 SASAssegaai | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 South Africa | |
| Name | SASAssegaai |
| Namesake | Johanna van der Merwe |
| Ordered | 10 February 1967 |
| Builder | Dubigeon-Normandie SA,Nantes |
| Laid down | 24 April 1969 |
| Launched | 21 July 1970 |
| Christened | Johanna van der Merwe, S99 |
| Commissioned | 21 August 1971 |
| Decommissioned | 23 November 2003 |
| Renamed | SASAssegai |
| Homeport | Simon's Town |
| Status | Museum ship |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Daphne-classsubmarine |
| Displacement | 860 tons surface, 700 tons standard, 1034 tons submerged |
| Length | 57.8 m (190 ft) |
| Beam | 6.75 m (22.1 ft) |
| Draught | 5.23 m (17.2 ft) |
| Installed power | 2SEMT Pielstick 450kW diesel generators, 2 × 80 cell batteries |
| Propulsion | 2Jeumont-Schneider elect propulsion motors |
| Speed |
|
| Range |
|
| Complement | 6 officers and 45 ratings, and 6 to 10 trainees |
| Armament | 12 × 550 mm (22 in) torpedoes, 8 forward and 4 aft |
SASAssegaai, formerly known asSASJohanna van der Merwe, was aDaphné-classsubmarine of theSouth African Navy. Decommissioned in 2003, SASAssegaai is the only one of the former threeDaphné-class submarines to have been retained for preservation as a museum boat, the other two have been cut up and sold for scrap. TheDaphné-class submarines have since been replaced by theType 209, orHeroine-class submarines.
On 10 February 1967, after nearly two years of negotiations, an order was placed with the French Government to provide threeDaphné (Dolphin)-class submarines in addition to providing the training and infrastructure to run and maintain them. The first of these submarines,SAS Maria van Riebeeck, was launched on 18 March 1969. The second boat wasSAS Emily Hobhouse, and the last of the three,SAS Johanna van der Merwe.[1]In 1999 the three boats were renamedSAS Spear,SAS Umkhonto and SASAssegaai respectively. In 2003, SASSpear was cut up for scrap, followed by SASUmkhonto in 2008 while SASAssegaai is being preserved as a museum exhibit.[2]
Laid down at theDubigeon-Normandie shipyard inNantes on 24 April 1969, she was launched on 21 July 1970.[3] Commissioned under command of Lt Cdr Theo Honiball on 21 August 1971, she completed her workup training in theMediterranean, operating out ofToulon, before sailing for home on 4 May 1972. During the long passage, she was escorted by the frigateSAS President Steyn, and called atCadiz,São Vicente,Luanda andWalvis Bay, before arriving inSimon's Town on 19 June 1972. Her arrival in South Africa marked the successful culmination of five years of construction, trials and training to establish South Africa's first ever submarine capability. It was not long before the submarines were involved in operations, and in 1975, just beforeOperation Savannah (Angola), SASJohanna van der Merwe was deployed intoAngolan waters underOperation Yskas to prepare for the evacuation of SA military personnel. During theSouth African Border War, she took part in some ten clandestine special operations.[citation needed]
During her career, she underwent four refits, which included installing additional fuel tanks, and the fitting of a locally developed RAKA combat suite in the 1980s, which replaced a cumbersome plotting table. In the late 1990s she received the South African developed NICKLES fully integrated software based combat suite and two state of the art rebuilt periscopes.[4] With the acquisition of the newType 209 submarines for the SA Navy, SASAssegaai was paid off on 23 November 2003.
SASAssegaai has been converted into amuseum ship and is stationed inSimon's Town (City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality).[5][6] A project that has been spearheaded by the South African Naval Heritage Trust, SASAssegaai is a part of theSouth African Naval Museum.[7]
 French Navy | |
|---|---|
 Pakistan NavyHangor class | |
 Portuguese NavyAlbacora class | |
 South African Navy | |
 Spanish NavyS60 class | |
| |
34°11′28″S18°26′15″E / 34.191008°S 18.437549°E /-34.191008; 18.437549