The country played a vital role in the Pacific theater and was involved in several significant naval campaigns, such as the Battle of Guadalcanal.The New Zealand government and its Allied partners took measures to ensure the defense of their territorial waters and mitigate the potential threats posed by enemy naval forces.[13] The freighter Kalingo (2047 tons) bound for New Plymouth was torpedoed and sunk by I-21 on 18 January 1943, when she was 110 miles east of Sydney, with the loss of 2 of her crew of 34.The U-boat continued south and failed to reach firing position on another merchant ship off East Cape on 13 January.[20] Claims that members of the submarine's crew landed in New Zealand are not correct, and this story appears to have been started by Timm as a joke.