The Operational Diving Division is part of the South African Navy's

Maritime Reaction Squadron The Maritime Reaction Squadron (MRS) is a specialised marine-like unit 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 main ...

(MRS) that was formed as the Naval Rapid Deployment Force (NRDF) in 2006. The Division consists of the training wing and the operational wing of four operational diving teams of 17 divers. These teams of combat divers are trained in mine-countermeasures, search and recovery and underwater explosives as a war time role. During peace time they are tasked also with assisting dry docking, underwater welding/cutting/repairs, and their continual role in assisting arms of service from other nations (

Lesotho Lesotho ( ), officially the Kingdom of Lesotho, is a country landlocked as an enclave in South Africa. It is situated in the Maloti Mountains and contains the highest mountains in Southern Africa. It has an area of over and has a populatio ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands ...

) and in crime fighting in collaboration with the police.

Training

Training is conducted at the Diving school at SAS Simonsberg, which was established on 1 April 1957 after the signing of the

Simonstown Agreement The Simonstown Agreement ( sic) was a naval cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the (then-officially) Union of South Africa signed . Under the agreement, the Royal Navy (RN) gave up its n ...

References

{{Underwater diving, prodiv South African Navy 2006 establishments in South Africa Armed forces diving