SAS ''Assegaai'', formerly known as SAS ''Johanna van der Merwe'', was a 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 ...

. Decommissioned in 2003, SAS ''Assegaai'' is the only one of the former three ''Daphné''-class submarines to have been retained for preservation as a museum boat, the other two have been cut up and sold for scrap. The ''Daphné''-class submarines have since been replaced by the Type 209, or s.

''Daphné''-class submarines

On 10 February 1967, after nearly two years of negotiations, an order was placed with the French Government to provide three ''Daphné'' (Dolphin)-class submarines in addition to providing the training and infrastructure to run and maintain them. The first of these submarines, , was launched on 18 March 1969 - the date accepted as being the birth of the SAN's submarine service. The second boat was , and the last of the three, . In 1999 the three boats were renamed , and SAS ''Assegaai'' respectively. In 2003, SAS ''Spear'' was cut up for scrap, followed by SAS ''Umkhonto'' in 2008 while SAS ''Assegaai'' is being preserved as a museum exhibit.

History

Laid down at the Dubigeon-Normandie shipyard in

Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...

on 24 April 1969, she was the launched on 21 July 1970. Commissioned under command of Lt Cdr Theo Honiball on 21 August 1971, she completed her workup training in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...

, operating out of

Toulon Toulon (, , ; oc, label= Provençal, Tolon , , ) is a city on the French Riviera and a large port on the Mediterranean coast, with a major naval base. Located in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region, and the Provence province, Toulon is th ...

, before sailing for home on 4 May 1972. During the long passage, she was escorted by the frigate , and called at Cadiz, São Vicente,

Luanda Luanda () is the capital and largest city in Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Angola's administrative centre, its chief seaport ...

and

Walvis Bay Walvis Bay ( en, lit. Whale Bay; af, Walvisbaai; ger, Walfischbucht or Walfischbai) is a city in Namibia and the name of the bay on which it lies. It is the second largest city in Namibia and the largest coastal city in the country. The c ...

, before arriving in

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 sid ...

on 19 June 1972. Her arrival in South Africa marked the successful culmination of five years of construction, trials and training to establish South Africa's first ever submarine capability. It was not long before the submarines were involved in operations, and in 1975, just before

Operation Savannah (Angola) Operation Savannah was the South African code name for their military incursion into Angola in 1975–1976. It was part of the South African Border War and arose due to the Angolan War of Independence. The operation also materially influenced ...

, SAS ''Johanna van der Merwe'' was deployed into

Angola , national_anthem = " Angola Avante"() , image_map = , map_caption = , capital = Luanda , religion = , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , coordina ...

n waters under Operation Yskas to prepare for the evacuation of SA military personnel. During the

South African Border War The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...

, she took part in some ten clandestine special operations. During her career, she underwent four refits, which included installing additional fuel tanks, and the fitting of a locally developed RAKA combat suite in the 1980s, which replaced a cumbersome plotting table. In the late 1990s she received the South African developed NICKLES fully integrated software based combat suite and two state of the art rebuilt periscopes. With the acquisition of the new

Type 209 submarine The Type 209 is a class of diesel-electric attack submarine developed exclusively for export by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft of Germany. The original variant (Type 209/1100) was designed in the late 1960s. The class is exclusively designed for ...

s for the SA Navy, SAS ''Assegaai'' was paid off on 23 November 2003.

Museum boat

SAS ''Assegaai'' has been converted into a

museum ship A museum ship, also called a memorial ship, is a ship that has been preserved and converted into a museum open to the public for educational or memorial purposes. Some are also used for training and recruitment purposes, mostly for the small numb ...

and is stationed in Simon's Town. A project that has been spearheaded by the South African Naval Heritage Trust, SAS ''Assegaai'' is a part of the

South African Naval Museum The South African Naval Museum is a maritime museum in Simon's Town, South Africa. It contains collections and artefacts related to the maritime history of South Africa and the South African Navy. History The South African Naval Museum at the S ...

.''Naval Heritage Trust Projects''
from the South African Naval Heritage Trust SAS Assegaai01.jpg, Lying alongside SAS Assegaai07.jpg, Captain's chair at the periscope SAS Assegaai11.jpg, Combat Suite SAS Assegaai16.jpg, Interior SAS Assegaai45.jpg, Torpedo tubes

References

External links

Submarines at defenceweb.co.zaShipspotting

{{DEFAULTSORT:Assegaai, SAS Submarines of the South African Navy Ships built in France 1970 ships Daphné-class submarines of the South African Navy Museum ships in South Africa