HMNZS WAIKATO (F-55)

'HMNZS Waikato (F55)' was a Leander Batch 2TA frigate of the Royal New Zealand Navy. She was one of two Leanders built for the RNZN the other being the Batch 3 HMNZS Canterbury. She was one of two New Zealand ships which relieved British ships of the Armilla patrol during the Falklands conflict freeing British ships for deployment. The HMNZS Waikato was decommissioned from the Royal New Zealand Navy in 1998 and bought off the Government for $1. She was stripped in the Northland port of Opua and sunk off the coast of Tutukaka on 18 December 2000 as an artificial reef. In 2002, the sunken Waikato's bow was separated from the rest of the ship in heavy weather.