I te tau 1909, i whakatau te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa ki te utu i te hoko o te kaipuke whawhai mo te Royal Navy, i kite i te mahi i te Pakanga Tuatahi o te Ao i Uropi. Na te whakatutukitanga o te Ture Tiaki Moana i te tau 1913 i hanga ai te New Zealand Naval Forces, hei wāhanga tonu o te Royal Navy. Ko te hoko tuatahi a te kāwanatanga o Aotearoa mō te New Zealand Naval Forces ko te waka cruiser, nāna i kawe ngā ope whenua o Aotearoa ki te noho ki te koroni Tiamana o Hāmoa
i te tau 1914. I kite a "Philomel" i etahi atu mahi i raro i te whakahau a te Royal Navy i te Mediterranean, te Moana Whero, me te Persian Gulf. I te tau 1917, kua pakaru ia, ka tukuna ki Aotearoa i reira i mahi ai ia hei kaipuke putunga i Wellington Harbour mo nga kaipuke maina. I te tau 1921 i whakawhitihia ia ki Auckland hei whakamahi hei kaipuke whakangungu.