SAS Mendi |
|
| Career (South Africa) | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | SS Mendi |
| Ordered: | 3 December 1999 |
| Builder: | Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Kiel |
| Laid down: | 28 June 2002 |
| Launched: | October 2003 |
| Christened: | Mendi, F148 |
| Commissioned: | 20 March 2007 |
| Homeport: | Simonstown |
| Status: | Active service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Valour-class frigate |
| Displacement: | 3700 tons |
| Length: | 121 m (397 ft) |
| Beam: | 16.34 m (53.6 ft) |
| Draught: | 5.95 m (19.5 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 diesels 5,920 kW each, 2 shafts for cruise; 1 gas turbine 20,000 kW, 1 waterjet |
| Speed: | 30 knots (52 km/h) |
| Range: | 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h) |
| Complement: | 152 |
| Armament: |
1x Otobreda 76 mm gun |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × SuperLynx 300 (can carry 2) |
SAS Mendi (F148) is the last of four Valour class frigates built for the South African Navy by the European South African Corvette Consortium and entered service in March 2007.
Contents |
Mendi, as with all the Valour class vessels, was manufactured by the European South African Corvette Consortium (ESACC), consisting of the German Frigate Consortium (Blohm+Voss, Thyssen Rheinstahl and Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werf), African Defence Systems (part of the French Thales defence group) and a number of South African companies.
The ships were built to the MEKO 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", but other similar vessels in other navies being referred to as frigates.
As with all the other ships of the Valour class, the Mendi is named after a famous South African battle or instance of great valour. In this case the sinking of the SS Mendi in the English Channel during World War I. On the 23 August 2004, en-route from the shipyards to South Africa, the SAS Mendi and HMS Nottingham (D91), a Type 42 destroyer, met at the site where the SS Mendi sank and lay wreaths in remembrance of those who died in service for their country
The SAS Mendi was built at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft shipyards in Kiel, Germany, and arrived in South Africa on 20 September 2004.
On September 5, 2008 Mendi led seven of the South African Navy's newest vessels in a Presidential Fleet Review,[1] the first to be held in South Africa since the 75th anniversary of the Navy in 1997.
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