SAS Umkhonto

The submarine SAS Umkhonto (S98), formerly the SAS Emily Hobhouse, was the second of three French-built Daphné class submarines ordered by the South African Navy in 1968. Laid down in December 1968 and launched 24 October 1969 and commissioned into the South African Navy under the command of Lt Cdr Lambert Jackson "Woody" Woodburne on 26 February 1971. SAS Umkhonto was decommissioned in 2003 and scrapped in 2008.

Ship Name
The SAS Umkhonto was originally named SAS Emily Hobhouse after Emily Hobhouse, a Cornish humanitarian and philanthropist in South Africa during the Boer War who was later made an honorary citizen of South Africa. In 1994, with the end of Apartheid in South Africa, ships bearing names of noted white South African figures were renamed. "Umkhonto" is the Zulu word for spear.

Operational history
In 1972, the SAS Emily Hobhouse landed Special Forces troops, led by Commandant Jan Breytenbach off of Dar es Salaam. The Special Forces team placed explosives on a bridge, power lines and targets around town. While making the pick up rendezvous, the submarine snagged a fishing net and sunk the fishing vessel dragging the net.

In 1982, the SAS Emily Hobhouse was part of a submarine officer commanding course exercise occurring 80 miles off Cape Point on 17 February. Her mission was to pass through the security screen provided by the frigates SAS President Kruger (F150), and SAS President Pretorius (F145) and simulate an attack on the replenishment ship SAS Tafelberg (A23) which the frigates were protecting. The heavy seas were causing clutter on the radar screens and the execution of a WWII-era convoy maneuver in the rough seas ended in a collision at 4:23am between the Tafelberg and the President Kruger that resulted in minor damage to the Tafelberg and the sinking of the President Kruger on the morning of 18 February with a loss of 16 lives.

The SAS Umkhonto was paid off in 2003 and scrapped in 2008.