River-class mine hunters
 SAS Umzimkulu.jpg | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name: | River class Minesweeper |
| Builders: | Abeking & Rasmussen and Sandock-Austral |
| Operators: | South African Navy |
| Preceded by: | Ton-class minesweeper |
| Built: | 4 |
| Completed: | 4 |
| Active: | 4 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Type: | Minehunter |
| Displacement: | 390 t (380 long tons) |
| Length: | 48.0 m (157.5 ft) |
| Beam: | 8.5 m (27.9 ft) |
| Draught: | 2.5 m (8.2 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × MTU 12V TB81 diesels, 2 shaft 3,367 kW (4,515 hp) |
| Speed: | 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Range: | 2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph) |
| Complement: | 40 |
| Armament: | 1 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 2 × 12.7 mm machine guns |
The River-class mine hunters were ordered in 1978 as Research Vessels to be operated by the Navy for the Department of Transport to circumvent the arms embargo in place at the time. They were originally named Navors (Afrikaans for Research) and numbered 1 to 4[2]
The first ship Navors I was shipped to Durban from Germany in June 1980 for fitting out, shortly followed by the second.[3] The last pair were built in Durban. The vessels were painted blue with white upperworks and formed the First Research Squadron. They were renamed in 1982 after South African rivers - (Umkomaas, Umhloti, Umgeni, Umzimkulu) but continued to fly the national flag and not the naval ensign. The prefix RV was only changed to SAS on 3 February 1988 when they were formally accepted as naval ships.[2]
| Name | Previous Names | Pennant | Commissioned[1] | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SAS Umkomaas | RV Navors I | M1499 | 13 January 1981 | Named after the river Umkomaas, KwaZulu-Natal |
| SAS Umhloti | RV Navors IV | M1212 | 15 December 1981 | Named after Umhloti River close to Durban, South Africa |
| SAS Umgeni | RV Navors II | M1213 | 1 March 1981 | Named after Umgeni River |
| SAS Umzimkulu | RV Navors III | M1142 | 30 October 1981 | Named after Umzimkulu River |
See also
- List of decommissioned ships of the South African Navy
- List of ships of the South African Navy
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Saunders 2002, p. 639.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wessels, Andre. "The South African Navy during the years of conflict in Southern Africa 1966-1989". Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- ↑ "Mine Warfare Forces". Retrieved August 14, 2014.
- Saunders, Stephen (2002). Jane's Fighting Ships 2002–2003. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-24328.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
