(part 2 published 11.03.12)
At the beginning of 1993, the SAN deployed its relatively strongest task force to date on a foreign cruise when SAS Drakensberg, the submarine SAS Maria van Riebeeck, and the strike craft SAS Magnus Malan, Hendrik Mentz and P.W. Botha (renamed Shaka in 1997) sailed to South America to participate in the first Atlasur exercise. The Drakensberg also served as guardship from 9 January 1993 for the duration of the Cape-to-Rio yacht race, but the ship first visited Rio de Janeiro on its own, while the other SAN naval units sailed to Montevideo in Uruguay. Next, all the SAN units sailed to Buenos Aires in Argentina, and then to the Argentinian naval base at Mar del Plata - including manoeuvres with Argentinian vessels. The four SAN surface ships were back in Simon's Town on 14 March, and the submarine arrived home a week later.
In March 1993, SAS Protea engaged in survey work along the north coast of KwaZulu-Natal and the south of Mozambique, visiting Durban and Maputo. On 6 May 1993, SAS Drakensberg left on a tailor-made flag-showing cruise from Simon's Town. The main purpose was to participate in the 50th anniversary of the "Battle of the Atlantic". On its way to Pembroke in Wales, the ship called on the Canary Islands. The naval revue took place on 26 May, after which 26 participating ships representing sixteen countries berthed in Liverpool. The Drakensberg's return voyage was via Casablanca (Morocco), Abidjan (Côte d'Ivoire) and Libreville (Gabon) to Simon's Town (26 June).
On 18 June 1993, SAS Outeniqua departed on its first flag-showing cruise: first, it sailed to Durban, then to Majunga (Madagascar), Moroni (Grand Comore), Port Victoria (Seychelles) and then via Durban back to Simon's Town (15 July). On 11 August 1993, SAS Outeniqua again departed from Simon's Town to load a mobile 126-bed hospital and other emergency supplies for the needy in Bosnia-Herzegovina, as well as agricultural implements for victims of conflict in the Sudan (who had fled to Kenya). From Durban, the ship sailed to Mombasa (where the implements were off-loaded) and then through the Suez Canal to Trieste in Italy where the mobile hospital was off-loaded. The ship then visited Istanbul, Odessa (Ukraine), Constanta (Rumania), Burgas (Bulgaria), once again Istanbul, and Haifa (Israel). Next, the ship sailed from east to west through the Mediterranean Sea, through the Strait of Gibraltar, and all the way to Walvis Bay and back to Simon's Town (22 October).
Phase 9: Showing the Flag of the New South Africa since 1994
In the last week of April 1994, the first fully-fledged democratic election took place in the RSA. Although the SAN had already ended its isolation of many years for all practical purposes, and had already played a meaningful role on the diplomatic front for the RSA, especially from 1991, the political rounding-off process of April 1994 formally heralded a new era in the history of the SAN. Eight days after Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as the new president of the RSA, SAS Drakensberg left Simon's Town on 18 May 1994 to display the new South African flag in as many harbours as possible. The ports and places visited were: Lisbon (to commemorate the birth of Prince Henry the Navigator 600 years earlier, along with approximately 27 warships from fourteen other countries), Rosyth (Scotland, to participate for ten days in the Joint Maritime Course 942's naval manoeuvres), Copenhagen (the first time that an SAN ship visited Denmark), Rotterdam, Zeebrugge (the first time that an SAN ship visited Belgium), Rouén (France, to form part of the La Armade de la Liberté who commemorated the liberation of France from the Nazi occupiers 50 years earlier), London, Portsmouth, Cadiz, São Tomé Island, Principé Island, Bioko Island (Equatorial Guinea) and Libreville (arrival back in Simon's Town: 18 August). "Operation Narsau" was a major success. In the course of three months, the Drakensberg visited more countries and more harbours than any other SAN ship on one cruise. Although the Drakensberg was a product of the apartheid era, the ship became the most prominent grey diplomat of the new democratic RSA.
In September 1994, SAS Walvisbaai became the first SAN coastal minesweeper in more than twenty years that was deployed as a grey diplomat. With SAS Fleur, the Walvisbaai sailed from Simon's Town (on 2 September) to Durban, Tamatava (Madagascar), Port Louis (Mauritius), Port des Galets (La Réunion), again to Durban and back to Simon's Town (29 September). This was the first time that such small South African warships (without the support of a larger ship) were deployed so far from their base during peace time.
On 17 September 1994 SAS Outeniqua left from Simon's Town to deliver approximately 8 000 tons of mealie meal and other food supplies to Dar es Salaam to relieve the plight of Rwandese refugees in Tanzania. The ship was back in Simon's Town again on 11 October. It was the first time since 1952 that the South African flag was displayed by an SAN ship in Tanzania.
SAS Drakensberg's most important flag-showing cruise in 1995 ("Operation Western Star") once again took an SAN ship to countries that the SAN had not visited before. The ship embarked on its voyage from Simon's Town (on 15 February) to Durban to load South African armaments which would be exhibited during the International Defence Industry Expo (IDEX '95) at Abu Dhabi. The ship sailed directly to Port Mina Zayed (the Abu Dhabi harbour) in the United Arab Emirates to off-load the armaments; next, the ship sailed to Karachi, Pakistan; then back to Port Mina Zayed; to Mumbai (Bombay, India); again to Port Mina Zayed (to take back on board the armaments); to Muscat (Oman), and then via Durban back to Simon's Town (23 April).
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In April 1995, the minehunters SAS Umzimkulu and Umgeni visited Namibia to confirm the RSA's seriousness with regard to regional co-operation. The ships sailed from Simon's Town (2 April) to Lüderitz and Walvis Bay, and on 13 April, they were back in Simon's Town. This was the first SAN visit to Walvis Bay since this harbour and the surrounding area were transferred by the RSA, on 28 February 1994, to Namibia. "Operation Palm Beach" (July 1995) was also aimed at promoting regional co-operation. A task force consisting of SAS Outeniqua, the submarine SAS Maria van Riebeeck and the strike craft SAS Oswald Pirow and Kobie Coetzee (renamed SAS René Sethren and Job Maseko respectively in 1997) reached Maputo on 6 July, and on the same evening the South African ambassador to Mozambique held a banquet on board the Outeniqua for members of the diplomatic corps and the Mozambican defence force. The next day the opening of the Delagoa railway-line exactly 100 years earlier was commemorated. Next, the SAN naval units visited Dar es Salaam. On 25 July, the task force was back in Durban, the home base of the strike craft, while the other two units were back in Simon's Town on 31 July.
"Operation Harmatten Wind" was the SAN's first flag-showing cruise in 1996. SAS Walvisbaai and Fleur left Simon's Town on 10 March and sailed via Walvis Bay to Port Gentil in Gabon, where several diplomatic functions were held on board the ships to forge relations between the two countries and navies. On the return voyage (again via Walvis Bay), the SAN ships were accompanied by the Gabonese landing ship President el Hadj Omar Bongo - the latter sailed to Cape Town to be repaired and re-equipped by Denel.
The most extensive flag-showing and training cruise of 1996 was undertaken by the Navy's most respected grey diplomat, SAS Drakensberg, to the USA, twenty years after SAS President Kruger paid the previous SAN visit to this country. The Drakensberg left Simon's Town on 14 June, sailed to outside Rio de Janeiro (to take on board the Navy's yacht, the Southern Maid), and from there to the US naval base at Roosevelt Roads near San Juan in Puerto Rico. After the Drakensberg participated with approximately 25 other warships from seventeen countries in naval manoeuvres, referred to as "Operation Unitas", the ship visited the large US naval base at Norfolk, Virginia, as well as New York and Newport. On the return voyage, the ship visited Dakar (last visited by SAN ships in 1959), Tema (Ghana) and Principé Island (arrival in Simon's Town on 3 September). Approximately three weeks later, the Drakensberg again left on a voyage, this time at the request of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, to transport personnel and equipment to the islands of Tristan da Cunha and Gough (both British territories) - departure from Simon's Town on 28 September; return on 7 October.
The SAS DRAKENSBERG comes alongside Staten Island, New York (1996).
From 21 to 26 March 1997, the Atlasur III naval manoeuvres (ships of the SAN and of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay participated) took place south of Cape Town, after which the establishment of the SAN 75 years earlier was commemorated from 31 March to 7 April, first in Simon's Town and then in Cape Town. An SAN submarine and fourteen other notable SAN ships, as well as 22 other warships from thirteen countries participated in this very special and successful commemoration.
In May 1997, SAS Outeniqua spent considerable time in the harbour of Pointe Noire (in the Republic of the Congo) after President Mobuto Sese Seko and the rebel leader Laurent Kabila agreed to meet on board this (neutral ) ship to negotiate the transfer of power in Zaire (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). Among many of the Congolese north and south of the Zaire (Congo) River, the Outeniqua became a household name as a peace ship, and at the same time, it became a symbol of the RSA government's willingness (and the SAN's capacity) to play an important diplomatic role in Africa south of the Sahara.
In August 1997, the strike craft SAS Job Maseko and Shaka (until 31 March 1997 known as SAS Kobie Coetzee and P.W. Botha respectively) paid a goodwill visit to Lüderitz and Walvis Bay ("Operation Orange Desert") and on the return voyage they also visited Saldanha Bay and Cape Town. The next month a far more extensive flag-showing cruise ("Exercise Interop East") was undertaken in the Indian Ocean. SAS Drakensberg left Simon's Town on 15 September 1997, and two days later she sailed from Durban in the company of the strike craft SAS Adam Kok (until 31 March 1997 still SAS Frederic Creswell) and SAS Jan Smuts. The first port of call was Maputo; thereafter they visited Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar; Mombasa (for manoeuvres with the Kenyan Navy); Port Louis (Mauritius; and manoeuvres with the local coast guard); Pointe des Galets (La Réunion); Taomasina (earlier known as Tamatava, on Madagascar) - and next manoeuvres with the French frigate Floréal. The flotilla reached Durban on 21 October, and two days later the Drakensberg was back in Simon's Town.
At the end of 1997, and the start of 1998, SAS Outeniqua undertook two cruises to the Antarctic, at the request of the Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, to offer logistical support to the South African weather team at the SANAE base. Both cruises were co-ordinated with those of the supply ship of the Department of Environmental Affairs, SA Agulhas. The first cruise lasted from 4 December 1997 to 15 January 1998; the second from 6 February to 4 March 1998. During the first cruise, the ships sailed to as close as possible to the Swedish base at Rampen Bukta, and a visit was also paid to South Thule and Zavadovski (both islands form part of the British South Sandwich Islands), and during the second cruise the ships sailed to as close as possible to the Swedish base at Wasa to pick up a team of researchers, consisting of Swedes, Danes, Finns and Dutchmen, and take them back to Cape Town. On board the Outeniqua were also naval personnel from Belgium, Gabon, Mozambique and Angola, who accompanied the ship for training purposes. Thanks to these cruises, the South African flag was displayed even in the far south of the globe.
In August and September 1998, an SAN task force was once again deployed in the Indian Ocean. SAS Outeniqua, mine hunter SAS Umzimkulu and minesweeper SAS Walvisbaai left Simon's Town on 28 August and sailed via Durban to Maputo, Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar (to participate in the joint naval exercise "Interop II"), and was back again in Simon's Town on 20 September. This flag-showing cruise stood in the sign of greater regional co-operation in southern Africa, something that was strengthened by "Operation Blue Crane" which was held from 13 to 28 April 1999 along the east coast of South Africa.
Meanwhile, SAS Drakensberg, Adam Kok and René Sethren left Simon's Town on 19 April 1999 on their way to South America where the Atlasur IV naval manoeuvres took place from 29 April to 11 May with ships from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. The SAN task force visited Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and Montevideo, and the SAN ships were back in Simon's Town on 1 June. Meanwhile, two of the SAN ships that participated in "Operation Blue Crane", namely SAS Umhloti and Walvisbaai, left Durban on 8 May 1999 to participate in "Exercise Tulipe 99" in Malagassian territorial waters - a peace-keeping force exercise that involved ships and/or personnel from South Africa, France, Madagascar, Mauritius, the Seychelles and Kenya. The SAN ships were back in Durban on 30 May and two days later in Simon's Town. It is insightful that a small Navy such as the SAN was able simultaneously to deploy two (albeit small) task forces, comprising various types of ships, in two different parts of the world to participate in exercises and to show the South African flag.
For the rest of 1999, there were no foreign flag-showing cruises, and the SAN also did not have a guardship on duty in the year 2000 for the Cape-to-Rio yacht race - albeit that six SAN yachts participated. Shortly afterwards, "Operation Acromion" did in fact take SAS Protea to South America (she left Simon's Town on 14 April 2000) to participate on 29 April in the naval revue held at Rio de Janeiro - as part of Brazil's 500th anniversary commemorations. The ship was back in Simon's Town on 15 May.
By the end of May 2000, the strike craft SAS Adam Kok and Isaac Dyobha left their base in Durban to participate in "Exercise Geranium 2000" along the coast of La Réunion from 29 May to 9 June. After they called on Port Louis in Mauritius, the two SAN ships were back again in Durban on 20 June. Meanwhile, SAS Drakensberg left Simon's Town ("Operation Padler") on 8 June, and sailed via Norfolk, Virginia, to New York to participate in an international naval revue on 4 July. Next, the SAN ship sailed to Halifax in Canada - the first time that a SAN ship visited the country. The Drakensberg was back in Simon's Town on 2 August.
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