The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force.
HMS Pelorus was an Algerine-class minesweeper built for the Royal Navy (RN) during World War II. Upon completion, the ship became the flotilla leader of the 7th Minesweeper Flotilla, clearing mines off the east coast of England. In June 1944, the flotilla was assigned to sweep one of the beaches during the Normandy landings until she struck a mine the following month. After her repairs were completed, Pelorus was reassigned to the English Channel and the 6th Minesweeping Flotilla. The flotilla was transferred to the Indian Ocean in 1945 and spent some time escorting convoys. They participated in Operation Collie, a bombardment of Japanese positions in the Nicobar Islands, in July and then swept the Strait of Malacca and the approaches to Singapore in August.
The Chamsuri class are patrol boats originally constructed for and operated by the Republic of Korea Navy. They first entered service in 1979, and they have since seen service with five other navies, of which the Philippine Navy is currently the largest import user. These boats were built by the Korea Tacoma, and Korea SB & Eng. Masan shipyards. In Korea, the Chamsuri-class boats are being retired and replaced by Gumdoksuri-class patrol vessels.
The Kortenaer class was a class of anti-submarine frigates of the Royal Netherlands Navy. Like other frigate types of the 1970s and 1980s, they featured a COGOG propulsion system with separate cruise and sprint gas turbines. Ten were built by De Schelde in Vlissingen and two by Wilton-Fijenoord in Schiedam between 1978 and 1982. Only ten served with the Royal Netherlands Navy: two were sold to Greece's Navy while still under construction and replaced by two Jacob van Heemskerck-class frigates which were an air defence variant of the Kortenaer class. The Greek frigates were renamed the Elli class. After service with the Dutch ended, eight of the frigates were sold to Greece in 1992 and the remaining two to the United Arab Emirates. Three of the ships have since been retired from active military service with one converted into the superyacht Yas.
The Cheng Kung-class frigates are eight guided-missile frigates in service in the Republic of China Navy (ROCN). They are based upon the U.S. Oliver Hazard Perry class and built by China Shipbuilding Corporation in Kaohsiung, Taiwan under license throughout the 1990s as part of the Kuang Hua I project. These frigates served as the mainstay of the ROCN's area air defense capability prior to the acquisition of the Keelung (Kidd)-class destroyers in 2005. They are designated with the hull classification PFG rather than FFG used by the Oliver Hazard Perry class.
The Wielingen class is a class of four multi-functional frigates constructed for and operated by the Belgian Naval Component. In service from 1976 to 2008 with the Belgians, three of the class were sold to Bulgaria for service with the Bulgarian Navy beginning in 2004. The fourth, Westhinder, ran aground in 1988, was decommissioned in 1993 and was scrapped.
HMAS Bundaberg, named after the city of Bundaberg, was an Armidale class patrol boat of the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). The ship was built in Henderson, Western Australia, and was commissioned into the RAN in March 2007. Based at HMAS Cairns, Bundaberg spent much of her career deployed as part of border protection and fisheries protection patrols as part of Operation Resolute. In addition, the patrol boat was involved in several national and multinational training exercises, visited Vanuatu in 2011, tracked a suspected drug-smuggling vessel that led to a multimillion-dollar seizure, and participated in the International Fleet Review 2013. In August 2014, a large fire broke out on the ship while she was undergoing refit. Extensive damage from the fire led to the ship's decommissioning in December 2014.
The Kuha-class minesweepers is a series of six inshore minesweepers of the Finnish Navy. The ships were constructed in 1974–1975. All the vessels of the class were modified and modernized in the late 1990s, including a lengthening of the hull. Two of the class were withdrawn from service in 2012. The rest of the class will be retired with the entry into service of the Katanpää-class mine countermeasure vessels.
Godetia (A960) was a command and logistical support ship of the Belgian Naval Component, launched on 7 December 1965 at the Boelwerf in Temse and entered service on 2 June 1966. The patronage of Godetia was accepted by the city of Ostend. She was the first of two support ships acquired to replace World War II-era ships. Used primarily to provide logistic support to Belgium's fleet of minesweepers, Godetia has also seen service as a training ship, royal yacht and fisheries protection. The vessel has served with NATO's Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 1 in the Baltic and North seas. In June 2021, Godetia was taken out of service.
The Warrior-class strike craft are in service with the South African Navy, with the design being a modified Sa'ar 4 (Reshef)-class fast attack craft. The class was initially known as the Minister class as all the boats were named after South African Ministers of Defence, before being renamed Warrior-class after 1994. The strike craft flotilla was known as SAS Scorpion.
South Africa currently does not have a marine corps, though in the past it did. It was originally set up as a sub-branch of the South African Navy during the apartheid era, with the primary purpose of protecting the country's harbours (1951-1955). Then it was recreated in 1979 during the South African Border War as 1 Marine Brigade with the aim of serving as marine infantry (1979-1990). Today, the SAN Maritime Reaction Squadron is the closest analogue to a marine corps South Africa has.
The João Coutinho-class corvettes were a series of warships built for the Portuguese Navy for service in Portugal's African and Indian colonies. Initially rated as frigates, they were downgraded first to corvettes and then patrol vessels with age. They were designed in Portugal by naval engineer Rogério de Oliveira, but the urgent need of their services in the Portuguese Colonial War meant that the construction of the ships was assigned to foreign shipyards. Six ships were built; the first three ships were built by Blohm & Voss and the remaining three by Empresa Nacional Bazán. The ships were launched in 1970 and 1971. The relative cheap cost of the design led to it being the basis of several other classes in other navies. From 1970 until the end of the conflict in 1975, the corvettes were used for patrol and fire-support missions in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea and Cape Verde. After the African colonies gained their independence, the corvettes were assigned to patrol duties in Portuguese territorial waters.
The Končar class is a class of six missile boats built for the Yugoslav Navy during the late 1970s at Tito's Shipyard Kraljevica, SR Croatia. The boats featured a mixture of Western and Eastern European equipment, including Soviet anti-ship missiles and Swedish guns.
HMS Whelp was one of eight W-class destroyers built for the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Completed in 1944, the ship spent most of the war assigned to the Eastern and Pacific Fleets. She screened British aircraft carriers as their aircraft attacked targets in the Japanese-occupied Nicobar Islands, the Dutch East Indies, Formosa and near Okinawa. Whelp was present at the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945 and later in Hong Kong. She was paid off in January 1946 and went into reserve.
SAS Good Hope was one of three Loch-class frigates in the South African Navy (SAN). It was built as HMS Loch Boisdale (K432) for the Royal Navy during World War II, but was transferred to the SAN before completion in 1944 and renamed as HMSAS Good Hope. The ship was assigned to convoy escort duties in 1945, but did not encounter any enemy ships before the end of the war.
GNS Stephen Otu is a Chamsuri-class offshore patrol vessel in service with the Ghana Navy. The vessel was originally built by Korea Tacoma for the Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) as ROKS PKM 237. In 2011, PKM 237, was transferred to the Ghanaian Navy and renamed Stephen Otu as a donation. The vessel's primary purposes include maritime domain awareness, law enforcement, vessel inspection, naval development, search and rescue, and small boat maintenance. Various illicit activities the vessel is designed to prevent within Ghanaian territorial waters include piracy, illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, and oil bunkering.
Šolta is a Mirna-class patrol boat in service with the Croatian Navy. Completed during the 1980s as Mukos (PČ-176), it was the sixth ship of a class that was being built for the Yugoslav Navy in the Kraljevica Shipyard.
SAS Outeniqua was a sealift and replenishment ship operated by the South African Navy between 1993 and 2004. During her operational career she conducted several "flag-showing" cruises to African ports and provided support for South Africa's Antarctic research program. Outeniqua was also the venue for unsuccessful peace talks between Zaire's President Mobuto Sese Seko and rebel leader Laurent Kabila in May 1997.
SAS Transvaal was one of three Loch-class frigates in the South African Navy (SAN). She was built as HMS Loch Ard (K602) for the Royal Navy during World War II, but was transferred to the SAN in 1944 before completion and renamed as HMSAS Transvaal. The ship was completed shortly after the German surrender in May 1945 and did not participate in the war.
NS Brendan Simbwaye (P11) is a patrol boat of the Namibian Navy. Constructed and launched in Brazil, it was commissioned into the Namibian Navy in 2009. Its design was based on the Brazilian Navy's Grajaú-class patrol boats. The vessel is used for patrolling Namibia's exclusive economic zone.
