HMSAS Waterberg (CL-1910 (1935-mod))

Back to Commonwealth Ships List

Back to Southern African Navy list:

The last 2 Active class ships were passed onto the Southern African Navy in 1924 with the newly completed Eagle. After 10 years service and various refits the SA Navy  decided that  the ships would be used as Training cruisers (to replace the Lesotho that was converted to an aircraft carrier) with the ability to be Escort Command ships and Flotilla leaders to convoy escorts in time of war. They were too slow to be leaders for the newer destroyers in service but were fine leaders for the slower escort ships such as the River Class, Flower class and others. The old single 4" guns were removed during the 1920's and replaced with the three 5.5" guns. The fore funnel was trunked into the second funnel while a new bridge structure replaced it.

Being turbine driven vessels was a bonus and these ships were converted to oil firing as part of their rebuilding process. For their anti-aircraft armament the ships were armed with 4" AA mountings. A pair of quad 2 pounder pom-poms and a handful of 20mm gave the ships a useful AA outfit. Being slated for convoy escort duties during time of war the ships were also fitted with asdic and depth charges in future refits as these items became available. RADAR, HF/DF and all the other toys were fitted as available.

Back to Commonwealth Ships List