Arrival of third SA Navy submarine
Date: 22 May 2008
South Africa's third and final submarine ordered under the Strategic Defence Package arrived in Simon's Town today.
SAS Queen Modjadji I (S103) is a Type 209 (Class 1400MOD (SA)) (SSK) submarine and was formally handed over by the Minister of Defence, Mosiuoa Lekota, to the South African Navy.
Having departed from the Kiel shipyard in Germany on 2 April 2008, SAS Queen Modjadji I sailed to South Africa via Rota, Spain, under the watchful eye of her formal escort, the SAS Protea. The later part of the passage was also completed alone when SAS Protea experienced technical problems and had to make an unscheduled stop in the Canary Islands while SAS Queen Modjadji I sailed ahead and was then escourted by SAS Drakensberg.
Speaking at the welcome ceremony, Minister of Defence Mosiuoa Lekota stated that South Africa had "pledged support to capacitate the SADC Brigade, and we foresee that our ships and submarines will be instrumental in supporting the maritime component of this Brigade".
Lekota stated further: "It is our intention to participate with the Navies of the Littoral States of the Indian Ocean in the promotion of Maritime Security in the greater Indian Ocean region".
SAS Queen Modjadji I takes her name from the first Queen of the Balobedu Ba Ga-Modjadji. The ascent of Queen Modjadji to the throne in the 19th Century marked the commencement of an era of peace and prosperity for the Balobedu.
The German Consortium, consisting of HDW, TNSW and Kockums, built all three submarines. SAS Queen Modjadji I was launched on 31 October 2006 in Kiel, Germany. The crew deployed to Kiel in early January 2008 and the submarine was commissioned on 31 January 2008.
Captain of S103, Commander Andrew Souma, was appointed as Executive Officer on SAS Manthatisi and completed the delivery voyage in 2006. After a spell as Officer in Charge Submarine Training Centre, he was given command of SAS Queen Modjadji I in October 2007.
was privileged to be invited by the Navy to attend the arrival of SAS SAS Queen Modjadji I and boarded the Harbour Tug Umalusi. We proceeded out of the naval dockyard to meet with SAS Queen Modjadji I. We met up with S103 off the coast in False Bay. As befitting her arrival, she headed up a convoy of SAN, Argentinean, Brazilian and Uruguayan navy vessals that were partaking in Exercise Atlasur: eleven vessels in total, including two submarines (S102 and S103).
Having photographed the fleet and new submarine, we then proceeded back to port whereafter SAS Queen Modjadji I was welcomed into the harbour by jets of water from three tugs, as is the custom when a vessel visits her home port for the first time. At the same time, a SAAF maritime formation of a SAAF C-47TP and a Super Lynx flew over.
Of interest is that S102 (SAS Charlotte Maxeke) was recently conducting a patrol of the South African Exclusive Economic Zone.
Many thanks to Commander Greyling van den Berg of the SA Navy for his assistance and cooperation in compiling this report.
