'There was brightness then violence, blackness and water': Navy's worst tragedy 40 years on

Survivors of the SA Navy’s worst disaster will gather for a church service in the navy dockyard in Simon's Town on Saturday to remember their comrades who were lost when the fleet’s flagship sank after a collision with a supply vessel on February 18 1982.

The SAS President Kruger, one of three British-built Type 12 frigates, was rammed by the navy replenishment vessel SAS Tafelberg 145km southwest of Cape Point after a change-of-course manoeuvre during an exercise went horribly wrong.

Sixteen sailors died, 14 of whom had been asleep in the petty officers’ mess when the collision occurred. Another two sailors drowned as the vessel was abandoned.

The disaster sent shock waves through the SA Navy and the country. The frigate, nicknamed “PK”, was the pride of the navy.

With the passage of years, the tragedy had faded from both the navy and SA’s consciousness.

Steve Johns, one of the crew who spent hours afloat in his life jacket before being hauled aboard the frigate SAS President Pretorius, said neither the navy nor the government wanted to honour the anniversary.

Instead, they preferred to remember each year on Navy Day along with two wartime naval disasters — the sinking of the troopship SS Mendi off the coast of France in 1917 and the loss of the armed trawler Southern Floe in the Mediterranean Sea in 1942.

“We would like to have our own memorial for the 'PK', but the current regime doesn’t want to recognise it. It’s frustrating, but you get used to it. You expect things to change,” Johns said.

Survivors have arranged a private service with the help of the navy and maritime museum in Simon's Town.

“It wasn’t the flagship for nothing,” said survivor Cameron Kinnear, who had been with the ship for six months when the disaster occurred. “The general process of shipboard life was well done.”

The “PK” had won the Cock of the Fleet trophy shortly before the tragedy. The trophy, a rooster, was lost with the ship.

The night remains vivid for Kinnear, a weapons and electronics specialist, who remembers how the crew’s training kicked in as they abandoned the rapidly sinking frigate.

“People weren’t panicking. But there was disbelief that this was happening. The floor was at a strange angle, things weren’t where you expected them to be,” he said.

The ship’s lights failing added to the shock.

“There was brightness then violence, blackness and water.”

When the SAS President Pretorius, which had been taking part in the exercise, drew close to pluck the survivors from the sea, Kinnear remembered seeing men standing at the rescue ship’s rails holding rifles. “Only later did we find out they had rifles in case sharks showed up,” he told TimesLIVE.

Another memory was that the lights on the life jackets of sailors in the water did not seem to work. “But the kit was good. The lights were fine — they were just covered in fuel oil.”

Kinnear, whose website saspresidentkruger.com provides a space for survivors and their families to remember the ship, has travelled from the UK to attend Saturday’s service.

Johns, who has mobility problems, cannot attend. Instead he will honour the same ritual he has followed for the past four decades.

“Every 18th of February I have a tot of rum and remember those who didn’t make it. Forty years is a long time, but the memories continue.”

TimesLIVE