SAS ''Isandlwana'' (F146) is the second of four s for 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 ...

built by the European South African Corvette Consortium. SAS ''Isandlwana'' was named after the

Battle of Isandlwana The Battle of Isandlwana (alternative spelling: Isandhlwana) on 22 January 1879 was the first major encounter in the Anglo-Zulu War between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Eleven days after the British commenced their invasion of Zulul ...

at a ceremony held in Kiel in December 2002, by Deputy Defence Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.

Construction

SAS ''Isandlwana'' was manufactured by the European South African Corvette Consortium (ESACC), consisting of the German Frigate Consortium (Blohm+Voss, Thyssen Rheinstahl and

Howaldtswerke Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (often abbreviated HDW) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Kiel. It is part of the ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems (TKMS) group, owned by ThyssenKrupp. The Howaldtswerke shipyard was founded in Kiel in 18 ...

Deutsche Werft), African Defence Systems (part of the French

Thales Thales of Miletus ( ; grc-gre, Θαλῆς; ) was a Greek mathematician, astronomer, statesman, and pre-Socratic philosopher from Miletus in Ionia, Asia Minor. He was one of the Seven Sages of Greece. Many, most notably Aristotle, regarded him ...

defense group) and a number of South African companies. The ships were built to the

MEKO The MEKO family of warships was developed by the German company Blohm+Voss. MEKO is a registered trademark. The portmanteau stands for "''Mehrzweck-Kombination''" (English: multi-purpose-combination). It is a concept in modern naval shipbuilding b ...

modular design concept and are designated by the manufacturer as the MEKO A-200SAN class. Some controversy exists as to the class type of the vessel, with both the manufacturer and the South African Navy referring to her as a "

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

," but other similar vessels in other navies being referred to as

frigates A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and ...

. Some have claimed the use of the word "corvette" was a political decision made by the South African government to ease criticism of the procurement of the vessels. SAS ''Isandlwana'' was built at the

-Deutsche Werft shipyards in

Kiel Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern Germany, German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021). Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the J ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and she arrived in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

on 25 February 2004. In 2007, SAS ''Isandlwana'' took part in the Atlasur Exercise in cooperation with the fleets of

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

Namesake

As with all the other ships of the Valour class, ''Isandlwana'' is named after a famous South African battle or instance of great valour. In this case the famous

between the Zulu nation and the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

, at the beginning of the

Anglo-Zulu War The Anglo-Zulu War was fought in 1879 between the British Empire and the Zulu Kingdom. Following the passing of the British North America Act of 1867 forming a federation in Canada, Lord Carnarvon thought that a similar political effort, coupl ...

Notable deployments

*Exercise Atlasur VI *Expo Naval in

*Exercise Amazolo *Exercise Red Lion *Exercise Good Hope III *Exercise Ibsamar I *Exercise Atlasur VII

References

External links

Valour class specifications

{{DEFAULTSORT:Isandlwana Valour-class frigates Ships built in Kiel 2002 ships Frigates of the South African Navy Military units and formations in Cape Town