SAS ''Somerset'' was a

Bar-class boom defence vessel The Bar class were a class of boom defence vessels of the Royal Navy, Royal Australian Navy and South African Navy during World War II. Ships Royal Navy * HMS ''Barbain'' (Z01) * HMS ''Barbarian'' (Z18) * HMS ''Barbastel'' (Z276) * HMS ''B ...

of the South African Navy, now preserved as a museum ship in Cape Town. Formerly HMS ''Barcross'', it operated in

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay ( af, Saldanhabaai) is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay Local ...

, transferred to South Africa Naval Forces during World War II and was purchased by South Africa in 1947.

History

''Somerset'' was originally built in

Blyth Blyth may refer to: People * Blyth (surname) * Blythe (given name) Places Australia * Blyth, South Australia, a small town Canada * Blyth, Ontario, a village United Kingdom * Blyth, Northumberland, a town ** Blyth Valley (UK Parliament ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a ceremonial counties of England, county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Ab ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, by

Blyth Shipbuilding Company The Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Company Ltd. was a British shipbuilding, shipyard located in Blyth, Northumberland, Blyth, Northumberland, England. Company history Early history Shipbuilding began on the site on the south bank of the River ...

and commissioned as HMS ''Barcross'' in 1941. HMS ''Barcross'' and her

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

HMS ''Barbrake'' arrived at the

Cape Station The Commander-in-Chief, Africa was the last title of a Royal Navy's formation commander located in South Africa from 1795 to 1939. Under varying titles, it was one of the longest-lived formations of the Royal Navy. It was also often known as the C ...

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 ...

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 count ...

, in 1942 and was transferred to

for boom defence operations directly thereafter. In 1943 she was re-designated as HMSAS ''Barcross'' when she was transferred to the

South African Naval Forces 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 prote ...

for the remainder of

World War II 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. In 1946, the

Government of South Africa The Republic of South Africa is a parliamentary republic with three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary The judiciary (also known as the judicial system, judicature, judicial branch, judiciative branch, and court or judicia ...

purchased ''Barcross'' and used for the dumping of ammunition off

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second larges ...

and

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, S ...

. On completion of these services, she was transferred to

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) Iona Island is a island of the ...

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

and subsequently was

laid up A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

at Salisbury Island. In 1951 her name was changed to ''Somerset''. In 1953 while still

decommissioned Decommissioning is a general term for a formal process to remove something from an active status, and may refer to: Infrastructure * Decommissioned offshore * Decommissioned highway * Greenfield status of former industrial sites * Nuclear decommi ...

''Somerset'' was used in the raising of the sunken

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine or military aircraft deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for installing contro ...

''Skilpad'' (ex-''Spindrift'') at Salisbury Island. During 1955 ''Somerset'' was recommissioned, and during this period she was tasked in salvaging the remains of two Harvard

trainer aircraft A trainer is a class of aircraft designed specifically to facilitate flight training of pilots and aircrews. The use of a dedicated trainer aircraft with additional safety features—such as tandem flight controls, forgiving flight characteristi ...

following a midair collision over

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town (founded 1652 by Van Riebeeck) and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named b ...

. Six weeks later she recovered a third Harvard which had crashed into the sea off

Bok Point Bok or BOK may refer to: Places * Bok (lunar crater), on the Moon's far side * Bok (Martian crater) * Bok, Khash, a village in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, Iran * Bok, Orašje, a village near Orašje, Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina * 1 ...

. During a refit in 1959, ''Somerset'' had her

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

-fired

boiler A boiler is a closed vessel in which fluid (generally water) is heated. The fluid does not necessarily boil. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications, including water heating, centr ...

s converted to firing by

furnace oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bunk ...

. She was responsible for the laying of an

oil pipeline Pipeline transport is the long-distance transportation of a liquid or gas through a system of pipes—a pipeline—typically to a market area for consumption. The latest data from 2014 gives a total of slightly less than of pipeline in 120 countr ...

at the port of

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

to serve the

oil terminal An oil terminal (also called a tank farm, tankfarm, oil installation or oil depot) is an industrial facility for the storage of oil, petroleum and petrochemical products, and from which these products are transported to end users or other stor ...

there. In 1961 ''Somerset'' salvaged the

South African Railways Transnet Freight Rail is a South African rail transport company, formerly known as Spoornet. It was part of the South African Railways and Harbours Administration, a state-controlled organisation that employed hundreds of thousands of people ...

tug A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

''Schermbrucker'', which had sunk in the harbour at

East London East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fa ...

. In 1967 she was fitted with new boilers and a reconditioned main engine. In 1968 her services were called on again to assist the

cable ship A cable layer or cable ship is a deep-sea vessel designed and used to lay underwater cables for telecommunications, electric power transmission, military, or other purposes. Cable ships are distinguished by large cable sheaves for guiding cab ...

''John W. Mackay'' in raising and repairing the newly inaugurated overseas telephone cable in the shallow waters off

Melkbosstrand Melkbosstrand (Afrikaans for " Milkbush beach") is a coastal town located on the South West Coast of South Africa, 30 km north of Cape Town. It forms part of the City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, the municipality governing Cape ...

. During 1969 Somerset raised the old

whale catcher A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Jap ...

''Wagter 11'' in Saldanha Bay and subsequently towed her back to Simon's Town. During the same year, she salvaged a

floating crane Floating may refer to: * a type of dental work performed on horse teeth * use of an isolation tank * the guitar-playing technique where chords are sustained rather than scratched * ''Floating'' (play), by Hugh Hughes * Floating (psychological ph ...

which had

capsize Capsizing or keeling over occurs when a boat or ship is rolled on its side or further by wave action, instability or wind force beyond the angle of positive static stability or it is upside down in the water. The act of recovering a vessel fr ...

d and sunk at Port Elizabeth. In the early hours of 24 July 1974 Somerset was dispatched to

Cape Agulhas Cape Agulhas (; pt, Cabo das Agulhas , "Cape of the Needles") is a rocky headland in Western Cape, South Africa. It is the geographic southern tip of the African continent and the beginning of the dividing line between the Atlantic and Indi ...

to assist with the salvage of the ''Oriental Pioneer'', but poor weather conditions and bad luck rendered this effort unsuccessful. In 1981, ''Somerset'' raised the

fishing trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets tha ...

''Aldebaran'', which had lain on the harbour bottom at Port Elizabeth for over two-and-a-half years. ''Somerset'' also acted as a standby vessel during submarine shallow-water diving operations. In 1983 she assisted in the salvaging of a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...

and two whale catchers at Saldanha Bay. In March 1986, ''Somerset'' was finally paid off. In 1988 the old boom defence vessel was donated for use as 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 num ...

, moored at the waterfront at Cape Town. Her original Royal Navy badge can be seen displayed on the side of the

Selborne Selborne is a village in Hampshire, England, south of Alton, and just within the northern boundary of the South Downs National Park. The village receives visitors because of its links with the naturalist Revd. Gilbert White, a pioneer of birdw ...

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, ...

. Now used as a museum ship, ''Somerset'' has been moored on the

Victoria & Alfred Waterfront The Victoria & Alfred (V&A) Waterfront in Cape Town is situated on the Atlantic shore, Table Bay Harbour, the City of Cape Town and Table Mountain. Adrian van der Vyver designed the complex. Situated in South Africa's oldest working harbour, t ...

in Cape Town since 2 September 1988, and is the only boom defence vessel remaining in the world, as well as the only remaining ship that served in the South African Naval Forces

Gallery

File:SAS Somerset stern view.jpg, SAS ''Somerset'' on the

, September 2010 (stern view) File:SAS Somerset bow view 2019.jpg, SAS Somerset (bow view) in 2019 File:SAS Somerset bridge and crane 2019.jpg, View of SAS Somerset's bridge and crane in 2019 File:SAS Somerset amidships 2019.jpg, SAS Somerset's winching gear situated amidships, 2019 File:SAS Somerset funnel 2019.jpg, SAS Somerset's funnel and top deck in 2019 File:SAS Somerset from astern 2019.jpg, SAS Somerset from astern in 2019

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Somerset Maritime history of South Africa Boom defence vessels of the South African Navy Boom defence vessels of the Royal Navy Ships built on the River Blyth 1941 ships Museum ships in South Africa Ships and vessels on the National Archive of Historic Vessels