View source for SAS Mendi

{{Refimprove|date=February 2008}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SAS Mendi F148.jpg
|Ship caption=SAS ''Mendi''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=South Africa
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|South Africa|naval}}
|Ship name= SAS ''Mendi''
|Ship namesake={{SS|Mendi}}
|Ship ordered=3 December 1999
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft]], [[Kiel]]
|Ship original cost=
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|Ship laid down=28 June 2002
|Ship launched=October 2003
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|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=
|Ship commissioned=20 March 2007
|Ship recommissioned=
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|Ship renamed=
|Ship reclassified=
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=[[Naval Base Simon's Town|Simonstown]]
|Ship identification=F148
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
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|Ship captured=
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|Ship status=Active service
|Ship notes=
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass2|Valour|frigate}}
|Ship displacement=3,700 tons
|Ship length={{Convert|121|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{Convert|16.34|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draught={{Convert|5.95|m|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*[[Combined diesel and gas#CODAG WARP|CODAG WARP]]
*2 × Diesels {{convert|5920|kW|hp|0|abbr=on}} each
*2 shafts
*1 × Gas turbine {{convert|20000|kW|hp|0|abbr=on}}
*1 waterjet
|Ship speed={{convert|30|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{Convert|8000|nmi|km}} at {{Convert|16|kn|km/h}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=152
|Ship sensors=* '''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
|Ship EW=* '''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)
|Ship armament=*1 × [[Otobreda 76 mm]] gun
*1 × twin-barreled 35 mm [[Denel 35mm Dual Purpose Gun|(Denel) dual-purpose gun]]
*2 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]] Mk1
*8 × [[MBDA]] MM40 [[Exocet]] Block 2 [[Surface-to-surface missile|SSM]] (2 × 4-cell launchers)
*16 × [[Umkhonto (missile)|Umkhonto]] [[Surface-to-air missile|SAM]] (2 × 8-cell vertical launchers)
|Ship armour=
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=1 × [[Westland Lynx|SuperLynx 300]] (can carry 2)
|Ship aircraft facilities=* Flight deck
* Enclosed [[hangar]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''SAS ''Mendi'' (F148)''' is the last of four {{sclass2|Valour|frigate}}s built for the [[South African Navy]] by the European South African Corvette Consortium and entered service in March 2007. SAS ''Mendi'' was named by Mrs Helena Retief, wife of the (then) Chief of the Navy Vice Admiral [[Johan Retief]].<ref>[http://www.allatsea.co.za/sanavyships.htm South African Navy Ships<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111225024128/http://www.allatsea.co.za/sanavyships.htm |date=2011-12-25 }}</ref>

==Construction==
''Mendi'', as with all the Valour-class vessels, was 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 Group|Thales]] defence group) and a number of South African companies.<ref>[http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/meko/ MEKO A Class Combat Ship Family - Naval Technology<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

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 her as a "[[corvette]]", but other similar vessels in other navies being referred to as frigates.

SAS ''Mendi'' was built at the [[Howaldtswerke]]-Deutsche Werft shipyards in [[Kiel]], [[Germany]],<ref>[http://www.navy.mil.za/equipment/valour.htm Valour-class Frigates<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and arrived in South Africa on 20 September 2004.

==Status==
According to a presentation made to the Joint Standing Committee on Defence by Rear Admiral B.K. Mhlana, Deputy Chief of the Navy in May 2023, ''Mendi'' had been scheduled for refits in both 2013 and 2019 but no work had been done to date. Her mid-life update was scheduled for 2024. The admiral described the frigate as the only vessel of the class still effectively operational.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pmg.org.za/committee-meeting/36979/ |title=SA Navy's repair and maintenance of Frigates and Submarines; Status Update on Projects BIRO and HOTEL; with Deputy Minister |website=Parliamentary Monitoring Group |date=18 May 2023 |access-date=12 September 2023 }}</ref>

==Namesake==
As with all the other ships of the Valour class, ''Mendi'' is named after a famous [[South Africa|South African]] battle or instance of great valour. In this case the [[The Mendi sinking|sinking of SS ''Mendi'']] in the [[English Channel]] during [[World War I]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil.za/newnavy/mendi_history/mendi_hist.htm |title=SS Mendi History<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2012-10-24 |archive-date=2012-03-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120305223813/http://www.navy.mil.za/newnavy/mendi_history/mendi_hist.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> On the 23 August 2004, en route from the shipyards to South Africa, SAS ''Mendi'' and {{HMS|Nottingham|D91|6}},<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.navy.mil.za/newnavy/surface/mendi040823/i040823_update.htm |title=Memorial Wreathlaying<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2012-10-24 |archive-date=2013-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605223616/http://www.navy.mil.za/newnavy/surface/mendi040823/i040823_update.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> a [[Type 42 destroyer]], met at the site where {{SS|Mendi}} sank and lay wreaths in remembrance of those who died  in service for their country

==Notable deployments==
*A deployment to Brazil and Ghana from Aug to Sep 2007
*Operation Boniso 2004
*Operational Sea Training Phase training with the German Navy<ref>[http://www.navy.mil.za/newnavy/surface/mendi040904/i040904_update.htm Operating The New Patrol Corvettes Of The Sa Navy<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*Exercising with the {{ship|French frigate|Nivôse}} off Cape Point
*Conducted [[Exocet]] MM 40 missile firings with {{SAS|Isandlwana|F146|6}} in 2007
*Exercise Red Lion<ref>[http://www.navy.mil.za/SMC/2011_planned_exercises/2011_exercises.htm Planned Exercises for the South African Navy for the Period 2011 - 2013<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
*Exercised with {{HMS|Southampton|D90|6}} off Cape Town
*On 5 September 2008 ''Mendi'' led seven of the South African Navy's newest vessels in a Presidential Fleet Review,<ref>[http://www.saairforce.co.za/news-and-events/705/presidential-fleet-review ''Presidential Fleet Review''] from the South African Air Force</ref> the first to be held in South Africa since the 75th anniversary of the Navy in 1997.
*Since 2011, SAS ''Mendi'' has intermittently been deployed on anti-piracy operations in the [[Mozambique Channel]] as part of Operation Copper. All four Valour-class frigates, SAS ''Drakensberg'', and two of the SAN's [[offshore patrol vessel]]s (OPVs) have intermittently spent time on station since the operation began.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Martin|first1=Guy|title=Operation Copper now only with SA and Mozambique|url=http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34071:operation-copper-now-only-with-sa-and-mozambique&catid=108:maritime-security&Itemid=233|website=defenceweb.co.za|date=20 March 2014|publisher=defenceweb|access-date=19 July 2014}}</ref>
==Repair and return to operational status==
[[File:SAS Mendi moored in Simonstown in 2022.jpg|left|thumb|SAS ''Mendi'' in 2022]]
As of 2021 SAS ''Mendi'' was reported to be in reasonable shape and was being brought back to operational status through a staged maintenance and repair program. However, it was also reported that there still remained: "much work ahead. As long dormant systems are used again, small kinks and issues will show and must be ironed out”.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.defenceweb.co.za/featured/sas-mendi-on-the-way-to-full-operational-status/|title = SAS Mendi on the way to full operational status|date = 26 August 2021}}</ref>

In February 2023, ''Mendi'' participated in joint South African-Russian-Chinese exercises (exercise Mosi II) which involved the frigate ''[[Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov|Admiral Gorshkov]]'' and tanker ''Kama'' from the Russian Navy<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.plenglish.com/news/2023/02/17/russia-china-and-south-africa-began-naval-maneuvers/|title=Russia, China and South Africa began naval maneuvers|date=17 February 2023|website=Prensa Latina|access-date=21 February 2023|archive-date=21 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230221022955/https://www.plenglish.com/news/2023/02/17/russia-china-and-south-africa-began-naval-maneuvers/|url-status=dead}}</ref> along with the destroyer ''[[Chinese destroyer Huainan|Huainan]]'', the frigate ''[[Chinese frigate Rizhao (598)|Rizhao]]'' and the support ship ''[[Chinese ship Kekexilihu|Kekexilihu]]'' from the Chinese Navy, as well as other smaller units from the South African Navy.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://euromaidanpress.com/2023/02/16/south-africas-naval-drills-with-russia-china-tantamount-to-joining-war-against-ukraine/|title=South Africa's naval drills with Russia, China "tantamount to joining war against Ukraine"|date= 16 February 2023 |last=Ryabchiy |first=Kate |website=Euromaidan Press}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|F148 Mendi (ship, 2007)}}
*[http://www.sa-transport.co.za/military/navy/sas_mendi_1.html Photos of F148]
*[http://www.navy.mil.za/equipment/valour.htm ''Valour'' class entry] at [[South African Navy]] website

{{Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft}}
{{Valour class frigate}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mendi}}
[[Category:Ships built in Kiel]]
[[Category:Valour-class frigates]]
[[Category:2003 ships]]
[[Category:Frigates of the South African Navy]]
[[Category:Military units and formations in Cape Town]]