Naval Base Simon's Town
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Naval Base Simon's Town
Naval Base Simon's Town is the South African Navy's largest naval base, situated at Simon's Town, near Cape Town. The base provides support functions to Fleet Command. History A small dockyard facility was first established in Simon's Town by the Dutch East India Company in 1743. This was taken over by the British Royal Navy (RN) in the 1790s, under whom the facility was further developed over the following century and a half. A pair of handsome stone storehouses dating from the 1740s stand on the seafront where they were built by the Dutch East India Company, marking the initial location of the Yard. Immediately adjacent is the earliest Royal Naval building on the site: a combined mast-house, boathouse and sail loft; dating from 1815, it now serves as the South African Naval Museum. Over the next few decades, the site was developed gradually, with steam engineering and coaling facilities being added mid-century. In 1885, the government of the Cape Colony transferred the a ...
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Simon's Town
Simon's Town ( af, Simonstad), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to  Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of False Bay, on the eastern side of the Cape Peninsula. For more than two centuries it has been a naval base and harbour (first for the British Royal Navy and now the South African Navy). The town is named after Simon van der Stel, an early governor of the Cape Colony. Topography The land rises steeply from near the water's edge and the town is boxed in along the shoreline by the heights above. The small harbour itself is protected from swells by a breakwater that was built with thousands of huge blocks of sandstone quarried out of the face of the mountain above. Simon's Town is now in effect a suburb of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality. The Simon's Town railway station is the terminus of the Southern Line, a railway line that runs south of the ...
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British Admiralty
The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of its history, from the early 18th century until its abolition, the role of the Lord High Admiral was almost invariably put "in commission" and exercised by the Lords Commissioner of the Admiralty, who sat on the governing Board of Admiralty, rather than by a single person. The Admiralty was replaced by the Admiralty Board in 1964, as part of the reforms that created the Ministry of Defence and its Navy Department (later Navy Command). Before the Acts of Union 1707, the Office of the Admiralty and Marine Affairs administered the Royal Navy of the Kingdom of England, which merged with the Royal Scots Navy and the absorbed the responsibilities of the Lord High Admiral of the Kingdom of Scotland with the unification of the Kingdom of G ...
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Offshore Patrol Vessel
A patrol boat (also referred to as a patrol craft, patrol ship, or patrol vessel) is a relatively small naval vessel generally designed for coastal defence, border security, or law enforcement. There are many designs for patrol boats, and they generally range in size. They may be operated by a nation's navy, coast guard, police, or customs, and may be intended for marine (" blue water"), estuarine (" green water"), or river (" brown water") environments. Per their name, patrol boats are primarily used to patrol a country's exclusive economic zone (EEZ), but they may also be used in other roles, such as anti- smuggling, anti-piracy, fishery patrols, immigration law enforcement, or search and rescue. Depending on the size, organization, and capabilities of a nation's armed forces, the importance of patrol boats may range from minor support vessels that are part of a coast guard, to flagships that make up a majority of a navy's fleet. Their small size and relatively low cost m ...
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Port Of Durban
The Port of Durban, commonly called Durban Harbour, is the largest and busiest shipping terminal in sub-Saharan Africa. It handles up to 31.4 million tons of cargo each year. It is the fourth largest container terminal in the Southern Hemisphere, handling approximately 4.5 million TEU in 2019. Port statistics * Durban is the busiest port in South Africa and generates more than 60% of revenue. * It is the second largest container port in Africa (after Port Said in Egypt). * It is the fourth largest container port in Southern Hemisphere. (First is Jakarta in Indonesia, second is Surabaya in Indonesia, third is Santos in Brazil). * The distance around the port is . * Rail tracks total . * The port has 58 berths which are operated by more than 20 terminal operators. * Over 4,500 commercial vessels call at the port each year. The port has recently been widened. The harbor entrance depth is now in the approach channel decreasing to 16 metres within the harbour. The navigation w ...
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Naval Base Durban
Naval Base Durban in Durban harbour is a naval base of the South African Navy, situated on Salisbury Island, which is now joined to the mainland through land reclamation. It was formerly a full naval base until it was downgraded to a naval station in 2002. With the reduction in naval activities much of the island was taken over by the Army as a general support base, but they left after a few years resulting in the abandoned section becoming derelict. In 2012 a decision was made to renovate and expand the facilities back up to a full naval base to accommodate the South African Navy's offshore patrol flotilla. In December 2015 it was officially redesignated Naval Base Durban. Three Warrior-class offshore patrol vessels; , and are based in Durban. When the new offshore and inshore patrol vessels enter service they will replace the Warrior-class vessels. History Second World War The entry of Japan into the Second World War on the side of the Axis Powers and their ability to ...
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Flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish language, Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' (Naval fleet, fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a Tactical formation, formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. Composition A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same ship class, class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or Minesweeper (ship), minesweepers. Groups of larger warships are usually called Squadron (naval), squadrons, but similar units of non-capital ships may be called squadrons in some instances, and flotillas in others. Formations including more than one capital ship, e.g. man-of-war, men-of-war, battleships, and aircraft carriers, typically alongside smaller ships and support craft, are typically called naval fleet, fleets, each portion led by a capital ship being a squadron or task force (see reference below). A flotilla is usually commanded by a rear admiral, a Commodore (rank), commodore or a Capt ...
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Simonstown Agreement
The Simonstown Agreement (sic) was a naval cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the (then-officially) Union of South Africa signed . Under the agreement, the Royal Navy (RN) gave up its naval base at Simon's Town, South Africa, and transferred command of the South African Navy (SAN) to the government of South Africa. In return, South Africa promised the use of the Simonstown base to Royal Navy ships. The agreement also permitted South Africa to buy six anti-submarine frigates, ten coastal minesweepers and four seaward defence boats from the UK valued at £18 million over the next eight years. In effect, the agreement was a mutual defence arrangement aimed at protecting sea routes between the UK and the Middle East. The agreement was controversial because of South Africa's policy of racial separation known as ''apartheid''. In the planning stages, the agreement was intended to include: * the combined use of Simon’s Tow ...
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High Commissioner For Southern Africa
The British office of high commissioner for Southern Africa was responsible for governing British possessions in Southern Africa, latterly the protectorates of Basutoland (now Lesotho), the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana) and Swaziland (now Eswatini), as well as for relations with autonomous governments in the area. The office was combined with that of Governor of Cape Colony from 1847 to 1901, with that of the governor of Transvaal Colony 1901 to 1910, and with that of Governor-General of South Africa from 1910 to 1931. The British government appointed the Governor-General as High Commissioner under a separate commission. In addition to responsibility for Basutoland, Bechuanaland and Swaziland, he held reserve powers concerning the interests of the native population of Southern Rhodesia. The post was abolished on 1 August 1964. List of officeholders The high commission territories The high commissioner was responsible for governing the following territories, in ea ...
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William Palmer, 2nd Earl Of Selborne
William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of England in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is sometimes abbreviated "Wm." Shortened familiar versions in English include Will, Wills, Willy, Willie, Liam, Bill, and Billy. A common Irish form is Liam. Scottish diminutives include Wull, Willie or Wullie (as in Oor Wullie or the play ''Douglas''). Female forms are Willa, Willemina, Wilma and Wilhelmina. Etymology William is related to the German given name ''Wilhelm''. Both ultimately descend from Proto-Germanic ''*Wiljahelmaz'', with a direct cognate also in the Old Norse name ''Vilhjalmr'' and a West Germanic borrowing into Medieval Latin ''Willelmus''. The Proto-German ...
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Selborne Graving Dock
The Selborne Graving Dock is a dry dock in Simon's Town, South Africa. It is situated within the Naval Base Simon's Town. It is named for William Palmer, 2nd Earl of Selborne, the High Commissioner for Southern Africa at the time of construction. History On , a tender for the construction of a yard was awarded to Sir John Jackson Ltd. The construction used Portland cement from England, as well as granite blocks from Norway. The foundation stone The cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entire structure. Over t ... was laid on , and the dry dock was opened on , by the Duke of Connaught. The Dockyard (including the dry dock) was handed to South Africa in 1957, as part of the Simonstown Agreement. Images File:Construction of Simon's Town dry dock 1906.jpg, Construction in 1906 File:SA Naval Museum ...
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Drydock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, and repair of ships, boats, and other watercraft. History Greco-Roman world The Greek author Athenaeus of Naucratis (V 204c-d) reports something that may have been a dry dock in Ptolemaic Egypt in the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator (221-204 BC) on the occasion of the launch of the enormous '' Tessarakonteres'' rowing ship. It has been calculated that a dock for a vessel of such a size might have had a volume of 750,000 gallons of water. In Roman times, a shipyard at Narni, which is still studied, may have served as a dry dock. Medieval China The use of dry docks in China goes at least as far back the 10th century A.D. In 1088, Song Dynasty scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031–1095) wrote in his '' Dream Pool Essays'': Re ...
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Breakwater (structure)
A breakwater is a permanent structure constructed at a coastal area to protect against tides, currents, waves, and storm surges. Part of a coastal management system, breakwaters are installed to minimize erosion, and to protect anchorages, helping isolate vessels within them from marine hazards such as prop washes and wind-driven waves. A breakwater, also known in some contexts as a jetty, may be connected to land or freestanding, and may contain a walkway or road for vehicle access. On beaches where longshore drift threatens the erosion of beach material, smaller structures on the beach, usually perpendicular to the water's edge, may be installed. Their action on waves and current is intended to slow the longshore drift and discourage mobilisation of beach material. In this usage they are more usually referred to as groynes. Purposes Breakwaters reduce the intensity of wave action in inshore waters and thereby provide safe harbourage. Breakwaters may also be small stru ...
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