Wreck of HMNZS Moa (T233) | Second World War 1939-1945, scuba diving facility / area, place with historical importance, shipwreck, corvette (warship), minehunter / minesweeper (ship)

 Second World War 1939-1945, scuba diving facility / area, place with historical importance, shipwreck, corvette (warship), minehunter / minesweeper (ship)

HMNZS Moa was a Bird Class Minesweeper in service with the Royal New Zealand Navy during the Second World War, and following her conversion from a prewar commercial trawler she was put into service clearing harbors and sweeping shipping lanes for Japanese mines and submarines.

Arriving in Ironbottom Sound in late 1942, the Moa and her two sisterships were kept quite busy at their craft, and often found themselves part of the action as they took on an increased anti-submarine warfare role off Guadalcanal when the Japanese Navy began to resupply their troops using late-night submarine supply drops in near-coastal waters. Working in conjunction with her sistership HMNZS Kiwi, the Moa took part in the ramming and disabling of the Japanese Destroyer I-1 off Kamimbo Point as it tried to make a supply drop to shore forces, which resulted in Allied forces obtaining over 200,000 pages of intelligence from the Japanese sub before it sank on January 29th, 1943.

Returning to her minesweeping and anti-submarine duties, the Moa remained stationed at Tulagi and operated around the Solomons Islands for the next few months and following a minesweeping deployment in February and April, returned to Tulagi harbor to refuel and resupply for her next sortie. Following provisioning, she came alongside the fuel barge Erskine Phelps in the morning of April 7th and began to take on fuel. Around midday, a flight of Japanese Aichi D3A Type 99 "Val" Dive Bombers appeared on the horizon and made an attack on the Allied ships and shore installations around Tulagi Harbor. Caught in a highly vulnerable position, the deck crew of the Moa raced to their battle stations and attempted to defend their ship while the engineering crew attempted to disconnect fuel lines and get the engine started so she could get underway and distance herself from the fuel barge. Japanese pilots were quick to single out the lightly armed and vulnerable Moa, and a single 'Val' made a diving attack on the ship, releasing its full bomb load before breaking off. The centerline-mounted 500lb bomb was perfectly aimed and struck the Moa directly amidships, easily tearing through her lightly armored superstructure and deck before detonating in her engine room, killing five members of her engineering crew outright, seriously injuring several others and blowing out a large hole in her hull. The two wing mounted bombs near-missed the ship on either side, but their detonations caused shockwave damage to the Moa's hull in addition to causing more injuries to her topside crew. The damage to the Moa was fatal, and she quickly began to sink as massive amounts of water entered her engine rooms. As her crew scrambled over the rail of the ship, the Moa rolled to her Starboard (right) side and sank at this location on April 7th, 1943, four minutes after she was attacked. Five members of her crew were killed and seven were severely injured in the attack.

Today the wreck of the HMNZS Moa is a popular dive site for tourists visiting Tulagi, and lies on an even keel in 114ft of water.

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