travels at about 5000 foot per second in sea water which equates to a distance of 2500 yards in 1.5 s. The HDAs used by the RNZN were of RN and RAN design. The USN used a magnetostriction oscillator and called their HDA a "Herald" for Harbor Echo Ranging and Listening Device. They also called Asdic "Sonar".

    1. Controlled minefield station JL1
    2. "D" HDA
    3. "C" HDA
    4. "B" HDA
    5. Emu Station
    6. "A" HDA
    7. No. 1 HDA
    8. Puna Station
    9. No. 2 HDA
    10. No. 3 HDA
    Note: all HDAs used two cable types: seven core AS 13135 for the signal transmission and receival; and two core AS 13138 for power to drive the Asdic positioning motor located in the bell housing of the HDA dan buoys.
    PORT NICHOLSON - WELLINGTON - FIXED HARBOUR DEFENCES AT WORSER BAY
    Fixed defence of Port Nicholson was by a A/S boom, an A/S net, one set of MIL indicator loops and two harbour defence Asdics (HDA). A controlled minefield (JL5) was laid at Worser Bay from 17 November to 3 December. It consisted of 8 loops of 16 mines each, plus two guard loops and became operational on 3rd December 1942. The indicator loops and  loop control hut came later: they weren't even approved until 22 January 1943 (at a cost of     NZŁ5133). The following map shows the location of the indicator loops:



     The Indicator Loop was made up of seven MIL Loops each of 250 yd and 25 yds between legs. Total coverage was 1600 yd. Loops were AP 13142 (5950 yd); underwater tails from loops to junction box AP 13135 (2000 yd) and AP 13149 (5820 yd). The shore tail was AP 13150 (3770 yd). If you want to contact local researcher into loops and controlled mining at Wellington, you should email loop and mine enthusiast Alaistair Scadden (Regional Director of the Site O local fortification and artillery web site http://homepages.paradise.net.nz/jascadde/index.html). The map below is based on a map supplied by him. The archivist - and keen military historian - Michael Biggs has uncovered the following information from the files: The Indicator Loop Hut as shown below was demolished after the war. The Power House was a semi-underground room at the entrance of the car park. It too has been demolished. They were connected by a link tunnel and references in the City Drainage Files explicitly confirm this. The "Old" Gents' Toilets (since demolished) were converted into a Generator Room during the war and rehabilitated to their former use afterwards - at considerable expense.

    The photos Worser Bay below were taken by Alistair Scadden:

    View of Worser Bay taken from the southern end - looking North.  The yellow building at the top end of the sand (centre of photo) is the Surf Club.  To its left are the naval barracks. After the war, the navy turned these over to the RNZAF, and they served as WAAF accommodation until the early 1990s. They have since been sold and turned into budget rental accommodation. Telephoto shot of same scene as shown to the left. The Worser Bay Yacht Clubhouse is on the right. The building in the centre is the boat shed and on the left is the Controlled Mining Station with the Scout Hut built on top. The peculiar structure in the water in the foreground was actually the base for a diving board (the board itself was removed many years ago following a fatal accident). The house on the hill at the top of the photo belongs to Peter Jackson - of "Lord of the Rings" fame.

     
    Front view of the surviving Mine Control building. The original entrance porch can be seen, as can the hole knocked in the wall by the scouts to allow storage of boats. Prior to construction of the hall, there used to be a small concrete Observation Post on top. This was demolished by the Scouts (by hand!) in 1967 to allow the hall to be built. As Alistair Scadden says "Tough blokes, those Worser Bay Sea Scouts". View of site from hill directly behind old naval station. The yacht club roof is visible above the trees.

    Try also: Wrights Hill Fortress Restoration Group - all about Wrights Hill Fortress which was built in the 1940s as a long range coastal battery to protect Wellington city and environs from possible enemy attack and invasion from the Pacific in World War Two.

    LYTTELTON HARBOUR - CHRISTCHURCH - FIXED HARBOUR DEFENCES
    Fixed defence of Lyttelton Harbour was by an A/S boom, an A/S net, one set of MIL indicator loops and two harbour defence Asdics (HDA). A controlled minefield was planned to be laid in mid-January 1943 but a change in defence strategy saw it cancelled on 9th January 1943. The following map shows their location:


    The indicator loops consisted of five MIL Loops, each 500 yards long and 25 yd between legs. The total coverage was 2300 yd. Cable types were similar to other NZ installations: shore tail to Codley Head control hut - AP 13150, 2000 yd; loops - AP 13142, 8000 yd; and underwater tails - AP 13135 (1600 yd) and AP 13149 (2200 yd).
    Contacts and References:
  • See the Capital Defence web page
  • The Archivist, Royal New Zealand Naval Museum, Spring Street, Devonport, Auckland, NZ
  • SITE O - an international research/discussion for those with an interest in fortifications and/or artillery.
    HELP!
    If you know of other WW2 indicator loop stations around the world, please contact me (Dr. Richard Walding) with some of the details so we can correspond.

    I'm particularly interested in getting information from officers and ratings who worked in the loop stations or laid the loop cables. Also, many scientists were involved in the research at the Royal Navy's "Underwater Detection Establishment". Are you still out there?