SAS ''President Steyn'' was the second of three President-class

Type 12 frigate Type 12 frigate refers to several ship classes, most commonly the three ship classes of the Royal Navy designed during the 1950s and constructed during the 1960s. * The first Type 12 frigates, designed as convoy escorts, were later named the . Six ...

s built in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

for 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 ...

(SAN) to use during the 1960s. The ship spent most of her career training and made many visits to foreign ports in Africa,

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

and

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. In the late 1960s, she was modernized and equipped to operate a

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

. In the mid-1970s, ''President Steyn'' played a minor role in the

Angolan Civil War The Angolan Civil War () was a civil war in Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. It was a power struggle between two for ...

as a part of South African operations against the communists. The ship was withdrawn from service in 1980 and was sunk as a target in 1991. This happened after financial problems prevented her from being reactivated.

Description

The President-class ships displaced at

standard load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weig ...

and at

deep load The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into weig ...

. They had an

overall length The overall length (OAL) of an ammunition cartridge is a measurement from the base of the brass shell casing to the tip of the bullet, seated into the brass casing. Cartridge overall length, or "COL", is important to safe functioning of reloads i ...

of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Radio beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially lo ...

of and a mean deep draught of . The ships were powered by a pair of

English Electric The English Electric Company Limited (EE) was a British industrial manufacturer formed after World War I by amalgamating five businesses which, during the war, made munitions, armaments and aeroplanes. It initially specialised in industrial el ...

geared

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s, each driving one

propeller shaft A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power, torque, and rotation, usually used to connect o ...

, using steam provided by two

Babcock & Wilcox boiler A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-generat ...

s. The turbines developed a total of which gave a maximum speed of . They carried of

fuel oil Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine f ...

that gave them a range of at . Their crew numbered 14 officers and 200 ratings. The Presidents were armed with one twin-gun mount for QF 4.5-inch (114 mm) Mk V

dual-purpose gun A dual-purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets. Description Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and ...

s forward and one twin mount for Bofors

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) is the counter to aerial warfare and includes "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It encompasses surface-based, subsurface ( submarine-launched), and air-ba ...

s. For anti-submarine work, the ships were fitted with Type 162, 170, and 177M

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 o ...

s for the pair of triple-barrelled Mk 10 Limbo

anti-submarine mortar Anti-submarine mortars are artillery pieces deployed on ships for the purpose of sinking submarines by a direct hit with a small explosive charge. They are often larger versions of the Mortar (weapon), mortar used by infantry and fire a projecti ...

s. They were equipped with a Type 293Q surface-search

radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...

, Type 262 and 275 gunnery radars, Type 277Q height-finding radar and a Type 978 navigation radar. By the mid-1960s, it was obvious that the sonars of the President class were capable of detecting submarines well outside the range of the Limbo anti-submarine mortars and the South Africans decided to follow the lead of 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 ...

(RN) in giving them the ability to operate

s that could carry anti-submarine

torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...

es or

depth charge A depth charge is an anti-submarine warfare (ASW) weapon designed to destroy submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited ...

s to a considerable distance from the ships. Therefore, the forward Limbo mortar was removed and its space was plated over to form a small

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface on which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopters ...

. The Bofors mount, its

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

and the aft superstructure was replaced by a

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

for a

Westland Wasp The Westland Wasp is a small 1960s British turbine-powered, shipboard anti-submarine helicopter. Produced by Westland Helicopters, it came from the same Saunders-Roe P.531 programme as the British Army Westland Scout, and is based on the ea ...

helicopter. Two single Bofors guns were positioned on the hangar roof and provisions were made for four Browning machine guns. A pair of American Mk 32 triple-barrelled anti-submarine torpedo tubes were added amidships and their electronics were upgraded, including the addition of a

Thomson-CSF Thomson-CSF was a French company that specialized in the development and manufacture of electronics with a heavy focus upon the aerospace and defence sectors of the market. Thomson-CSF was formed in 1968 following the merger of Thomson-Hous ...

Jupiter

early-warning radar An early-warning radar is any radar system used primarily for the long-range detection of its targets, i.e., allowing defences to be alerted as ''early'' as possible before the intruder reaches its target, giving the air defences the maximum tim ...

atop a new

mainmast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the median line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, giving necessary height to a navigation light ...

and a Selenia Orion

fire-control system A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a hum ...

Construction and career

Three President-class frigates were ordered by the South African Navy in the late 1950s following the

Simonstown Agreement The Simonstown Agreement was a naval cooperation agreement between the United Kingdom and South Africa, signed on 30 June 1955. Under the agreement, the Royal Navy (RN) gave up its naval base at Simon's Town, South Africa, and transferred com ...

with the RN. ''President Steyn'' was the second ship of the three

sister ship A sister ship is a ship of the same Ship class, class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They o ...

s and was ordered from Alexander Stephens and Sons on 18 September 1957 with the name ''

President Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Presiden ...

''. The government wanted the first ship to be completed to receive the name of the first president of South Africa and a strike at the Alexander Stephens shipyard delayed the laying of the ship's keel. So she exchanged names with the first ship built by

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Growing to tall, it is characterized by small whitish flowers, a tall stem of fernlike leaves, and a pungent odor. The plan ...

which had already been laid down and became ''President Steyn'', named after

Martinus Theunis Steyn Martinus (or Marthinus) Theunis Steyn (; 2 October 185728 November 1916) was a South African lawyer, politician, and statesman. He was the sixth and last president of the independent Orange Free State from 1896 to 1902. Early life The Stey ...

, last president of the

Orange Free State The Orange Free State ( ; ) was an independent Boer-ruled sovereign republic under British suzerainty in Southern Africa during the second half of the 19th century, which ceased to exist after it was defeated and surrendered to the British Em ...

. She was laid down at their

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are shipbuilding, built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Compared to shipyards, which are sometimes m ...

Linthouse Linthouse is a neighbourhood in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated directly south of the River Clyde and lies immediately west of Govan, with other adjacent areas including Shieldhall and the Southern General Hospital to the west, ...

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 20 May 1960. The ship was launched on 23 November 1961 and commissioned on 8 April 1963, with

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

John Fairbairn in command. Completion was slightly delayed by a fire aboard the ship on 3 July 1962 that required holes to be cut in the hull and decks to rescue the workmen trapped aboard. ''President Steyn'' arrived 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 ...

on 13 September and all three of the Presidents were assigned to the 10th Frigate Flotilla. They participated in Capex 63 training exercise with British and French warships in July–August 1963, but only ''President Steyn'' and her sister participated in Capex 64 the following year. In 1965 the Royal Navy decided to reduce Capex to a weapons training period with only RN and SAN units participating, presumably to reduce the profile of cooperating with the

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

government of South Africa. On 7 October 1968, the 10th Frigate Flotilla, now consisting of ''President Steyn'', ''President Pretorius'' and the

replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. Th ...

, departed Simon's Town for Australia and arrived in

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia located at the mouth of the Swan River (Western Australia), Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australi ...

on the 23rd. They continued onwards to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and then participated in the

Remembrance Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces me ...

ceremony in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

on 11 November. The flotilla departed three days later, bound for home, but they were forced to put into Freemantle when a pump in ''President Pretorius'' burnt out en route. The ships finally reached home on 3 December. ''President Steyn'' began her modernisation the following year on 5 August 1969 and was recommissioned in May 1971. Several months later, the ship departed Simon's Town on 1 September to escort the newly completed, French-built submarine to South Africa. En route, she visited ports in Portugal, West Germany, England, and Spain. While visiting

Luanda Luanda ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Angola, largest city of Angola. It is Angola's primary port, and its major industrial, cultural and urban centre. Located on Angola's northern Atlantic coast, Luanda is Ang ...

Portuguese Angola In southwestern Africa, Portuguese Angola was a historical Evolution of the Portuguese Empire, colony of the Portuguese Empire (1575–1951), the overseas province Portuguese West Africa of Estado Novo (Portugal), Estado Novo Portugal (1951–1 ...

, the ship's helicopter needed to make a test flight after replacing the main

rotorhead In helicopters the rotorhead is the part of the Helicopter rotor, rotor assembly that joins the blades to the shaft, Helicopter flight controls#Cyclic, cyclic and Helicopter flight controls#Collective, collective mechanisms. It is sometimes referre ...

and was lost with all hands on 25 November. ''President Steyn'' and ''Emily Hobhouse'' arrived on 10 December and the frigate made another voyage to

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 h ...

the following year to escort the submarine home from France. This time, the trip was much more direct and the two ships arrived on 19 June 1972. Shortly afterwards, ''President Steyn'' sailed to

Gough Island Gough Island ( ), also known historically as Gonçalo Álvares, is a rugged volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a dependency of Tristan da Cunha and part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan d ...

to pick up a seriously ill weatherman for treatment. In 1973, the ship, together with ''President Kruger'' and ''Johanna van der Merwe'', visited

Lourenco Marques Maputo () is the capital and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088,449 (as of 2017) distributed over a land are ...

(now Maputo) in

Portuguese Mozambique Portuguese Mozambique () or Portuguese East Africa () were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese Empire, Portuguese overseas province. Portuguese Mozambique originally constituted a str ...

from 29 March to 7 April. Despite downplaying the exercises with the South Africans, the Royal Navy continued to do so until the British government abrogated the Simonstown Agreement on 16 June 1975. ''President Steyn'' played a minor role in

Operation Savannah Operation Savanna (or Operation Savannah) was the first insertion of SOE trained Free French paratroops into German-occupied France during World War II. This SOE mission, requested by the Air Ministry, was to ambush and kill as many pilots as ...

, the South African covert intervention in the Angolan Civil War, most notably when she rescued 26 advisors to the

National Liberation Front of Angola The National Front for the Liberation of Angola (; abbreviated FNLA) is a political party and former militant organisation that fought for Angolan independence from Portugal in the war of independence, under the leadership of Holden Roberto. F ...

who had been cut off after a failed attack on Luanda on 28 November. To provide manpower for the French

corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

s under construction, the ship was placed in reserve in early 1977. The United Nations arms embargo imposed later that year put paid to that plan and she was recommissioned the following year. Shortly before ''President Kruger'' was recommissioned on 15 August 1980, ''President Steyn'' was permanently decommissioned on 1 August, after the navy decided to only keep two of the sisters active. She briefly served as a barracks ship before all of the useful equipment and machinery was stripped from her and the navy planned to use her as a target for Skerpioen missiles in 1982. However, the accidental sinking of her sister in February 1982 gave the ship a reprieve as she was placed in reserve in case the navy decided to restore her to operational service. Plans to do so were made later in the 1980s, but shortages of money prevent them from being realized. ''President Steyn'' was towed from Simon's Town on 29 April 1991 and sunk by a combination of missile hits and gunfire from the five involved in the exercise.

References

External links

Guide to the wreck site on Wikivoyage
{{DEFAULTSORT:President Steyn 1961 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ships sunk as targets President Steyn, SAS Cold War frigates of South Africa Maritime incidents in 1991 Shipwrecks of South Africa Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean