SASGood Hope (pennant number: F432) was one of threeLoch-classfrigates in theSouth African Navy (SAN). It was built as HMSLoch Boisdale (K432) for theRoyal Navy duringWorld War II, but was transferred to the SAN before completion in 1944 and renamed as HMSASGood Hope. The ship was assigned toconvoy escort duties in 1945, but did not encounter any enemy ships before the end of the war.
It was assigned to ferry troops home fromEgypt afterwards and made port visits inMiddle Africa in 1948. Upon returning home,Good Hope was placed inreserve until it was converted into atraining ship during the mid-1950s and served as the navy'sflagship. The ship was again placed in reserve in 1965 and was sold forscrap in 1977.Good Hope's remains were donated for use as anartificial reef and it wasscuttled the following year.
In preparation for her reclassification as adespatch vessel/training ship in 1955,Good Hope's Oerlikons were replaced by a pair of40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors lightAA guns on the Squid deck forward of thebridge wings and her depth charges and their gear was removed. This allowed the ship'sforecastle deck to be extended right aft to add more accommodations and it was covered inteak above the new compartments. Itsbridge was enlarged and a newmainmast was added. During her refit in early 1958,Good Hope's main armament was replaced by a twin-gun turret fitted with more powerfulfour-inch Mk XVI guns.[4] She was refitted in 1961.[5]
Good Hope was built byBlyth Harbour and Dock Company at their shipyard inBlyth, Northumberland and waslaid down on 8 November 1943,launched on 5 July 1944[6] andcommissioned on 9 November 1944. The ship was originally namedLoch Boisdale, but was renamed by the South Africans after it was transferred by the British whilefitting out. Afterworking up atHMSWestern Isles inTobermory, Mull, it was assigned to the 18th Escort Group of theWestern Approaches Command; it was damaged during its first mission and required a month to repair the storm damage.Good Hope rejoined the 18th Escort Group which was covering convoys between England and France until the German surrender in May. It was then refitted for tropical duties before sailing for South Africa on 6 June 1945 with itssister ship,Natal, with 29 ex-prisoners of war aboard the sisters. They arrived on 30 June, butGood Hope was not sent to the Far East because the Japanese surrendered before it was ready to go.[7]
Good Hope and her sistersNatal andTransvaal repatriated some 700 troops from Egypt between November 1945 and March 1946 and escorted the battleshipHMS Vanguard while it was serving as theroyal yacht duringKing George VI's tour of South Africa in 1947. All three sisters toured ports inPortuguese West Africa and theBelgian Congo in August–September 1948. Upon their return,Good Hope was reduced to reserve atSalisbury Island, Durban. In mid-1954 the ship began conversion into a despatch vessel in Durban and it was recommissioned on 3 June 1955 as the flagship of the South African Navy. Later that year, it conveyed theGovernor General of South Africa,Ernest George Jansen, on a goodwill visit toFrench Madagascar. The following year, it took the navy'sChief of Staff, Rear AdmiralHugo Biermann, toPortuguese Mozambique. That same year, aSouth African Air ForceSikorsky S-55helicopter landed aboard, the first helicopter deck landing aboard a South African warship. The ship was refitted inSimon's Town in early 1958 and transported Biermann to Portuguese West Africa and the Belgian Congo in August 1959. As part of this trip, it sailed some 70 miles (110 km) up theCongo River toMatadi. During the early 1960s,Good Hope was assigned fishery protection duties in addition to her normal training tasks. The ship waspaid off in September 1965 and was sold forR6,500, together with her sisterTransvaal, in 1977. After stripping it of all valuable metals and fittings,Good Hope'shulk was donated to theFalse Bay Conservation Society for use as an artificial reef.[8] She was scuttled inFalse Bay on 12 December 1978.[9]
United Kingdom
South Africa
