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SAS Spear
SAS ''Spear'' (pennant number: S97), initially known as the SAS ''Maria van Riebeeck'', was a of the South African Navy (SAN). Built in France during the 1960s, the boat was the SAN's first submarine. It was scrapped in June–July 2003. Description The submarine displaced surfaced and submerged. It measured long, had a beam of and a draft of . For surface running, the boat was powered by two SEMT Pielstick diesel engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. When submerged each propeller was driven by a electric motor. ''Spear'' could reach on the surface and underwater. While snorkelling, the boat had a range of at . It was armed with a dozen torpedo tubes, eight in the bow and four in the stern. ''Spear'' had a complement of 6 officers and 41 ratings. Construction and career The boat was laid down at the Nantes shipyard of Dubigeon-Normandie on 14 March 1968, launched on 18 March 1969 and commissioned on 22 June 1970.Moore, p. 400 On 20 August 1970, ''Maria v ...
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South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Ocean; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini; and it encloses Lesotho. Covering an area of , the country has Demographics of South Africa, a population of over 64 million people. Pretoria is the administrative capital, while Cape Town, as the seat of Parliament of South Africa, Parliament, is the legislative capital, and Bloemfontein is regarded as the judicial capital. The largest, most populous city is Johannesburg, followed by Cape Town and Durban. Cradle of Humankind, Archaeological findings suggest that various hominid species existed in South Africa about 2.5 million years ago, and modern humans inhabited the ...
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Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at its widest point. The maximum beam (BMAX) is the distance between planes passing through the outer sides of the ship, beam of the hull (BH) only includes permanently fixed parts of the hull, and beam at waterline (BWL) is the maximum width where the hull intersects the surface of the water. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship (or boat), the more initial stability it has, at the expense of secondary stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position. A ship that heels on her ''beam ends'' has her deck beams nearly vertical. Typical values Typical length-to-beam ratios ( aspect ratios) for small sailboats are from 2:1 (dinghies to trailerable sailboats around ) to 5:1 (racing sailboats over ). Large ships have widely varying beam ratios, some as large as 20:1. Rowing shells designed for flatwater racing may have length to beam ratios as high as 30:1, while a cora ...
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1969 Ships
1969 (Roman numerals, MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 2nd millennium, the 69th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1960s decade. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 – Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants. * January 14 – USS Enterprise fire, An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS ''Enterprise'' near Hawaii kills 28 and injures 314. * January 16 – First successful docking of two crewed spacecraft in orbit and the first transfer of crew from one space vehicle to another (by a space walk) between Soviet craft Soyuz 5 and Soyuz 4. * January 18 – Failure of Soyuz 5's service module to separ ...
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Ships Built In France
A ship is a large vessel that travels the world's oceans and other navigable waterways, carrying cargo or passengers, or in support of specialized missions, such as defense, research and fishing. Ships are generally distinguished from boats, based on size, shape, load capacity and purpose. Ships have supported exploration, trade, warfare, migration, colonization, and science. Ship transport is responsible for the largest portion of world commerce. The word ''ship'' has meant, depending on the era and the context, either just a large vessel or specifically a ship-rigged sailing ship with three or more masts, each of which is square-rigged. The earliest historical evidence of boats is found in Egypt during the 4th millennium BCE. In 2024, ships had a global cargo capacity of 2.4 billion tons, with the three largest classes being ships carrying dry bulk (43%), oil tankers (28%) and container ships (14%). Nomenclature Ships are typically larger than boats, but there is no ...
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Submarines Of The South African Navy
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or informally to refer to remotely operated vehicles and Autonomous underwater vehicle, robots, or to medium-sized or smaller vessels (such as the midget submarine and the wet sub). Submarines are referred to as ''boats'' rather than ''ships'' regardless of their size. Although experimental submarines had been built earlier, submarine design took off during the 19th century, and submarines were adopted by several navies. They were first used widely during World War I (1914–1918), and are now used in many navy, navies, large and small. Their military uses include: attacking enemy surface ships (merchant and military) or other submarines; aircraft carrier protection; Blockade runner, blockade running; Ballistic missile submarine, nuclear deterrenc ...
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Sonar
Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances ( ranging), communicate with or detect objects on or under the surface of the water, such as other vessels. "Sonar" can refer to one of two types of technology: ''passive'' sonar means listening for the sound made by vessels; ''active'' sonar means emitting pulses of sounds and listening for echoes. Sonar may be used as a means of acoustic location and of measurement of the echo characteristics of "targets" in the water. Acoustic location in air was used before the introduction of radar. Sonar may also be used for robot navigation, and sodar (an upward-looking in-air sonar) is used for atmospheric investigations. The term ''sonar'' is also used for the equipment used to generate and receive the sound. The acoustic frequencies used in sonar systems vary from very low ( infrasonic) to e ...
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Warship International
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is used for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the navy branch of the armed forces of a nation, though they have also been operated by individuals, cooperatives and corporations. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are typically faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, which carries cargo, a warship typically carries only weapons, ammunition and supplies for its crew. In wartime, the distinction between warships and merchant ships is often blurred. Until the 17th century it was common for merchant ships to be pressed into naval service, and not unusual for more than half of a fleet to be composed of merchant ships—there was not a large difference in construction, unlike the difference between a heavily armoured battleship and an ocean liner. Until the threat of piracy subsided in the 19th century, it was normal practice to arm larger merchant ships such as ...
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Toulon
Toulon (, , ; , , ) is a city in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of southeastern France. Located on the French Riviera and the historical Provence, it is the prefecture of the Var (department), Var department. The Commune of Toulon has a population of 176,198 people (2018), making it France's 13th-largest city. It is the centre of an urban unit with 580,281 inhabitants (2018), the ninth largest in France by population. Toulon is the second largest French city by urban area on the Mediterranean coast after Marseille. Toulon is an important centre for naval construction, fishing, wine making, and the manufacture of aeronautical equipment, armaments, maps, paper, tobacco, printing, shoes, and electronic equipment. The military port of Toulon is the major navy, naval centre on France's Mediterranean coast, home of the French aircraft carrier ''French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, Charles de Gaulle'' and her battle group. The French Mediterranean Fleet is based in ...
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Ship Commissioning
Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to placing a warship in active duty with its country's military forces. The ceremonies involved are often rooted in centuries-old naval tradition. Ship naming and launching endow a ship hull with her identity, but many milestones remain before it is completed and considered ready to be designated a commissioned ship. The engineering plant, weapon and Electronics, electronic systems, Galley (kitchen), galley, and other equipment required to transform the new hull into an operating and habitable warship are installed and tested. The prospective commanding officer, ship's officers, the petty officers, and seamen who will form the crew report for training and familiarization with their new ship. Before commissioning, the new ship undergoes sea trials to identify a ...
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Ceremonial Ship Launching
Ceremonial ship launching involves the performing of ceremonies associated with the process of transferring a vessel to the water. It is a nautical tradition in many cultures, dating back millennia, to accompany the physical process with ceremonies which have been observed as public celebration and a solemn blessing, usually but not always, in association with the launch itself. Ship launching imposes stresses on the ship not met during normal operation and in addition to the size and weight of the vessel represents a considerable engineering challenge as well as a public spectacle. The process also involves Sailors' superstitions, many traditions intended to invite good luck, such as baptism#Boats and ships, christening by breaking a sacrificial bottle of champagne over the bow (ship), bow as the ship is named aloud and launched. Methods There are three principal methods of conveying a new ship from building site to water, only two of which are called "launching". The ol ...
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Laid Down
Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one of the four specially celebrated events in a ship's life; the others are launching, commissioning, and decommissioning. Earlier, the event recognized as the keel laying was the initial placement of the central timber making up the backbone of a vessel, called the keel. As steel ships replaced wooden ones, the central timber gave way to a central steel beam. Modern ships are most commonly built in a series of pre-fabricated, complete hull sections rather than around a single keel. The event recognized as the keel laying is the first joining of modular components, or the lowering of the first module into place in the building dock. It is now often called "keel authentication" and is the ceremonial beginning of the ship's life, although s ...
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Diesel Engine
The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compression (physics), compression; thus, the diesel engine is called a compression-ignition engine (CI engine). This contrasts with engines using spark plug-ignition of the air-fuel mixture, such as a petrol engine (gasoline engine) or a gas engine (using a gaseous fuel like natural gas or liquefied petroleum gas). Introduction Diesel engines work by compressing only air, or air combined with residual combustion gases from the exhaust (known as exhaust gas recirculation, "EGR"). Air is inducted into the chamber during the intake stroke, and compressed during the compression stroke. This increases air temperature inside the Cylinder (engine), cylinder so that atomised diesel fuel injected into the combustion chamber ignites. The torque a dies ...
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