Mick wrote:
Ivefound out a little information about the moke(s) in the Royal New Zealand Navy.
It seems that many ships such as HMNZS Waikato, Taranaki, Otago and Monowai amongst others had a Mini Moke onboard.
In many cases they were gifted by the province in which the ship was named. They were (incredibly) stored onboard, lashed down on the fantail of the ships they were attached to. Anyone who has worked onboard a naval ship will know just how little space there is for anything which does not perform a role on board a ship, and interestingly, just how exposed the fantail (at the very aft end of the ship) is to the weather and the sea. Particularly on a rooster tailing Type 12 Frigate.
The cars were naturally very prone to being very wet nearly all of the time, and took a lot of maintenance to keep going. Taranaki's Moke got a particular pounding in a Typhoon out of Hong Kong and took a lot of effort to get going again. There's stories of them blasting up and down the highways of the ports of call such as Pearl Harbour. I can only imagine the mishief Jack would have gotten to in port with a Mini Moke.
The cars were difficult to handle, there being no dedicated davit for craning the moke onto the wharf. So they relied on shore cranage to get them off. If you pulled into a remote port without a crane, then the car stayed on the ship.
On completion of their service life, they were apparently gifted back to the province they came from, if they were in any state to be driven at all.
So there you go.
There's information popping up on google about them if you have a look, but with a small tablet and at work I haven't had time to take a closer look at the images and links.vBut Ex-Kiwi Jack, John McAlpine recalls them very well.
I hope this is of interest to anyone. I've got a contact at the Devonport Museum who may be able to help with more information if anyone is after more.
cheers
Mick
Thanks Mick...inner-resting...maybe they were stowed on their sides under a tarp
Can't help thinking that slinging a Moke over the side would hardly be a challenge....
As for "I can only imagine the mishief Jack would have gotten to in port with a Mini Moke" - well at least they couldn't negotiate a bar top like some motor scooters could
Ask John if he knows my friend Hanna
