TheNaval Communications Station Irirangi of theRoyal New Zealand Navy, which is 2 km south ofWaiouru and near theWaiouru Army Camp, was established in World War II (1943) as theWaiouru W/T (Wireless Telegraph)Station. Its location, in the middle of the North Island, put it far away from the sea.
The station was commissioned in July 1943, and at the peak period of the war had an establishment of about 150 personnel, of whom more than eighty were women, many from theWomen's Royal New Zealand Naval Service. Tens of thousands of code groups were handled each day, mostly for theBritish Pacific Fleet in Japanese waters. A dozen or more circuits were operated simultaneously and teleprinter land lines fed the signals to the Navy Office in Wellington.
In 1951 the station was designatedHMNZS Irirangi. ("Irirangi is aMāori-language word, meaning "spirit voice".)
In the late 1980s the equipment was modernised, and in October 1991 a feasibility study into the remote controlling of all facilities from theDevonport Naval Base was completed. The Chief of Naval Staff issued a directive that "the remoting ofIrirangi is to be implemented forthwith."
Irirangi was decommissioned on 20 May 1993. TheGovernment Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) is now responsible for signals intelligence, with a radio communications intercept station atTangimoana and a satellite communications intercept station atWaihopai. The previous functions ofIrirangi are now carried out by a small contingent of Naval maintenance staff.
39°31′42″S175°39′37″E / 39.52824°S 175.66021°E /-39.52824; 175.66021