SAS Jan van Riebeeck
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HMS ''Wessex'' (
pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
: R78) was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during World War II. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war assigned to the Eastern and Pacific Fleets. She screened British
aircraft carrier An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering aircraft. Typically, it is the capital ship of a fleet, as it allows a ...
s as their aircraft attacked targets in the Japanese-occupied
Nicobar Islands The Nicobar Islands are an archipelagic island chain in the eastern Indian Ocean. They are located in Southeast Asia, northwest of Aceh on Sumatra, and separated from Thailand to the east by the Andaman Sea. Located southeast of the Indian s ...
, the
Dutch East Indies The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
and Okinawa. ''Wessex'' was then reduced to reserve after arriving home in December 1945. She was then transferred to Simon's Town, South Africa in 1947, to form the South Atlantic Reserve Force. The ship was purchased by 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 ...
in 1950 and renamed HMSAS ''Jan van Riebeeck''. She was placed in reserve in 1953 and continuing shortages of manpower kept the ship in reserve for most of the rest of her career even though she was converted into a fast
anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...
frigate 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 ...
in 1964–66. ''Jan van Riebeeck'' was converted to serve as a training ship in 1971–72 and remained in that role until she was decommissioned in 1975. The ship was sunk as a target in 1980.


Description

The W-class ships displaced at
standard load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
and at deep load. They had an overall length of , a
beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...
of and a mean deep draught of . The ships were powered by a pair of
Parsons Parsons may refer to: Places In the United States: * Parsons, Kansas, a city * Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Parsons, Tennessee, a city * Parsons, West Virginia, a town * Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingto ...
geared
steam turbine A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
s, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by two
Admiralty three-drum boiler Three-drum boilers are a class of water-tube boiler used to generate steam, typically to power ships. They are compact and of high evaporative power, factors that encourage this use. Other boiler designs may be more efficient, although bulkier, an ...
s. The turbines developed a total of which gave a maximum speed of . They carried of
fuel 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), bun ...
that gave them a range of at . Their crew numbered 179 officers and ratings. The W-class destroyers were armed with four single 4.7-inch (120 mm) Mark IX guns, one quadruple mount for 2-pounder (40 mm) Mk II "pom-pom" anti-aircraft (AA) guns and eight Oerlikon light AA guns on twin mounts. They also were equipped with two quadruple mounts for 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes. For anti-submarine work, the ships were fitted with ASDIC and two rails and four throwers for 70
depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon. It is intended to destroy a submarine by being dropped into the water nearby and detonating, subjecting the target to a powerful and destructive Shock factor, hydraulic shock. Most depth ...
s. They were equipped with a Type 272 surface-search radar, Type 282 and 285 gunnery radars and a Type 291 early-warning radar.Lenton, p. 178 To better defend the ship against Japanese kamikaze suicide aircraft, ''Wessex'' had her searchlight replaced by a Bofors AA gun in mid-1944. As part of her 1964–66 refit, the ship's aft torpedo tubes were removed to make room for a small flight deck and hangar for two Westland Wasp helicopters and a pair of American Mk 32 triple-barrelled anti-submarine torpedo tubes were added, one on each side of the hangar. The guns were replaced by two twin-gun turrets fitted with 4-inch (102 mm) Mk XVI guns, one forward of the bridge and the other aft of the hangar. Her electronics were modernized as well although she retained the existing search radar. The changes increased her crew to 186–210 officers and ratings.


Construction and career

''Wessex'' was ordered from Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company on 3 December 1941 under the name of ''Zenith'' and was laid down at their Govan, Scotland, shipyard on 20 October 1942. She was renamed in January 1943 and was launched on 2 October 1943. Completed on 11 May 1944, the ship was assigned to the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean and escorted the aircraft carriers and while their aircraft attacked Nancowry harbour and other targets in the Nicobar Islands as part of
Operation Millet Operation Millet was a British naval operation in World War II, the objective being the execution naval bombardment and aerial strikes on Japanese positions in the Nicobar Islands, on 17–20 October 1944,
, 15–19 October. During Operation Robson, an aerial attack on the oil refinery complex at
Pangkalan Brandan Pangkalan Brandan (or Pangkalanbrandan) (''Pangkalanberandan'') is a port town in Langkat Regency, North Sumatra province, Indonesia, forty miles north west of Medan, close to the boundary with Aceh. The area's population is estimated at aroun ...
,
Sumatra Sumatra is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island that is fully within Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 (182,812 mi.2), not including adjacent i ...
, on 17–22 December, ''Wessex'' escorted the main body of the fleet. The ship did much the same during
Operation Meridian During World War II, Operation Meridian was part of Operation Outflank, a series of British air attacks directed at Japanese-held oil refineries on Sumatra. Meridian had two phases: ''Meridian One'' on 24 January 1945 and ''Meridian Two'' on 2 ...
, multiple aerial attacks on the refineries in Sumatra 16–29 January 1945, although she was held back to pick up radar spare parts and did not rendezvous with the fleet until the 19th. Now part of the British Pacific Fleet, ''Wessex'' continued to escort ships and screen operations during the
Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...
until she began a refit at Auckland that lasted from 5 July to 27 August. The ship rejoined the fleet in September and ferried Allied prisoners of war back home. She arrived at Devonport on 28 December and was reduced to Category B Reserve on 14 March 1946 after being refitted in January–February. ''Wessex'' was recommissioned on 28 August 1947 and was refitted at
Portsmouth Royal Dockyard His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth (HMNB Portsmouth) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Devonport). Portsmouth Naval Base is part of the city of Portsmouth; it is l ...
in August–September in preparation for the voyage to South Africa in company with 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 ...
s, , and . Upon arrival, they formed the South Atlantic Reserve Force in Simon's Town. ''Wessex'' was sold to 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 ...
on 29 March 1950 for £450,000 and commissioned that day as ''Jan van Riebeeck''. Two years later she participated in Cape Town's celebration of the 300th anniversary of its founding by her namesake in April 1952. Later that year, the ship visited ports in
French Madagascar The Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies (french: Colonie de Madagascar et dépendances) was a French colony off the coast of Southeast Africa between 1897 and 1958 in what is now Madagascar. The colony was formerly a protectorate of France kn ...
and British East Africa. ''Jan van Riebeeck'' was placed in reserve in early 1953 to allow the navy to man her newly purchased sister ship, HMSAS ''Simon van der Stel''. She remained in reserve for nearly 20 years, despite her conversion into a frigate between 1964 and 1966. ''Jan van Riebeeck'' began a refit in March 1971 to prepare her to replace her sister as a training ship that was completed on 12 April 1972 when she was recommissioned. The ship was reduced to reserve again in late 1975 and ''Jan van Riebeeck'' was sunk as a target on 25 March 1980, south of Cape Town. The
hulk The Hulk is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby, the character first appeared in the debut issue of ''The Incredible Hulk (comic book), The Incredible Hulk' ...
was initially struck by a Skerpioen missile fired by the
fast attack craft A fast attack craft (FAC) is a small, fast, agile, offensive, often affordable warship armed with anti-ship missiles, gun or torpedoes. FACs are usually operated in close proximity to land as they lack both the seakeeping and all-round defensive ...
from over the horizon, but had to be finished off by gunfire.du Toit, pp. 195–97; English, p. 103


Notes


References

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External links


HMS Wessex at Uboat.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wessex W and Z-class destroyers Ships built in Govan 1943 ships World War II destroyers of the United Kingdom Cold War destroyers of the United Kingdom Type 15 frigates of the South African Navy
Jan van Riebeeck Johan Anthoniszoon "Jan" van Riebeeck (21 April 1619 – 18 January 1677) was a Dutch navigator and colonial administrator of the Dutch East India Company. Life Early life Jan van Riebeeck was born in Culemborg, as the son of a surgeon. He ...
Maritime incidents in 1980 Ships sunk as targets Shipwrecks of South Africa