SAS Amatola (F145)

SAS "Amatola" (F145) is the first of four Valour class frigates for the South African Navy.
They were manufactured by the European South African Corvette Consortium (ESACC), consisting of the German Frigate Consortium (Blohm+Voss, Thyssen Rheinstahl and Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werf), African Defence Systems (part of the French Thales defence group) and a number of South African companies.

The ships were built to the MEKO modular design concept, and are designated by the manufacturer as the MEKO A-200SAN class. Some controversy exists as to the class type of the vessel, with both the manufacturer and the South African Navy referring to it as a corvette, but other similar vessels in other navies being referred to as frigates. It has been claimed by some that the use of the word corvette was a political decision made by the South African government to ease criticism of the procurement of the vessels.

As with all the other ships of the Valour class, the "Amatola" is named after a famous South African battle. In this case, a series of battles between the Xhosa nation and Britain along the Amatola mountain range in the Eastern Cape.

The SAS "Amatola" was built at the Blohm + Voss shipyards in Hamburg, Germany, and arrived in South Africa on 4 June 2003. It was then fitted out with its various weapons and electronic systems, and commenced weapons integration trials in October 2004. This was followed by its commissioning on 16 February 2006.

On 7 April 2006 the SAS "Amatola" arrived from Kiel after accompanying the new Submarine S101 to Simonstown on its maiden voyage. A SABC TV presenter Lee Manas interviewed Defence Minister Terror Lekota on the occasion.

The ship's commanding officer is Captain Guy Jamieson.

During 2007 this vessel became the first South African frigate in decades to take part in the Royal Navy's "Basic Operational Sea Training" (BOST) programme, albeit without an embarked Super Lynx 300 helicopter, as these had not been delivered at the time.