History
South Africa
NameSAS Jan Smuts
NamesakePrime Minister Jan Smuts
OperatorSouth African Navy
BuilderIsrael Shipyards Ltd, Haifa, Israel.
Launched18 February 1977[1]
Commissioned8 July 1977[2]
Decommissioned2003
HomeportDurban
General characteristics
Class and typeWarrior class strike craft
TypeMissile boat
Displacement415 tons (450 tons full loaded)
Length58 m (190 ft)
Beam7.62 m (25.0 ft)
Draught2.4 m (7.9 ft)
Propulsion4 MTU 16V 538 diesel engines, four shafts, total of 12,800 hp (9,500 kW)
Speed34 knots (63 km/h; 39 mph)
Range
  • 4,000 nmi (7,400 km; 4,600 mi) at 17.5 kn (32.4 km/h)
  • 1,650 nmi (3,060 km; 1,900 mi) at 30 kn (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Complement45 officers and crewmen

SAS Jan Smuts was a Minister-class strike craft of the South African Navy.

The SAS Jan Smuts was the first of the Minister class to be built and initially launched with only a pennant number, P1561. She arrived in Simon's Town in September 1977 under the command of Commander Robert Simpson-Anderson.[2] She was later named SAS Jan Smuts after former Prime Minister Jan Smuts.

When the strike craft were renamed in 1997, the SAS Jan Smuts was the only one to retain her original name.

She was withdrawn from service on 20 March 1998[2] and sold for scrap.[3]

Ship's badge in the Naval Museum

References

  1. ^ "177 men saved in SA Navy accident | South African Naval Fraternity". Archived from the original on 2014-12-09. Retrieved 2014-12-09.
  2. ^ a b c Wessels, Andre. "The South African Navy during the years of conflict in Southern Africa 1966-1989" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on December 2, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2014.
  3. ^ "SANDF gets rid of surplus". News24.com. October 4, 2005. Retrieved December 9, 2014.
Categories