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Ex-Royal Navy commander praised for saving lives after NZ naval ship sinks off Samoa

CREW AND PASSENGERS of MNZS Manawanui
Compiled by Samoa News staff

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A former Royal Navy officer who now serves in the Royal New Zealand Navy has been praised for her decision to evacuate everyone aboard the stricken HMNZS Manawanui.

Commander Yvonne Gray gave the order for all hands to abandon ship when it ran aground and caught fire off the coast of Samoa – it then listed heavily and 12 hours later was entirely submerged.

Chief of Navy, Rear Admiral Garin Golding, said she made the "right decision" to evacuate the 75 people aboard, which "saved lives".

He added: "Evacuating a ship at night is an incredibly complex and dangerous task."

Defense Minister Judith Collins says a Court of Inquiry will establish how the Navy ship crashed into a reef.

She called the evacuation "something of a triumph, frankly", given the difficult conditions.

Originally from Harrogate in Yorkshire, Cdr Gray took the helm of the RNZN's dive, hydrographic and salvage vessel HMNZS Manawanui in December 2022.

Her career began in the Royal Navy when she joined in 1993, after spending university holidays at a Sea Cadet facility in the Lake District.

She spent most of her junior career at sea, including on the aircraft carrier HMS Invincible and the minehunters Walney, Bridport and Cromer, after specializing as a Mine Warfare Officer.

After completing the Principal Warfare Officer course in 2004, she joined HMS Westminster as the PWO (Underwater) and Operations Officer, with operational experience in West Africa, Northern Europe and the Gulf.

Following a posting to the Maritime Warfare Centre in Portsmouth, she took the opportunity in 2009 to work with the Royal Australian Navy at HMAS Watson, Sydney.

Cdr Gray then moved to New Zealand in 2012 after a campervan holiday where she and her wife fell in love with the country.

Speaking to New Zealand's Navy Today magazine in 2022, she said: "How do we get to live here, we asked ourselves," adding: "The most obvious thing was to apply to join the Royal New Zealand Navy."

On taking command of HMNZS Manawanui, Cdr Gray said: "It was that opportunity that made my eyes light up."

(Source: Forces News)