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This day in history: the SAS Drakensberg sails to rescue a rudderless S.A. Agulhas in 1992
February 4, 2016 @ 8:00 am - 5:00 pm
On 13 December 1991 South Africa’s then Antarctic supply and research ship the r.v. S.A. Agulhas suffered rudder damage while in pack ice near the SANAE Base in Antarctica. The German research icebreaker Polarstern came to her assistance and by February the S.A. Agulhas had been freed from the pack ice.
On 4 February 1992 the South African Navy’s fleet replenishment vessel S.A.S. Drakensberg (A301) (Captain Fred Marais) sailed from the Cape Peninsula to rescue the S.A. Agulhas (captained by W. “Bill” Leith, who in the meantime had jury-rigged a rudder out of two doors). The Drakensberg towed the Antarctic ship over 5000 km to Cape Town for repairs. This was the first time a vessel of the South African Navy had proceeded farther south than 54°S.
In June 1991 the Drakensberg picked up and returned an ill team member, Gerald Meyer, meteorologist of M48 (who had previously spent a year on Marion Island with the M46 team as the first non-white team member since 1948). In January 1991 she was sent to the Antarctic to recover a South African National Antarctic Expedition (SANAE) helicopter that had broken down. The ship then rendezvoused with the S.A. Agulhas near Bouvet Island, supplying it with fuel, stores and a Puma helicopter, and brought back to Cape Town nine German scientists and 57 SANAE and other staff. With the S.A. Agulhas getting its rudder fixed the Drakensberg conducted the 1992 relief voyage to Marion Island in March (with myself aboard). In September/October 1996 the Drakensberg undertook the annual relief of South Africa’s weather station on Gough Island.
Feature photograph: The S.A.S. Drakensberg against Table Mountain
Photographs of the stricken S.A. Agulhas and of the rescue tow are needed by ALSA. Can you help?
References:
Cooper, J. 2008. Human history. In: Chown, S.L. & Froneman, P.W. (Eds). The Prince Edward Islands: Land-Sea Interactions in a Changing Ecosystem. Stellenbosch: Sun PReSS. pp. 331-350.
Wessels, A. 2013. SAS Drakensberg’s first 25 years: the life and times of the SA Navy’s foremost grey diplomat, 1987–2012. Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies 41: 116-141.
John Cooper, Principal Investigator, Antarctic Legacy of South Africa, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University