HMNZS TASMAN

The Navy leased four acres on the oil-tank reclamation to house the crew of the anti-submarine boom and then decided to build barracks for 200 officers and ratings as a training establishment.  HMNZS Tasman was commissioned in January 1944 and offered courses in signalling, telegraphy and cookery for both men and women.  Up to eighty Wrens were stationed at Tasman at any one time, and their parades added a distinctive touch to the military presence in Lyttelton during the last year of the Second World War. Thanks, John B for the information