The following is part of an article in "Navy Today" dated June 2005.

The article is written by Lt Cdr Gerry Wright RNZN (Rtd)

"  In June 1973, the third Labour Government, lead by Norman Kirk, dispatched HMNZS OTAGO to protest off Mururoa Atoll against the French Government's testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. In preparing OTAGO for this deployment the dockyard worked overtime to have the frigate, despite her age, as good as she was when new. The gas-tight citadel was better than new. Otago carried three media staff and a Cabinet Minister, the Hon Fraser Coleman, and spent 35 days at sea supported solely by the tanker HMAS SUPPLY.

Her protest attracted world media headlines including the lead spot on the BBC TV 6pm News six days running. In the month of July OTAGO broke not only the monthly record of radio-telephone calls to and from a ship but the annual record too. Mr Coleman nearly took up residence in the Radio Room talking to the world news media. TV clips were regularly dispatched via the tanker SUPPLY to Rarotonga from whence they were flown to NZ.

That was also the first Commonwealth operational deployment of PWOs (Lt Cdr Wright was one of them - Ed). OTAGO was later relieved on station by the then new CANTERBURY after she was withdrawn from her first Pearl Harbour work up."