SAS President Kruger leaving New York City in July 1976 after the United States Bicentennial celebrations |
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| Career (South Africa) | |
|---|---|
| Namesake: | Paul Kruger |
| Builder: | Yarrow Shipbuilders |
| Launched: | October 20, 1960 |
| Christened: | President Kruger, F150 |
| Commissioned: | 3 October 1962 at Scotstoun, Glasgow |
| Homeport: | Simonstown |
| Nickname: | 'PK' |
| Fate: | Sunk in 1982 in a collision with SAS Tafelberg |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | President-class frigate[1] |
| Displacement: | 2144 tons (2557 tons loaded) |
| Length: | 370 ft (110 m) |
| Beam: | 41 ft (12.5 m) |
| Draught: | 18 ft (5.5 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 shafts, 2 steam turbines, 2 boilers, 25,000 shp (19 MW) |
| Speed: | 28 knots (52 km/h) |
| Range: | 4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Complement: | 250 |
| Sensors and processing systems: |
Sonar, Radar |
| Armament: |
Limbo mortar (subsequently removed) |
| Aircraft carried: | 1 × Westland Wasp helicopter |
The SAS President Kruger was a frigate of the South African Navy. She sank in 1982 with the loss of 16 lives after colliding with her replenishment ship, the SAS Tafelberg, in the South Atlantic.
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SAS President Kruger was one of three President-class type 12 frigates obtained by the South African Navy following the Simonstown Agreement with the Royal Navy. Her home port was Simonstown, near Cape Town.
On 5 August 1969, she was recommissioned after an extensive refit and modernization.[2]
She participated in various operations during the South African Border War, including the Ambrizete Incident.[3]
In 1976, this flagship of the South African Navy participated in an International Naval Review in New York as part of the bicentennial independence celebrations of the United States. In the process, she became the first South African naval vessel to visit the USA. She departed Simonstown on 3 June 1976, sailing via Walvis Bay, Abidjan and Las Palmas to Norfolk, Virginia. From there, she sailed in a fleet of 53 warships from 22 countries to New York for the Naval Review on 4 July. On 6 July, members of the ship's company paraded through the streets of New York, after which the President Kruger sailed home to Simonstown via Charleston, South Carolina and Las Palmas.[2] Politician Tony Leon was the official photographer for this journey.[4]
On 18 February 1982, while under the command of Captain de Lange, the President Kruger sank 78 nautical miles (144 km) south west of Cape Point[5] after colliding with SAS Tafelberg in the early hours of the morning. The ship was involved in an anti-submarine exercise with another frigate, the President Pretorius that involved intricate manoeuvres around the Tafelberg. The bows of the Tafelberg impacted on the SAS President Kruger on her port side at the senior ratings' mess, resulting in the loss of sixteen lives.[6] A Westland Wasp helicopter, operated by 22 Squadron SAAF from the other frigate, rescued crew members from the water.[7]
As a result of an international arms embargo against apartheid South Africa, the ship could not be replaced, and was therefore a great loss to the capability and morale of the navy at the time.
The Navy's prestigious 'Cock of the Fleet' trophy, which had been won by her ship's crew in the annual rowing regatta, was lost with the ship.[8]
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