SAS ''Skilpad'' was a

minelayer A minelayer is any warship, submarine, military aircraft or land vehicle deploying explosive mines. Since World War I the term "minelayer" refers specifically to a naval ship used for deploying naval mines. "Mine planting" was the term for ins ...

vessel of the

South African Navy The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force. The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery prote ...

during and after the Second World War. She was launched as the German trawler ''Polaris'' and after being captured by the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

in 1940, she was commissioned into the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as a

war prize A prize of war (also called spoils of war, bounty or booty) is a piece of enemy property or land seized by a belligerent party during or after a war or battle. This term was used nearly exclusively in terms of captured ships during the 18th and 1 ...

and renamed HMS ''Spindrift''. During the course of the war she was transferred to the South African Naval Forces, being based in

Saldanha Bay Saldanha Bay () is a natural harbour on the south-western coast of South Africa. The town that developed on the northern shore of the bay, also called Saldanha, Western Cape, Saldanha, was incorporated with five other towns into the Saldanha Bay ...

and later at

Durban Durban ( ; , from meaning "bay, lagoon") is the third-most populous city in South Africa, after Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the largest city in the Provinces of South Africa, province of KwaZulu-Natal. Situated on the east coast of South ...

. After being laid up for several years after the end of the war, she sank at her moorings in Durban during a gale in 1953, leading to her being decommissioned and sold for

scrap Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap can have monetary value, especially recover ...

in 1957.

History

''Polaris'' was built in the Germany in 1936 as a general purpose

commercial trawler A fishing trawler is a commercial fishing vessel designed to operate fishing trawls. Trawling is a method of fishing that involves actively dragging or pulling a trawl through the water behind one or more trawlers. Trawls are fishing nets that ...

and was requisitioned by the in 1939 and converted into a lookout trawler. She was then fitted with concealed

torpedo tube A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...

s and the ''Kriegsmarine'' added

superheater A superheater is a device used to convert saturated steam or wet steam into superheated steam or dry steam. Superheated steam is used in steam turbines for electricity generation, in some steam engines, and in processes such as steam reforming. ...

s to the boilers to improve speed for short "sprints" as may be needed. She was intended to put to sea with general trawlers in the hope of attacking any

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

shipping that came within torpedo range. She was captured by off Norway on 26 April 1940 and escorted back to

Scapa Flow Scapa Flow (; ) is a body of water in the Orkney Islands, Scotland, sheltered by the islands of Mainland, Graemsay, Burray,S. C. George, ''Jutland to Junkyard'', 1973. South Ronaldsay and Hoy. Its sheltered waters have played an impor ...

as a

by . As a war prize, ''Polaris'' was taken over by the

and commissioned as HMS ''Spindrift'' and was initially used for submarine crew training at

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

but was later converted to a controlled minelayer, emerging from the dockyards in January 1942. She was transferred to

on the Cape West Coast under command of the Royal Navy South Atlantic station in

Simon's Town Simon's Town (), sometimes spelled Simonstown, is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and is home to Naval Base Simon's Town, the South African Navy's largest base. It is located on the shores of Simon's Bay in False Bay, on the eastern s ...

, being responsible for laying controlled minefield defences in the South African coastal waters. HMS ''Spindrift'' was fully handed over to the SA Naval Forces on 5 July 1943 at Simon's Town and was renamed HMSAS ''Spindrift'', now crewed by the South African Naval Forces. At the end of the war, she remained in Saldanha Bay until 1948 when she was towed to

by the frigate and was laid up in care and maintenance at

Salisbury Island Salisbury Island may refer to: * Salisbury Island (California), United States *Salisbury Island (Nunavut), Canada * Salisbury Island (Russia) *Salisbury Island (Western Australia), Australia * Iona Island (New York), once known as Salisbury Island ...

as part of the

reserve fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully Ship decommissioning, decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothba ...

. In 1951 she was renamed HMSAS ''Skilpad'' (the name ''Skilpad'' translates to ''Tortoise'' and was an apt reflection of her (lack of) speed - without the super heaters which had been removed whilst in the Royal Navy; top speed was 9 knots!).

Fate

''Skilpad'' sank at her berth at Salisbury Island on 22 July 1953 during a northeastely gale. Although considerable efforts were made to raise her, the ship never went back to sea again and was eventually sold for scrap in May 1957 and

broken up Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

at Durban.

Notes and references

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Skilpad Ships of the South African Navy Maritime history of South Africa Mine warfare vessels of the South African Navy 1936 ships