During April 1947, the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN) was affected by a series of peaceful mutinies amongst the sailors and non-commissioned officers of four ships and two shore bases. The main cause was the poor rates of pay compared to the rest of the New Zealand Defence Force, and coincided with the release of a government review on the matter a year late, and without a promised backdating of pay to the review's original release date. Another major issue was the poor working and living conditions aboard RNZN ships, which were compounded by having no way to make dissatisfaction known through the chain of command or through lower-deck welfare committees; the latter could not discuss matters relating to pay, shipboard routine, or service conditions.