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Story: Law of the sea

A historic piupiu

A historic piupiu

When the battleship HMS New Zealand toured New Zealand in 1913, a Māori chief presented Captain Lionel Halsey with a piupiu (flax garment) and a greenstone tiki (pendant), with instructions to wear them when the vessel was engaged in fighting. The ship took part in three major North Sea battles during the First World War, including the battle of Jutland, without being seriously damaged. In 2005 the piupiu was returned to the Royal New Zealand Navy by Captain Halsey’s family. Following a ceremony at the navy’s Te Taua Moana Marae, it was placed in the National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy in Auckland, for safekeeping.

Using this item

National Museum of the Royal New Zealand Navy

by Jane Reilly

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How to cite this page

Bill Mansfield, Law of the sea – Control of the oceans, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/6960/a-historic-piupiu (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Bill Mansfield, published 2 March 2009.

Comments

Kath Tudor
10 February 2014
It is lovely to see a picture of the piupiu because I grew up with this amazing story. My grandfather Giovanni (John) Trafani was in the Navy and on the HMS New Zealand in the Battle of Jutland in 1913. My mother, Audrey Tudor, aged 92, still loves to tell the story about the Maori chief coming on board the ship and giving what she thought was a cloak to the ships' captain. She says: 'Dad said when they got to New Zealand a Maori chief came aboard with his entourage and gave a Maori blessing on the ship. The Maori chieftain said the ship will go into battle but it won't sink. He then put his hand on the after-gun turret and said the ship will be hit here but won't sink as along as the captain was wearing the Maori 'mat'. At this time it was unknown whether the ship was to go into battle. When it was under fire in the Battle of Jutland the sailors, including my grandfather, sent a petition to the ship's bridge to ask the captain to wear the Maori 'mat'. The captain obliged and wore the 'cloak' and although the HMS New Zealand was hit it didn't sink, the ships either side of it however were sunk'. My mother is too elderly to travel now but she really appreciated seeing the piupiu on your website and to hear others tell the tale. My sisters and I always wanted to know what the 'cloak' looked like and now we do thanks to your museum.