The fourth and last patrol corvette in the current acquisition programme of the SA Navy, the
SAS Mendi, arrived home in Simon's Town from Kiel, Germany, on Friday 17 September 2004.
Her arrival marks the final delivery of the last of the four patrol corvettes acquired for the SA Navy, making this a significant occasion.
To commemorate this event, the SA Navy held a fleet review in False Bay during which all four corvettes were seen at sea simultaneously for the first time. General Siphiwe Nyanda, Chief of the South African National Defence Force, was the officiating officer at the review and answered the
SAS Mendi's salute. On completion of the review, the
SAS Mendi came alongside her new home, when she was welcomed with traditional pomp and ceremony.
As one of the Valour Class vessels, the SAS Mendi is named after the
SS MENDI that went down 11.3 nautical miles from St Catherine's Lighthouse, the Southern most point of Britain's Isle of Wight. Many
accounts and
stories related since the tragedy bear witness to the stoicism, brotherhood and bravery in the face of death displayed by the South Africans who were lost.
En route home, the SAS Mendi made a special stop to salute their lost fellow sailors, observing a minute's silence during a wreath-laying ceremony at the exact coordinates of the
SS Mendi's resting place in the English Channel. British sailors from the Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Nottingham, joined in the ceremony, also laying a wreath.
