SAS ''Somerset'' was a Bar-class boom defence vessel 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,

Northumberland Northumberland () is a 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 Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

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 and commissioned as HMS ''Barcross'' in 1941. HMS ''Barcross'' and her sister ship HMS ''Barbrake'' arrived at the Cape Station at

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 Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

, 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 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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

. 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, operating in a parliamentary system. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of South Africa. Executive authority ...

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 largest ...

and Port Elizabeth. On completion of these services, she was transferred to Salisbury Island in

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

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

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

-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. She was responsible for the laying of an oil pipeline 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 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 ''Schermbrucker'', which had sunk in the harbour at East London. 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 cabl ...

''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 T ...

. 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, J ...

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

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 Indian ...

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 th ...

''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, 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, ...

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