Maritime History

HMSAS Natal

HMSAS Natal (pennant number: K10) was one of three Loch-class frigates in the South African Navy (SAN). It was built as HMS Loch Cree (K430) for the Royal Navy during World War II, but was transferred to the SAN before completion in 1945 and renamed as HMSAS Natal. Just hours after finishing fitting out, the ship sank a German submarine off the coast of Scotland in early 1945. It was assigned convoy escort duties for the remaining few months of the war in Europe. Natal had her anti-aircraft armament reinforced for service in the Far East after arriving in South Africa in June. In September–October, the ship participated in the reoccupation of British Malaya before returning home the following month. It was assigned to ferry troops home from Egypt afterwards and participated in the annexation of the Prince Edward Islands in late 1947. Together with her sister ships, Natal made port visits in Middle Africa in 1948. It was placed in reserve in 1953 and was converted into a survey ship during the mid-1950s. The ship participated in the 1957–58 International Geophysical Year and the 1962–63 International Indian Ocean Expedition. Natal was obsolete by 1972 and was sunk as a target that year.

Also on this shelf

See also

• ▸Chennai Citi Centre
• ▸Chinese herbology
• ▸HMS Warspite (03)

Uncatalogued shelf

Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.