SAS ''Manthatisi'' (S101) is a currently in service with 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 ...

. SAS ''Manthatisi'' is named after the female warrior chief of the Batlokwa tribe. The Executive Mayor of Naledi Local Municipality and the godmother of the S101, Dr. Ruth Segomotso Mompati, announced the name of the submarine in 2006 at a ceremony 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 ...

Background

South Africa placed a contract for three Type 209/1400 submarines in July 2000 on Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) and Thyssen Nordseewerke. The Type 209/1400 submarines replace the French-built s, , and which were decommissioned in 2003. The ''Heroine'' class are sometimes considered to be South Africa's first "true" submarines, as they were more suited to being underwater than the ''Daphné'' models. ''Manthatisi'' arrived in Simon's Town on 8 April 2006, accompanied by the ''Valour''-class frigate .

Operational history

Exercise Amazolo, the first multi-navy exercise to involve ships of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) and the South African Navy took place in September 2007. The NATO ships included the , German tanker , , , and . The ''Manthatisi'' managed to penetrate an anti-submarine screen of seven ships, including the two South African ''Valour''-class frigates and and the USS ''Normandy''. After having ‘sunk’ the target being protected by the surface screen, the submarine turned on the surface warships and ‘sank’ each of them as well. ''Manthatisi'' was withdrawn from service in 2007 and placed in reserve as part of the SAN's plan to maintain only two out of its three submarines in service. She began a refit in 2010, and re-entered service in October 2014. As of April 2023, ''Manthatisi'' had completed a Docking and Essential Defect (DED) maintenance period and was undergoing post-maintenance trials. However, according to a presentation made to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence by Rear Admiral B.K. Mhlana, Deputy Chief of the Navy in May 2023, the mid-life update for the submarine, that was due to start in 2022, had not yet commenced. On 20 September 2023, ''Manthatisi'' was involved in a fatal accident en route to

Table Bay Table Bay (Afrikaans: ''Tafelbaai'') is a natural bay on the Atlantic Ocean overlooked by Cape Town and is at the northern end of the Cape Peninsula, which stretches south to the Cape of Good Hope. It was named because it is dominated by the fl ...

from Simon's Town for the South African Navy Festival. All seven swept off board were recovered by the NSRI near

Slangkop Lighthouse Slangkop Lighthouse is a lighthouse near the town of Kommetjie, near Cape Town, South Africa. History Construction was due to be completed in 1914 and a brass sign was commissioned for this date, but due to the First World War the lighthouse ...

with 3 fatalities. SASManthatisiDrydock

References

External links

Global Security
Heroine-class submarines Attack submarines Submarines of South Africa 2004 ships Military units and formations in Cape Town {{SouthAfrica-mil-stub