Naval Base Durban in

Durban harbour 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 Hemispher ...

is a

naval base A naval base, navy base, or military port is a military base, where warships and naval ships are docked when they have no mission at sea or need to restock. Ships may also undergo repairs. Some naval bases are temporary homes to aircraft that us ...

of the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prot ...

, situated on

Salisbury Island Salisbury Island may refer to: * Salisbury Island (California), United States * Salisbury Island (Nunavut), Canada *Salisbury Island (Russia) *Salisbury Island (Western Australia), Australia *Iona Island (New York), once known as Salisbury Island ...

, which is now joined to the mainland through land reclamation. It was formerly a full

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 An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

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

offshore patrol The Offshore Patrol (OSP) also known as the Mosquito Fleet was a small naval branch of the United States Army, intended for Littoral zone, inshore defense of the Commonwealth of the Philippines. It was active from February 9, 1939 to June 30, 19 ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on the side of the

Axis Powers The Axis powers, ; it, Potenze dell'Asse ; ja, 枢軸国 ''Sūjikukoku'', group=nb originally called the Rome–Berlin Axis, was a military coalition that initiated World War II and fought against the Allies. Its principal members were ...

and their ability to threaten the east coast of Africa prompted the construction of a new naval base on Salisbury Island. In the process of this construction the island was linked to the mainland by a causeway and the level of the land was raised three metres. Besides wharves the base facilities included barracks, workshops, a hospital as well as training facilities. A

floating dry dock Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and ...

and crane were also installed. The construction was however only completed after the war had ended.

References

Installations of the South African Navy {{SouthAfrica-mil-stub