US Navy Fleet Visit to Wellington, New Zealand 1925

The USS Seattle fires a salute off Oriental Bay as it enters Wellington's inner harbour. August 1925. Real photo postcard

Over at Canterbury Heritage, Mr. CH has a post on the US Navy's Pacific Fleet visit to the Port of Lyttelton in 1925.

This photo essay is a companion piece to CH's, based on a series 0f 7 real photo postcards recording the Fleet's visit to Wellington, New Zealand, headed up by the battleship USS Seattle, flagship of Admiral Robert E. Coontz, Commander in Chief of the United States Navy.

The real photo postcards were likely photographed & printed by the photographers accompanying the Fleet as happened during the 1908 Great White Fleet visit to Auckland on that fleet's around the world tour to show the Stars and Stripes to the world. Of interest to the real photo postcard collector is the stamp box on the reverse - a triangle with Gevaert within.

New Zealand Army Honour Guard presents arms at Pipitea Wharf, Wellington.
A movie camera can be seen mounted on the wall behind the guard adjacent to the sheds.

Official Welcome of the 1925 US Fleet at Parliament Buildings, Wellington

Top military brass turn out for the official welcome.
Unidentified individuals, ranks, and national origins.

The Californian dealer on eBay who offered these items for sale a couple of years ago didn't seem to know the difference between New Zealand and Australia so views of Melbourne and Wellington visits of the Fleet were intermixed. It is possible that the unidentified dignitaries in the above image are actually ones who were in attendance at the Melbourne welcome at the state legislature there.

Official reception for the 1925 US Fleet at the Wellington Town Hall.



Officers of the US Fleet attending a function or visiting some facility - given the HB Clothing Factory sign, this is most likely a visit to a Hallenstein Brothers Clothing Factory somewhere in New Zealand - Our good acquaintance the Canterbury Heritage blogmeister suggests in the comments below that the location is actually the Lyttelton railway station. Admiral Coontz is possibly the man 2nd from right, and woman immediately to left, Mrs Coontz (see photo below for further info.)

Since there is no caption or message on the reverse, the above event or visit is unidentified. In a touch of early sponsorship (?), signs for Buchanan's Whisky and HB's Clothing Factory. HB most likely is Hallenstein Brothers, a long established clothing manufacturer and retailer in New Zealand.

Admiral Coontz (most likely) in Maori cloak receives a hongi from a Maori guide while Mrs Coontz (in cloak) and US naval officers look on. Probably taken at Rotorua in the central North Island.

The Great White Fleet – Auckland August 1908

The Great White Fleet (GWF) of the US Navy was sent on a “Show the Flag” goodwill mission around the globe in 1908/1909 by President Teddy Roosevelt. So-called because the battleships were painted white, the fleet consisted of 16 battleships and accompanying support vessels, manned by 14,000 sailors and marines. By the time the 14 month voyage ended in Hampton Roads, Virginia, on February 22, 1909, the GWF had steamed some 46,000 miles.

The centennial of the Great White Fleet’s visit to New Zealand occurs this week.

USS Connecticut

The GWF was sent off from the Jamestown Exposition, Virginia on December 16th, 1907, proceeding around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America then north to San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, California in March 1908. On July 7, under the command of Rear Admiral Sperry, the fleet sailed for Hawaii and thence to Auckland, New Zealand.

On August 9, 1908, the Great White Fleet sailed into Waitemata harbour, Auckland, creating quite a spectacle and met with great warmth by the New Zealand public. Parades and a welcoming ceremony were held in Queen Street, the main street, leading from the wharves. A large arch at the lower end of Queen Street, festooned with ferns, welcomed the fleet as did street signs expressing greetings from various towns & neighbourhoods throughout New Zealand.

Panorama of the Great White Fleet from Devonport, Auckland

USS Connecticut (2 views)



USS Minnesota, and USS Georgia

Welcome Arch in lower Queen Street

Parade on Queen Street

This early visit of the Great White Fleet helped cement a growing relationship between New Zealand and the United States, despite New Zealand’s colonial ties to Great Britain. New Zealand and American forces were to fight side by side in the Pacific theatre during World War Two.

In the mid 1980s, reflecting growing public pressure for a nuclear ban, the Fourth Labour Government barred U.S. nuclear-powered and armed warships from New Zealand ports as part of its policy favouring a nuclear-free zone in the South Pacific and because of New Zealand's opposition to the Reagan's administration's escalation of tensions with the Soviet Union.

In February 1985, a port-visit request by the United States for the USS Buchanan was refused by New Zealand.

This policy change initiated a cooling in the relationship between the two countries at the military level, but has it also affected the diplomatic, political, and economic relationships up to the present, although both countries maintain friendly, albeit at times strained, relations. This nuclear ban has been maintained by governments of both major New Zealand political parties since 1984. During a recent visit to New Zealand in late July 2008 by US Secretary of State Rice there were some indications that the U.S. position may be thawing towards New Zealand but it is not likely that the military and other relationships will undergo a major shift in the remaining months of the Bush administration.