South African Navy
The South African Navy (SA Navy) is the naval warfare branch of the South African National Defence Force.
South African Navy
1st April 1922
- 6,816 active personnel
- 1,071 reserve personnel
Saldanha Bay, Simon's Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Green and white
Senior Chief Warrant Officer Matee Molefe[1]
The Navy is primarily engaged in maintaining a conventional military deterrent, participating in counter-piracy operations, fishery protection, search and rescue, and upholding maritime law enforcement for the benefit of South Africa and its international partners.[2][3]
Today the South African Navy is one of the most capable naval forces in the African region, operating a mixed force of sophisticated warships, submarines, patrol craft, and auxiliary vessels, with over 7,000 personnel; including a marine force.
With formerly deep historical and political connections to the United Kingdom, the first emergence of a naval organisation was the creation of the South African Division of the British Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in 1913, before becoming an nominally independent naval service for the Union of South Africa in 1922.[4]
In its history, South African naval vessels and personnel have participated in the First and Second World Wars, as well as the South African Border War. In the apartheid post-war era, the South African Navy was extensively aligned with NATO and other Western nations against the Soviet Bloc.[5]
History[edit]
Beginnings[edit]
Officially, the South African Navy can trace its origins back to the creation of the South African Naval Service on 1 April 1922. Unofficially, however, the Navy has an unbroken association with the Natal Naval Volunteers, formed in Durban on 30 April 1885, and the Cape Naval Volunteers, formed in Cape Town in 1905.[4] Loosely, and indirectly however, the earliest naval establishment was the Port Elizabeth Naval Volunteer Brigade, founded in 1861.[6] On 1 July 1913, following the creation of the Union of South Africa in 1910,[7] the South African Division of the Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve (RNVR[SA]) was established, although with complete organisational and operational control being directed by the Royal Navy.[4][8]
