Declarations

SOUTH AFRICAN HERITAGE RESOURCES AGENCY

NATIONAL HERITAGE RESOURCES ACT, NO 25 OF 1999

DECLARATION AS A NATIONAL HERITAGE SITE

By virtue of the powers vested in the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) in terms of section 27(5) of the National Heritage Resources Act, 25 of 1999, SAHRA hereby declares the SAS Pietermaritzburg shipwreck site off Millers Point near Simons Town as a National Heritage Site.

Significance

The wreck of the SAS Pietermaritzburg, located off Millers Point near Simons Town, bears significant historical value in the important role she has played in both South African and World history. The Algerine class ocean minesweeper then known as the HMS Pelorus and adopted by Vivien Leigh of “Gone with the wind”, played a significant role in World War II as she led the Allied Armada in the D-Day invasion of Normandy on June 6, 1944.  She was also one of the Allied vessels to first arrive in Singapore after the Japanese surrender in 1945.

In 1947, after the end of World War II, she was sold to the South African Navy and initially renamed the HMSAS Maritzburg and then later renamed the HMSAS Pietermaritzburg on 21 January 1948.  She was used for the training of midshipmen and later refitted and used as a dormitory ship in Simon’s town until 1991.

She gave service in times of both peace and war and at the end of her long and distinguished career a committee was formed and considerable effort was put into preserving the PMB, as she was affectionately known, in order to save her as a floating museum ship. However, the cost of berthing and refitting the PMB amounted to too much and the campaign abandoned. On November 19, 1994 the ship came to her final resting place, scuttled off of Millers Point near Simon’s Town in a ceremonial fashion by the South African Navy in order to preserve it as an artificial reef site for marine life and a dive site where people could still go visit this unique vessel and remember the significant role it played in history.

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