The light cruisers HMS Achilles and Ajax saw action under the British flag at the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939, but most New Zealand actions in the Second World War were facing the Japanese in the Pacific.

Perhaps the best known RNZN action was the Davids and Goliath victory of minesweepers HMNZS Kiwi and Moa over a Japanese submarine that outweighed and outgunned both of them.

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