deployment was somewhat marred by the refusal by the New Zealand Ministry of External Affairs and British ambassadors to allow Royalist to dock with RN ships at Tokyo or Yokohama. According to the Royal Navy attaché in Tokyo, the RNZN sailors "could not afford the one pound per minute price in the Ginza nightclubs and bars." The captain of Royalist, J.P. Vallant replied to the Deputy Secretary of Defence in Wellington, "..find it quaint that ... the New Zealand navy is persona non grata in the Tokyo Bay area." Royalist was confined to Japanese provincial ports with New Zealand diplomats persuading the local police chiefs against a curfew and to keep bars open 24 hours. After further shore leave in Bangkok, Singapore, and Subic Bay, Royalist returned to New Zealand, after a valiant repair of a milking boiler and turbine en route. It was unable to make its final scheduled 1966 visit for Waitangi Day (6 February) and tour of the New Zealand ports, and was effectively paid off five months early. Decommissioning and fate Royalist was paid off on 4 June 1966 and, after eleven years in the RNZN, Royalist reverted to Royal Navy control in 1967. She was sold for scrap to the Nissho Co, Japan, in November 1967 and was towed from Auckland to Osaka on 31 December 1967. Notes Citations Bibliography External links Dido-class cruisers Ships built on the River Clyde 1942 ships World War II cruisers of the United Kingdom Dido-class cruisers of the Royal New Zealand Navy