The SAAF Forum

Amen, brother. Personally I couldn't agree more, but seeing as we already have the City class vessels just lying around, I thought this a more realistic suggestion. On the other hand sailing vessels don't need (much) fuel and we know the navy have sometimes been stuck in Simon's Town for want of diesel-money, so your suggestion might not be so bad.

The navy still has a few sailing yachts: a few L26s, the three Centurion vessels (all pretty old) and a newish Fast 42 called Umoya Omusha (even though from what I can gather there must be a sponsorship deal with MTU because it sometimes pops up in races as MTU Fascination of Power... I'm standing by to be corrected on this one).

But the navy's never given sailing the pride of place it deserves. Take this example:

Remember the old yacht Voortrekker (made famous by the late great Bertie Reed)? Voortrekker has been restored by and is now being raced by the navy-sponsored youth organisation Izivunguvungu

http://www.izivungu.co.za/index.php?opt ... &Itemid=59

In the last Cape to Bahia race, these kids from the Cape Flats on their old navy yacht beat the navy's own team on their Fast 42.

When did Bertie Reed pass away?

Good to know old Voortrekker is still afloat.

For a coastal country we as a nation are sadly lacking in "nautical culture", in spite of our Dutch, British and Malay heritage.
Most of our languages don't even have words for many sea and ship related things - what is a schooner in Zulu and what is the Afrikaans for a mizzen mast?

The City class were all wood and non-magnetic, and not as easy to extend hull life as one would think. We are already seeing signs of hull rot on those vessels awaiting disposal.

As far as organic mine warfare is concerned, if we embark MCM on the Biro ships, it will not be to use them in a minefield, rather a a C2 platform from which to operate the AUV / Side Scan tow vessel. The drive is to keep the man out of the minefield. Few navies in the world are retaining a dedicated MCM vessel these days.

Will have more on world treand when I return from the Undersea Defence Technology exhibition and conference in Cannes next week.

Regards

A

Thanks Flightdeck, happy to hear any interesting news.

But the training vessel question should remain a live one. I don't know whether the SAN still has a big problem training (and retaining!) enough bridge watchkeepers - that certainly was a big problem in the past. And the junior officers of today arguably need quite a bit more time to adapt to life and work at sea anyway (as they come from parts of the country and cultures in which the sea and seafaring are very alien things). A dedicated training vessel may be the answer.

SAS Protea or a Strikecraft springs to mind. I know they are not Lindau vessels but still.

Rumour has it that all 5 City Class have been sold. Conversion to luxury yachts was metioned.

that is correct about the 5 minesweepers being sold
we are currently busy refitting the first one, and boy what amazing ships they are!!

Hi Baseline, welcome on board! Please expand a bit on your post.
Who is the "we" that are doing the refit and what is the nature of the refit, are they being converted to luxury "yachts" or something else?

thanks roger
well the 5 ships were bought by a private buyer, a close friend of mine.
i was asked not to divulge too much info.
but yes they are being refitted to become luxury craft, im involved with the airconditioning/refrigeration/electrical side of the refit and also general planing
i was totally gobsmacked at the way these ships have been looked after(before they were given to the south african navy)
the oldest one was built in 1948
what struck me was that even the brass washers ere machined on a lathe.yup there is as far as i can see, NO ferrous metal on board!!
we have stripped about 38ton off the one ship(thid is a rough estimate) she has lifted about 350mm
i am currently busy reading the electrical supply system manual in order to get it working, or at least the systems we need
here is some useless info:
shore supply
220volt DC
the onboard systems supply the following voltages
24volt DC
115volt AC 60hz
440v AC 60hz
115v AC 400hz
220v DC
they even have a degaussing system
most of the interior walls are lined with lead/copper beneath the cladding
there are a total of 13 generators on board
i will keep updating the thread as we go along
and mabe even post some pics (if i can figure out how)
i must say im pretty excited to hear what the engines sound like

Is this the one thats being refitted to become luxury craft? I was wondering why the navy was painting the ships blue.

lol...allan
nope were busy with a different one, im heading down there this morning. its a funny story tho(the blue)
were still chasing worms on the "blue one".....a big fight with the paint supplier, the colour supplied REALLY doesnt match the colour selected
i will also find out why this one is being made blue.
it was supposed to be a dark navy blue
...i will post more tonight when i get home

Thanks baseline, looking forward to seeing how you progress.

Hi Baseline!

This is extremely exciting! Pls keep us updated. I own an ex-Navy vessel so its interesting to see what happens to the old ships once they retire.

hi guys
the pics are coming soon...what an eventfull day tho.....sheesh!!
i am happy to report that i finally got the onboard electrical control system up and running(well a part of it at least)
i will be starting the main generators on tuesday .... had some problems with the generators themselves, so ive put globes in the gennies to get rid of any moisture, the 3 cylinder diesel motor on no 2 gen actually turns over(its been standing unturned for 8 years i think)
we hope to mabe start the main engines by the end of the month, they also seem to be turning over quite easily by hand,
and of course i have to first get the air compressor working again, it seems that some idiot has scavanged some parts off it
i asked permission by the owner to post some pics ...and he agreed that it would be ok. so sometime ne;xt week those will be posted. please note that im not a photographer, so i will do my best....
i got confirmation today also that the hull will stay grey, but the wheelhouse will be made off white, and the railings will be brightwhite....well thats it for today ...more to follow
please let me know when im babbeling and ill stop...
thanks
baseline

Any update here?