SAS Jan Smuts

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

History
South Africa
Name: SAS Jan Smuts
Namesake: Prime Minister Jan Smuts
Operator: South African Navy
Builder: Israel Shipyards Ltd, Haifa, Israel.
Launched: 18 February 1977[1]
Commissioned: 8 July 1977[2]
Decommissioned: 2003
Homeport: Durban
General characteristics
Class and type: Warrior class strike craft
Type: Missile boat
Displacement: 415 tons (450 tons full loaded)
Length: 58 m (190 ft)
Beam: 7.62 m (25.0 ft)
Draught: 2.4 m (7.9 ft)
Propulsion: 4 MTU 16V 538 diesel engines, four shafts, total of 12,800 hp (9,500 kW)
Speed: 34 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)
Complement: 45 officers and crewmen

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She was withdrawn from service on 20 March 1998[2] and sold for scrap.[3]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. http://www.sanavalfraternity.org/177-men-saved-in-sa-navy-accident/
  2. 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.
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