| 1941-April-15th |
Ship # 280's keel
was laid at the Blythe Shipyard, engined by Messrs Swan, Hunter
& Wigham Richardson Ltd., Tyneside |
| 1941-Oct-21st |
Launched for the first
time. |
| 1942-April-8th |
Commissioned as
HMS Barcross. 76 of this class were built during the
war. |
| 1942-April-14th |
Lt. V. Sutherland
RNR takes command. |
| 1942 |
Sailed with her sister
ship HMS Barbrake to South Africa under command of Lt.
V.Sutherland RNR. Docked at the Selborne dry dock, Simonstown,
before commencing duties, laying and servicing boom defence
equipment, in Saldanha Bay. |
| 1943-Jan-21st |
Lt. R. Souter RNR
takes command. |
| 1943-Jan-23rd |
Renamed HMSAS Barcross. |
| 1943-July-13th |
Lt. J.C.Walters SAN
takes command. Became Chief of the SA Navy [Vice Admiral] on
the 1st October 1977. |
| 1946 |
Purchased by the SA
Government and engaged in ammunition dumping off the coasts
of Port Elizabeth and Cape Town. |
| 1947 |
Laid up at Salisbury
Island Navel Base, Durban |
| 1952 |
Re-named SAS Somerset |
| 1953 |
Re-floats the HMSAS
Skilpad (pre- HMSAS Spindrift pre- Polaris),
with the help of her sister ship *SAS Fleur
(pre- HMS Barbrake)
*Not the Torpedo recovery vessel SAS Fleur which was
built in 1969. |
| 1955-June-1st |
Lt. Cdr. D.C.M. Germishuys
SAN takes over command. |
| 1955 |
Re-commissioned as
the SAS Somerset - named after Lt Dick King's horse 'Somerset'
which carried him from Durban to Grahamstown in 1842. |
| 1955 |
Salvaged 2 Harvards
after a mid-air collision over Table Bay, a third Harvard was
recovered 6 weeks later after it crashed into the sea off Bok
Point. |
| 1959 |
Laid oil pipe off
Mossel Bay harbour to serve the offshore oil terminal.
Coal fired boilers were replaced with oil fired ones during
a refit. |
| 1961-Feb-18th |
Re-floats the trawler
Mossel (pre- HMSAS Grimwood) which sank
off Port Elizabeth. |
| 1963-April-3rd |
Re-floats the 620
ton SAR&H tug F Schermbrucker in East London. The
tug was damaged maneuvering the liner City of Port Elizabeth
through the harbour entrance in rough conditions. |
| 1965-Oct-1st |
Command handed over
to Lt. Cdr. B. Duncum SAN |
| 1967- |
Reconditioned main
engine and new boilers fitted. |
| 1968- |
Assisted the cable
ship John W Mackay in the raising and repairing of undersea
telephone cables in the shallow waters at Melkbosstrand. |
| 1969-Mar |
Re-floated the 101
ton Wagter II (tug/whaler) at Saldanha Bay and towed
her back to Simonstown.
Salvaged a floating crane which sank after capsizing in Port
Elizabeth. |
| 1970-Sept-14th |
Lt. Cdr. D. Mallalieu
SAN takes command. |
| 1973-Mar-18th |
Lt. Cdr. S.B. Claydon-Fink
SAN takes command. |
| 1974-July-24th |
Called out to Struisbaai
to assist in the salvage of the 59 000 ton, Liberian registered,
bulk carrier Oriental Pioneer, bad weather and luck hampered
their efforts and they were unsuccessful, the resultant spillage
of 200 tons of fuel oil affected several thousand seabirds.
The wreck is now a popular dive site. |
| 1980-Mar-31st |
Lt. Cdr. R.A. Hind
SAN takes over command. |
| 1981 |
Raised the 87 ton
fishing vessel Aldabaran which had sunk at the Port Elizabeth
quayside in October 1978. |
| 1983 |
Assisted in the salvaging
and consequent dumping or the cut up remains of 1 barge and
2 whalers from Salamander Bay (Saldanha Bay).
Laid 24 mooring blocks in Gans Bay's new fishing harbour. |
| 1986-Mar-21st |
After 44 years of
service she sails for the last time in False Bay before being
de-commissioned. |
| 1988-May-24th |
Towed from Simonstown
to Table Bay, subsequently repainted and refurbished. |
| 1988-Sept-2nd |
Officially handed
over to the S A Maritime Museum, by the Chief of the SA Navy,
Vice-Admiral G. Syndercombe, as a floating exhibit. |
| 2006-Nov-14th |
Vessel is inspected
by D Knott and others. |
| 2006-Nov-15th |
I spent hours doing
this web page. |
