NZHistory, New Zealand history online - nuclear ships

USS Halibut nuclear submarine

The American nuclear submarine USS Halibut visited New Zealand in 1960. The welcome the crew received is in marked contrast to that accorded to US nuclear powered ships and submarines in the late 1970s and 1980s.

Film courtesy of Archives New Zealand - Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga
Reference: Pictorial Parade No 101, pt 1
See more about this film on Archives New Zealand's Audio Visual wiki
Permission of Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga must be obtained before any re-use of this material.

Reddit Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

Media Group:

video

NZ history:

Nuclear-free New Zealand

The 1960s

Video thumbnail:

Video URL:

http://audiovisual.archives.govt.nz/filmplayer/Pictorial Parade No. 101 Part 1.flv

tags:

nuclear ships

USS Buchanan refused entry to NZ

The New Zealand Labour government refused the USS Buchanan entry on the grounds that the United States would neither confirm nor deny that the warship had nuclear capability. David Lange’s government, elected in July 1984, had made clear its intention to pursue policies that would establish New Zealand as a nuclear-free country. This was a popular stand, and by the end of the year nearly 40 towns and boroughs had declared themselves nuclear-free. Labour announced its decision to ban ships that were either nuclear-powered or -armed. The US maintained its position and a stalemate was reached.

The US decided to test the new government’s resolve. In late 1984 it requested a visit by the guided missile destroyer USS Buchanan. The Buchanan was an older ship, and the Americans hoped that the likelihood it was not nuclear-armed would allow it to slip under the political radar. ‘Near-uncertainty was not now enough for us,’ Lange recalled. ‘Whatever the truth of its armaments, its arrival in New Zealand would be seen as a surrender by the government.’ He hoped that the Americans would offer to send something less ambiguous, but it was the Buchanan or nothing.

On 4 February 1985 the government said no. Within days Washington severed visible intelligence and military ties with New Zealand and downgraded political and diplomatic exchanges. US Secretary of State George Schultz confirmed that the United States would no longer maintain its security guarantee to New Zealand, although the ANZUS treaty structure remained in place.

Image: USS Buchanan anti-nuclear cartoon

Last decade - NZ and the Cold War

USS Truxton anti-nuclear protest

Second Cold War

Soviet-American tensions revived in the late 1970s as ‘détente’ (co-operation) gave way to a renewed arms race. Both the United States and the Soviet Union enhanced their nuclear weapons arsenals and deployed long-range missiles in Europe. With much of Western Europe and the Soviet Union within range of nuclear attack, the world braced itself for a potentially devastating strike. This proved to be the last major crisis of the Cold War. In 1986 Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan agreed on a major weapons reduction programme, heralding a thawing of relations between the superpowers.

The Berlin Wall

Built in 1961, the 112-kilometre Berlin Wall ran right through the city, separating West Berlin from East Berlin and East Germany. Designed to stop East German citizens fleeing to the West, it was not entirely successful. Between 1961 and 1989 around 5000 people successfully defected to West Berlin. Another 136 were killed while trying to escape.* The Wall was torn down in 1989 following the collapse of communist rule in East Germany.

*Source: Berlin Wall Memorial

The crisis in Europe reignited a peace movement worldwide. For New Zealanders there was a South Pacific focus. Initially provoked by French nuclear testing, from 1975 this was directed more at the United States’ nuclear presence in the region. Reinforced by world trends, the New Zealand movement exploded in size in the early 1980s.

Cast adrift from ANZUS, 1986

Nuclear-free New Zealand

In 1985 the fourth Labour government clashed with the United States over its ban on port visits by nuclear-powered or nuclear-armed ships. This distanced New Zealand from its Cold War allies and led the United States to suspend its ANZUS obligations to New Zealand. Nevertheless, the depth of sentiment in New Zealand was such that the National Party adopted Labour’s ‘anti-nuclear’ stance in 1990. By then Soviet control had collapsed in east and central Europe, and the Cold War was approaching its end.

The Soviet Union collapses

The Berlin Wall came down in 1989. The demise of the Soviet Union itself at the end of 1991 completed the process. Some commentators saw the Soviet Union's disastorous war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) and their inability to keep pace with the United States in the nuclear arms race as a crucial factors. The collapse of Soviet power probably owed more to Eastern European resentment of Soviet domination and to internal factors, in particular the declining ability of the Soviet system to meet its citizens’ needs and the loss of legitimacy on the part of the country’s governing Communist Party.

Protest as USS Texas visits Auckland

The visit sparked anti-nuclear rallies on land and sea. Visits by nuclear ships became an election issue in 1984 and they were later banned by David Lange’s Labour government.

Visits from warships like the Texas had been controversial for a number of years. Two nuclear-powered cruisers, USS Truxtun and USS Long Beach, had attracted protest when they visited New Zealand in 1976. On each occasion, Civil Defence established a public safety headquarters for the duration of the visit. Similar action was taken for the visits of the submarines USS Pintado in 1978 and USS Haddo in 1979.

At issue was whether these ships were nuclear-armed as well as nuclear-powered. American policy was to ‘neither confirm nor deny’ this, and most allies chose not to ask – an arrangement that made many people uncomfortable.

Image: USS Truxtun enters Wellington Harbour

Sound clip: David Lange on nuclear ship visits

Prime Minister David Lange talks to an interviewer about the government's nuclear stance and ANZUS (1980).

Transcript

I have absolutely no plan to do that. I have been the subject of much representation by interests from the United States and Australia. In the run-up to the election and since the election, not the slightest sign of that buckling has taken place. As far as I am concerned, it is basic to our policy. It is in the interest of New Zealand security, and it is something which our friends will themselves accommodate to. We don't have, as a matter of an imperative, the duty to receive nuclear armaments into New Zealand or nuclear propulsion, and I know that our partners know that, and they will respect us when we insist on it

Do you believe that we will see the visit of an American nuclear warship to a New Zealand port between now and when we go to the next election?

No I don't. I don't think we will. I don't think we will, and I don't think that'll be the end of ANZUS either.

'Lange on nuclear stance and ANZUS', 1980s compilation disk

Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Reference no: COMP 2, 1980, tk47

Reddit Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

Sound clip: USS Truxtun anti-nuclear protest

Listen to a broadcast about the protest against the September 1980 visit to Wellington by the USS Truxtun.

Transcript

The Truxtun steamed into Wellington Harbour with no problems whatsoever. At about 7, a helicopter dropped a pilot on board, and she began moving soon after that through the narrow harbour entrance. At that moment about three protest boats shot out from Breaker Bay, but the Truxtun was too fast for them, and she left them wallowing in her wake.

She‘s now nearing her anchoring place off Kaiwharawhara; she seems to be just off the container wharf at the moment. The three or four protest boats are being flanked by police boats, which outnumber them by about three to one; they’re way behind the Truxtun now, and with the tide against them, and the weather, they’ve got no way of catching up.

On the harbour, this is Bronwyn Williams.

The USS Truxtun enters Wellington Harbour on 25 May 1982 surrounded by escort boats and a flotilla of protest vessels.

This was the third time the Truxtun had come to New Zealand; the previous visits were in 1976 and 1980.

Image courtesy Alexander Turnbull Library
Reference: EP/1982/1640/27
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Sound file from Radio New Zealand Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. Any re-use of this audio is a breach of copyright. To request a copy of the recording, contact Sound Archives Ngā Taonga Kōrero. ('USS Truxton nuclear protest' (1980), 1980s compilation disk. Reference number COMP 2, 1980, tk5)

Reddit Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

USS Buchanan anti-nuclear cartoon

‘Can’t understand all this fuss they’re making over radiation!’ On 4 February 1985 the Labour government refused the USS Buchanan entry to New Zealand ports on the grounds that the United States would neither confirm nor deny that the ship had nuclear capability.

Credit:

Alexander Turnbull Library
Cartoonist: Eric Heath
Reference: H-302-00x
Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any reuse of this image.

Reddit Twitter Facebook Google StumbleUpon

tags:

Ship visits - nuclear-free New Zealand

Ship visits and public opinion

USS Truxtun anti-nuclear protest

The visit of the nuclear-powered frigate USS Texas in 1983 sparked protest in New Zealand. An election was just around the corner, and the issue of nuclear ship visits would play a prominent part in the campaign.

Visits from warships like the Texas had been a controversial topic long before the 1984 election. Two nuclear-powered cruisers, the USS Truxtun and the USS Long Beach, had attracted protest when they visited New Zealand in 1976. On each occasion, Civil Defence established a public safety headquarters for the duration of the visit. Similar action was taken for the visits of the submarines USS Pintado in 1978 and USS Haddo in 1979. Clearly there was recognition of the risks posed by this technology.

At issue was whether these ships were nuclear armed as well as nuclear-powered. American policy was to 'neither confirm nor deny' this, and most allies chose not to ask – an arrangement that made many people uncomfortable.

Nuclear-free protest

Public opinion was increasingly in favour of banning these visits. Between 1978 and 1983 opposition to nuclear-armed ship visits rose from 32% to 72%. Few New Zealanders felt threatened by the Soviet Union (Britain and America's great bogey), but they feared the nuclear bomb and agreed with David Lange that 'there's only one thing worse than being incinerated by your enemies, and that's being incinerated by your friends'.

The National government under Robert Muldoon's leadership saw these visits as an important expression of New Zealand's support for ANZUS and the country's relationship with the United States.