Westmoreland
Westmoreland was arguably the ship that brought about the greatest change in New Zealand tribal warfare.
In 1821 resident chief Hongi Hika returned to the Bay of Islands on Westmoreland, having gone with missionary Thomas Kendall to England to meet King George IV. While there the king gifted Hongi with a huge amount of firearms and a suit of armour. With so many weapons at his disposal, Hongi Hika was able to easily extract revenge on his enemy neighbours whose traditional weapons were no match for the muskets.
What had previously been inter-tribal skirmishes were now full scale assaults that resulted in unprecedented numbers of deaths.
In 1821 resident chief Hongi Hika returned to the Bay of Islands on Westmoreland, having gone with missionary Thomas Kendall to England to meet King George IV. While there the king gifted Hongi with a huge amount of firearms and a suit of armour. With so many weapons at his disposal, Hongi Hika was able to easily extract revenge on his enemy neighbours whose traditional weapons were no match for the muskets.
What had previously been inter-tribal skirmishes were now full scale assaults that resulted in unprecedented numbers of deaths.