Douglas William Blacklaws

Born 18 Mar 1905 - Died 14 May 1941

Service number: WWII 495 AWMM
Also known as: —
Armed force / branch: Navy AWMM
Last rank: Lieutenant/Military AWMM Royal Naval Reserve, HMS Puriri AWMM
War: World War II, 1939-1945 AWMM

Douglas William Blacklaws — Portrait, Weekly News - This image may be subject to copyright

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Biographical information

Lieutenant Douglas William Blacklaws (495), Royal Naval Reserve (NZ Division), was born in Aberdeen on 20 April 1903 and trained at the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth before entering the mercantile marine. A qualified master mariner, he joined the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand in 1925, serving on trans-Tasman and Pacific routes including RMS Aorangi and RMS Monowai.

Aware of the growing threat of war, he enlisted in the Royal Naval Reserve (NZ Division) as early as 1935 and was mobilised in October 1939. In May 1941 he was called from leave to act as a last – minute commanding officer of the newly commissioned minesweeper HMS Puriri, part of the 25th Minesweeper Flotilla operating from Auckland.

On 14 May 1941, while searching for a reported drifting mine off Bream Head, Puriri struck a German mine laid during earlier raider operations. The vessel exploded and sank within minutes. Twenty – six crew were rescued; five, including Lieutenant Blacklaws, were lost. At the time, the presence of German mines in New Zealand waters was not widely acknowledged, and the loss stood as the only Royal New Zealand Navy vessel sunk in New Zealand waters during World War II.

He left a wife, an acclaimed soprano, Ruth Aline Blacklaws, who was pregnant with their second child. Their father’s name is commemorated at the New Zealand Naval Memorial, Devonport, and in the Hall of Memories at Auckland War Memorial Museum (Profile written for “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 initiative by Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand).

Douglas Blacklaws was the son of William and Georgina Hunter Blacklaws; husband of Ruth Aline Blacklaws of Herne Bay, Auckland, New Zealand.

Blacklaws was one of the five crew of the coaster SS Puriri, a minesweeper, killed when the vessel was sunk by a mine.

HMNZS Puriri was a mine sweeper. It sank off Bream Head when it hit a drifting mine. Five crew died and five were injured. In all 26 crew members were picked up.

There is a biography of Douglas Blacklaws written by his son-in-law available for download in the Documents section of this record. AWMM

Sources

External links: RNZN Communicators Association website: HMS Puriri
http://rnzncomms.org/ourhistory/hms-puriri/
Further Reference
Mike Cunningham photograhs of the unveiling. (May, 2011). Northern Advocate.
http://www.northernadvocate.co.nz/photos/hms-puriri-memorial-at-ocean-beach/8158/#num=1&id=hms-puriri-memorial-at-ocean-beach
Further Reference
Minesweeper lost. Evening Post, Volume CXXXI, Issue 113, 15 May 1941, Page 10
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=EP19410515.2.64&srpos
Further Reference
Commonwealth War Graves Commission record
https://www.cwgc.org/find-records/find-war-dead/casualty-details/2563829
Sources Used
Record Book of Naval Personnel - c.1920-1945 - Lists Navy number, alphabetical list of names of ratings trained in England, numerical lists of officers. Archives New Zealand, R21346617, AAYT 8495 N12
https://collections.archives.govt.nz/web/arena/search/#/entity/aims-archive/R21346617
Further Reference
On an armed merchant cruiser during trials: New Zealand's first converted vessel on a test in the Hauraki Gulf. On an armed merchant cruiser during trials. Top and middle: sailors and test-firing gun; Lower left: gun telephone-operator; Lower middle: (from left) Lieutenant Greening, Lieutenant Commander Lewis, Lieutenant Watson and Lieutenant Blacklands [Blacklaw]; Lower right: cooks in the galley. Supplement to the Auckland Weekly News, 9 October 1940, p.32. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19401009-32-03
https://kura.aucklandlibraries.govt.nz/digital/collection/photos/id/295931
Further Reference
Navigation officers on the bridge of the New Zealand armed merchant cruiser during her trials on Monday at Auckland. From the left, Lieutenant Blacklaw, R.N.R., LieuL-Commander H. G. A. Lewis, R;N., and Lieutenant Greening, R.N. Top left, firing a test round from one of the 6-inch guns of the merchant cruiser in the course of her trials. Top right, cooks preparing a,meal in the galley. Evening Post, Volume c, Issue 82, 3 October 1940, Page 9
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19401003.2.46.3
Further Reference
References: The Evening Post
Auckland Museum. Roll of Honour, Auckland Province, 1939 - 1945. Auckland War Memorial Museum Library. MS 93/139.
This record was part of “A Flight to Remember”, an Anzac Day 2026 commemorative partnership between Online Cenotaph and Air New Zealand, where service stories were shared onboard a dawn flight from Auckland to Sydney.

The development of the Online Cenotaph is an ongoing process; updates, new images and records are added weekly. In some cases, records have yet to be confirmed by Museum staff, and there could be mistakes or omissions in the information provided.

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Douglas William Blacklaws