SAS Amatola

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SAS Amatola (F145) in 2009
History
South Africa
Name	SAS Amatola
Namesake	The Amatola Mountains where British forces fought the Xhosas in late 1852
Operator	South African Navy
Ordered	3 December 1999
Builder	Blohm+Voss, Hamburg[1]
Laid down	6 August 2001
Launched	6 June 2002
Commissioned	16 February 2006
Homeport	Simonstown
Identification	MMSI number: 601350000 Callsign: ZSRH
Status	in active service (but non-operational)
General characteristics
Class and type	Valour-class frigate
Displacement	3,700 long tons (3,759 t)
Length	121 m (397 ft 0 in)
Beam	16.34 m (53 ft 7 in)
Draught	5.95 m (19 ft 6 in)
Propulsion	CODAG WARP 2 × Diesels 5,920 kW (7,939 hp) each 2 shafts 1 × Gas turbine 20,000 kW (26,820 hp) 1 waterjet
Speed	30 knots (56 km/h; 35 mph)
Range	8,000 nmi (15,000 km) at 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)
Complement	152
Sensors and processing systems	Surveillance Radar: Thales Naval France MRR-3D NG G-band multi-role radar Optical Radar Tracker: 2 Reutech RTS 6400 monopulse X-band (I/J bands) combined radar and optronics trackers Electro-optical Tracker: Reutech Electro-optical tracker Identification Friend or Foe: Tellumat Integrated Naval IFF system Target Designation Sights: M-Tek Target Designation Sights Sonar: Thales UMS4132 Kingklip sonar Obstacle avoidance sonar: MDS 3060
Electronic warfare & decoys	ESM/ECM: Saab Grintek Avitronics SME 100/200 ESM (Intercept and Jammer) & ELINT Decoys: 2 Saab Grintek Avitronics MRL Super Barricade chaff launchers (96 decoys)
Armament	1 × Otobreda 76 mm gun 1 × twin barreled 35 mm (Denel) dual purpose gun 2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon Mk1 8 × MBDA MM40 Exocet Block 2 SSM (2 × 4-cell launchers) 32 × Umkhonto SAM (4 × 8-cell vertical launchers) 4×324mm torpedo tubes
Aircraft carried	1 × SuperLynx 300 (can carry 2)
Aviation facilities	Flight deck Enclosed hangar

SAS Amatola (F145) is the first of four Valour-class frigates for the South African Navy by the European South African Corvette Consortium.

Amatola, in keeping with a naming convention depicting acts of valour, was named after the Amatola mountain range in the Eastern Cape area where British forces fought the Xhosa nation in late 1852. Mrs Zanele Mbeki (wife of then President Thabo Mbeki), named the vessel at the Blohm & Voss Thyssen Rheinstahl, Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW) and Thales shipyards in Germany just after noon on 7 June 2002.^[2]