SHELLY BAY AIR FORCE BASE

- ARTICLE -

Air Force base, Shelly Bay,
 Wellington,  New Zealand..

© Darcy Waters 2002

Pre WW2
WW2
Post WW2

Pre WW2

Perched at the bottom of the western side of Mount Crawford (on the Miramar Peninsula) in Wellington, New Zealand was the Shelly Bay Air Force Base. The Air Force were only the latest branch of the Armed Forces to occupy Shelly Bay.

A big earthquake that hit Wellington in 1855 lifted the land out of the sea creating the shelf along which Wellington's urban motorway skirts the western edge of the harbour. The same 'quake created beaches at the various bays around the foothills of Mount Crawford on Wellington's Miramar Peninsula.

Going back to 1885 Shelly bay was selected as suitable for relocating the Submarine Mining Depot which was at the time located in Thorndon and Mahanga Bay. However it wasn't until the following year that the Depot was relocated with haste due to a "Russian Scare" (At the time the Russians were the enemy of the British Empire).

The minefield for which this depot was never actually laid however all shore based facilities were completed. Fort Balance on the other side of the Peninsula had a control room for remotely detonating mines within the field.

The responsibilities and depot were transferred to the Navy in 1907.

In 1914 some munitions stores were built and the small tramway connecting the depot with its wharf was extended to service them. The following year saw the Public Works Dept. build the Government Magazine there, which they operated. However due to the fact that the tram trolleys of the PWD were of a different gauge to the Defence tram trolleys and the PWD replacing the track third rail was added in 1916 so both PWD and Defence tram trolleys could be used.

To Top of page

WW2 period

Early in 1942 trees were cleared from the site and excavations dug for the magazines. In April the contract was let for the construction work for the armament depot situated on the hillside behind Shelly Bay. This involved the construction of ten magazine buildings, laboratory, office, garage and also a house for an ordnance officer. These buildings had a combined floor area of 20,845 square feet and were occupied by the end of 1942.

Meanwhile in May of 1942 reclamation work started in Shelly Bay and the adjacent northward bay for the creation of flat land space for the naval base HMNZS Cook itself. This was done by excavating adjacent hillsides and using it as fill for reclamation work. By the end of 1942 reclamation work had progressed far enough that construction of the base could start. The buildings were constructed as flat land and manpower became available.

While the reclamation work was occurring, dredging of the bay in preparation for the wharves was taking place. The wharves themselves were started on October of 1942.
By the time HMNZS Cook was complete it had facilities and quarters for personnel as well as workshops, shipwrights shop, and a small hospital. The buildings had a combined floor space of 69,050 square feet. While the wharf and breastwork totalled 37,200 square feet and had 1,200 feet of bearthage. Slipways and workshops were provided with "sideslipping" ways off the main slipway. These were for servicing the "Fairmile" Launches.

In April of 1946 HMNZS Cook was transferred over to the RNZAF and became known as the Shelly Bay Air Force Base.

To Top of page

Post WW2

Since then Shelly Bay has been occupied by the RNZAF. In recent years it has been used primarily as accommodation for air staff based in Wellington as well as having a catering unit and responsible for the military air freight terminal at Wellington Airport.

By early 1979 Shelly Bay provided administration for 300 personnel while accommodating 100 men and in the early 1980's about 150 people were based at Shelly Bay (including 20 civilians).

One of the few major changes to the buildings was the construction of the Combined Mess building in 1985 at the north end of the base.

In 1994 the evening post in an article published on the 7th February 1994 said that the Air Force says it has no plans to move out of Shelly Bay. And yet the following year saw on the 30th June 1995 the RNZAF lower it's ensign for the last time at Shelly bay with it's official decommissioning.

By the 29th July only 52 RNZAF personnel remained.

The Wellington Civic Trust held a public seminar entitled "Miramar Headland: Prospects and Possibilities on the 24th September 1995. The Shelly Bay Air Force base was part of the area discussed. There was a strong consensus that the headland should be retained as open space for passive recreational use. However with regards with Shelly Bay it was generally accepted that any use of Shelly Bay should be compatible with the use of the rest of the headland.

At the time of writing this profile, the future of both Shelly Bay and the Headland are still uncertain with issues involving the Port of Wellington (formerly Wellington Harbour Board), Wellington City Council, Wellington Regional Council and Defence Dept.

The "public" road that runs through the base is not actually the legal road - which follows the original coastline and actually passes through a number of the buildings.

Walking around the buildings it's not hard to imagine that you've gone back in time as all the buildings but the Combined Mess are World War 2 vintage (or earlier). The only thing that ruins this illusion is the absence of uniformed military personnel (and the presence of modern cars).
For "Wellywood" (as the film industry calls Wellington) this would be a valuable asset for filming if the buildings can be retained with their exteriors preserved. A military base is not a place where one can usually film and so retaining the appearance of a decommissioned site would be of value to film crews looking to film at such a site. (If Shelly Bay and Fort Dorset were still active even I would never have had permission to photograph them).

To Top of page

Bibliography

* Various Evening Post and Dominion Articles

* Site visits.

* Miramar Peninsula: Prospects and Possibilities Seminar
   24th September 1995,
   St Patrick's College gym, Kilbirnie, Wellington N.Z.

* Official War History of the Public Works Dept.
   F. G. Grattan

* Wellington's Defence Tramways,
   Paul Napier,
   The N.Z. Railway Observer, winter 1998

* SERCO map and Building register page.