River-class mine hunter

SAS Umzimkulu.jpg
Class overview
Name	River class Minesweeper
Builders	Abeking & Rasmussen and Sandock-Austral
Operators	South African Navy
Preceded by	Ton-class minesweeper
Built	4
Completed	4
Active	4
General characteristics
Type	Minehunter
Displacement	390 t (380 long tons)
Length	48.0 m (157.5 ft)
Beam	8.5 m (27.9 ft)
Draught	2.5 m (8.2 ft)
Propulsion	2 × MTU 12V TB81 diesels, 2 shaft 3,367 kW (4,515 hp)
Speed	16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Range	2,000 nmi (3,700 km; 2,300 mi) at 13 kn (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Complement	40
Armament	1 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 2 × 12.7 mm machine guns

The River-class mine hunters were ordered in 1978 as Research Vessels to be operated by the Navy for the Department of Transport to circumvent the arms embargo in place at the time. They were originally named Navors (Afrikaans for Research) and numbered 1 to 4

The first ship Navors I was shipped to Durban from Germany in June 1980 for fitting out, shortly followed by the second. The last pair were built in Durban. The vessels were painted blue with white upperworks and formed the First Research Squadron. They were renamed in 1982 after South African rivers - (Umkomaas, Umhloti, Umgeni, Umzimkulu) but continued to fly the national flag and not the naval ensign. The prefix RV was only changed to SAS on 3 February 1988 when they were formally accepted as naval ships.

Name	Previous Names	Pennant	Commissioned	Notes
SAS Umkomaas	RV Navors I	M1499	13 January 1981	Named after the river Umkomaas, KwaZulu-Natal
SAS Umhloti	RV Navors IV	M1212	15 December 1981	Named after Umhloti River close to Durban, South Africa
SAS Umgeni	RV Navors II	M1213	1 March 1981	Named after Umgeni River
SAS Umzimkulu	RV Navors III	M1142	30 October 1981	Named after Umzimkulu River

See also

• List of decommissioned ships of the South African Navy
• List of ships of the South African Navy

References

• Saunders, Stephen (2002). Jane's Fighting Ships 2002–2003. Coulsdon, UK: Jane's Information Group. ISBN 0-7106-24328.