When the Royal New Zealand Navy was established in 1941, the cruiser became HMNZS Leander and continued the name's association with distant service. She exemplified the globally deployed light cruiser used for presence and trade protection, while sister ships Ajax and Achilles became famous at the River Plate. Leander's own most prominent battle in this account was Kolombangara, where a torpedo badly damaged her. After the war she also participated in the Corfu Channel episode, where mines, shore fire, and a British clearing operation created a dangerous early Cold War confrontation.
Chapter · 32:42-36:55
The 1931 Leander as a global cruiser
The interwar cruiser links New Zealand service, Kolombangara, and the dangerous postwar Corfu Channel crisis.