Historical submarine moves to Naval Museum in Simon’s Town

Former South African Navy Daphne-class submarine, the SAS Assegaai, was moved from the dockyard to the new annexe of the Naval Museum in Simon’s Town, on Thursday.

The move has been described as ‘truly monumental’, as it was carried out by the heavy lift contractor Vanguard during July and involved a ‘complex over-land move’ of the 58-metre submarine, with its estimated weight of ‘almost 700 tons’.

This is according to a Facebook post made by the SA National Defence Force.

Preparations for the move were made in November 2022 with the ‘laying of foundations’ on the new site for the mounting of the SAS Assegaai, which was followed by the fabrication and fitting of lifting frames on the hull.

Earlier that year in May, a Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Navy and the Naval Heritage Trust (NHT), which was ‘entrusted with the ambitious project’.

The move was sponsored and carried out by Damen Shipyard and facilitated by Armscor Dockyard.

This year, on 25 June, all preparations on the submarine were finalised and the submarine was finally moved to a position from which it ‘could be lifted’ by the Vanguard hydraulic lifting platforms.

There were challenges with moving the SAS Assegaai that tested ‘the resolve of both the project team, Dockyard workers and Vanguard’.

‘At the first attempt, on the 8th of July, the submarine came off the blocks in the afternoon and the trek towards the museum site commenced,’ the post stated.

‘But at the first 90-degree turn, it became apparent that the loading frames were not sufficiently compatible with the load points of the moving gear. The move was halted, and the submarine was made safe. The frames had to be strengthened in the required areas which required more time, steel and welders,’ the post added.

In addition, a new schedule had to be compiled due to the extreme weather in July that only added to the challenge. The submarine was eventually transported over a span of two days, on 19 and 20 July.

This ended the  ‘first phase in the preservation’ of the SAS Assegaai as a museum, a joint venture between the SA Navy and the NHT.

The NHT project team was comprised of an ‘experienced group’ of former naval flag and senior officers, many of whom had served in the SAS Assegaai submarine.

While the Navy had fully supported the project, all the necessary funding for the project was raised through the NHT.

‘The move was rightly made possible thanks to generous support from more than 150 public sponsors and donors which culminated in a substantial grant from the City of Cape Town,’ according to the post.

With the submarine secured on site, additional maintenance will include electrical power that will be connected, the installation of access doors and stairs and the preparation of the interior for visitors.

Once completed, and the SAS Assegaai declared safe, the submarine will be open to the public ‘before the end of the year’.

When further funding was been raised, the final phase will be put into motion, where the exterior of the hull will be restored.

‘SAS Assegaai will be the only preserved naval museum vessel in South Africa and the only submarine museum in Africa,’ said the post.

Previously, the SAS Assegaai was named the SAS Johanna van der Merwe, referred to as ‘Johanna’, before the name was changed in 1997.

It was one of three Daphne-class submarines in service with the South African Navy, being laid down in Nantes, France on 24 April 1969.

The submarine was launched on 21 July 1970 and commissioned on 27 August 1971, arriving in Simon’s Town on 19 June 1972.

The SAS Assegaai was finally decommissioned in 2003 and retained by the Navy for preservation, as part of its Naval Museum.