One of the Navy's biggest ships, the HMNZS Endeavour, berthed for its final time this morning in Auckland's Devonport following 30 years of service.
The ship has been deployed throughout the Pacific, covering 826,000 nautical miles, and came to the end of its final journey this morning.
Navy crew marked the occasion by performing a powerful haka on the wharf, which was returned by more crew on the ship's deck.
The ship was welcomed with a water salute as it sailed into Devonport, with a 122-metre long pennant flying on the ship's mast.
The custom was inherited from the Royal Navy before the Napoleonic Wars when it was a tradition to fly a 'Paying-off Pennant' when they left their fleet to return to their home port to 'Pay-Off'.
The Endeavour's being replaced by HMNZS Aotearoa, the navy's largest-ever ship, which is currently being built at a cost of just under half a billion dollars.
The ship will be formally decommissioned on December 15.
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