SAS Walvisbaai
{{short description|Minesweeper completed in 1959}}
{{EngvarB|date=June 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United Kingdom |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} |Ship name=Packington |Ship namesake=Packington |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Harland & Wolff, Belfast |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=3 July 1958 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=21 May 1959 |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sold to the South African Navy before commissioning |Ship status= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=South Africa |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|South Africa|naval}} |Ship name=Walvisbaai |Ship namesake=Walvis Bay |Ship acquired= 20 September 1959 |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=March 2001 |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship fate=Sold to the Walt Disney Co., 2003; later sold to private interests. |Ship status= |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Panama{{cite web|url=http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=2696529|title=MOJO|website=ShipSpotting|access-date=23 July 2017}} |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Panama}} |Ship name=Mojo |Ship acquired=2006 |Ship identification= |Ship status=In service |Ship notes=Converted to a yacht from 2006-2012 }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class={{sclass2|Ton|minesweeper | ship}}
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|360|LT|t}} (standard)
|Ship length={{convert|153|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|27|ft|7|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship draught={{convert|8|ft|2|in|m|1|abbr=on}} |Ship propulsion=2 × propeller shafts |Ship power=2 × {{convert|3000|bhp|abbr=on|lk=in|0}} diesel engines |Ship speed={{convert|15|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range={{convert|2300|nmi|lk=in|abbr=on}} at {{convert|13|kn}} |Ship endurance= |Ship complement={{Ton class minesweeper complement}} |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament={{Ton class minesweeper armament}} |Ship notes= }} |
HMS Packington (pennant number: M1214) was a {{sclass2|Ton|minesweeper||ship}} completed in 1959 by Harland & Wolff for the Royal Navy, but transferred before commissioning to the South African Navy as SAS Walvisbaai. The ship was decommissioned in March 2001 and was sold to the Walt Disney Company in 2003 to be used in the Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
Post filming the vessel was sold and was subsequently converted into a private yacht.
Design and description
The Ton-class coastal minesweepers were constructed with wooden hulls and almost all of their structure was made from aluminium to reduce their magnetic signature to aid sweeping magnetic mines.{{cite web|title=Ton History|url=http://tca2000.co.uk/?page_id=30|website=tca2000.co.uk|publisher=Ton Class Association|access-date=26 October 2016}} The ships displaced {{convert|360|LT|t}} at standard load and {{convert|1940|LT|t}} at deep load. They had a length between perpendiculars of {{convert|153|ft|m|1}}, a beam of {{convert|27|ft|7|in|m|1}} and a draught of {{convert|8|ft|2|in|m|1}}.Moore, p. 401 The Tons were powered by two Napier Deltic diesel engines, each driving one propeller shaft. The engines developed a total of {{convert|6000|bhp|lk=in}} and gave a maximum speed of {{convert|15|kn|lk=in}}. They had a range of {{convert|2300|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|13|kn}} and had a complement of 4 officers and 25 ratings. The Ton-class ships were armed with a single Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60 and two Oerlikon 20 mm cannon light AA guns on a single twin-gun mount.{{cite web|title=Ton Technical Stuff|url=http://tca2000.co.uk/?page_id=75|website=tca2000.co.uk|publisher=Ton Class Association|access-date=26 October 2016}}
Construction and career
Packington was launched by Harland & Wolff on 3 July 1958 at their Belfast shipyard. She was transferred to the South African Navy before she was commissioned on 20 September 1959 under the name of SAS Walvisbaai. The ship was retired in March 2001 and sold to the Walt Disney Company in 2003 to be used as the R/V Belafonte in the Wes Anderson film The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.{{cite web|title=Packington M1214|url=http://tca2000.co.uk/?page_id=1210|website=tca2000.co.uk|publisher=Ton Class Association|access-date=26 October 2016}}
Subsequently, she was sold to a private owner for $350,000.{{cite web|title=Sold – Mine Sweeper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201108134918/http://www.maritimesales.com/IC10.htm|archive-date=8 November 2020 |url=http://www.maritimesales.com/IC10.htm|website=maritimesales.com|access-date=26 October 2016}} In 2006 she began a lengthy conversion into a yacht in Dubai that saw her engines replaced by a pair of {{convert|1750|bhp|abbr=on}} V-12 Caterpillar 3512B diesel engines, her deck renewed and her interior completely revamped. The work was completed by 2012 and the ship was renamed Mojo.{{cite web|title=Mojo yacht- Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries |website=SuperYacht Times |url=http://www.superyachttimes.com/yachts/details/5005 |access-date=26 October 2016}}{{Cite web|last=Van Rooy|first=Charl|date=11 December 2012|title=From minesweeper to superyacht, the story of Mojo|work= SuperYacht Times|url=https://www.superyachttimes.com/yacht-news/from-minesweeper-to-superyacht-the-story-of-mojo|access-date=25 October 2020}}
Citations
{{reflist}}
References
- {{cite book|last1=Du Toit|first1=Allan|title=South Africa's Fighting Ships: Past and Present|date=1992|publisher=Ashanti Publishing|location=Rivonia, South Africa|isbn=1-874800-50-2}}
- {{cite book|editor1-last=Moore|editor1-first=John |title=Jane's Fighting Ships 1981–82|date=1981|publisher=Jane's Pub. Co.|location=London|isbn=0-7106-0728-8}}
{{Ton class minesweeper}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Walvisbaai}}
Category:Cold War minesweepers of the United Kingdom
Category:Maritime history of South Africa
Category:Minesweepers of the South African Navy
Category:Ships built by Harland and Wolff
Category:Ships built in Belfast
Category:Ships of the South African Navy