Newsletter No 81 June/Nuusbrief Nr 81 Junie 2011
SAMHSEC’s 9 May 2011 meeting in Port Elizabeth opened with the series on family member’s military service by Peter Duffel-Canham, whose grandfather, Richard Duffell-Canham, ran away to sea at the age of 15 on a whale ship from Table Bay. He is to be seen in a 1908 photograph of Sea Cadets, an organization that was to remain close to his heart until his death. He joined the Royal Navy in 1914 and went to South West Africa in support of the Union’s campaign against the German forces. The greater part of the WWI was spent in German East Africa aboard HMS Mersey, one of the ships that trapped the German cruiser Königsberg up the Rufiji River.
On his return, Richard joined the Customs service as an Outdoor Officer, staying with the Service until his retirement. He resumed his contact with the Sea Cadets as a Gunnery Instructor and was joined by his three sons would serve in WWII, Alfred, who survived the sinking of HMS Barham, Richard, who served on Armed Merchant Cruisers and in Combined Operations and Peter’s father, John, who served in SA Navy minesweepers in the Mediterranean. During WWII, Richard was seconded to the SA Navy as a Liaison Officer in Naval Intelligence, resuming his Customs Service career at the end of the war to become the head of Customs in Durban and Cape Town respectively. He was also active in the Missions to Seamen and Dockyard Libraries and maintained his interest in the Sea Cadets as a civilian instructor until his death aged 61, after a very short retirement.
(Scribe’s note: Anyone interested in doing a presentation on a family member’s military service is invited to approach the Scribe).
The curtain raiser by Andre Crozier was on the Struggle for the Zuurveld, also known as the Fourth Frontier War of 1812. In 1779 Governor van Plettenberg decreed that the Fish River be the boundary of the colony. However, the Xhosa continued moving over the Fish River into the Zuurveld and came into conflict with the Boers. More and more Boers abandoned their farms. After the British take over of the Cape in 1806, there was mounting pressure on Governor Caledon to take action. Caledon hesitated to follow advice he was given, but his successor, Sir John Cradock, was more decisive and appointed Colonel John Graham to expel the Xhosa from the Zuurveld. Graham was ordered to first try to persuade the Xhosa to withdraw beyond the Fish River. In attempting to comply with this order, commanders put their lives at risk. Cuyler and Graham had narrow escapes.
Anders Stockenstrom was not so lucky and was killed with 14 of his commando while negotiating with a group of Xhosas encountered in the Zuurberg. Graham launched his main offensive towards the Addo Bush on 28 December 1811. Once Chief Chungwe had been killed and 2500 cattle seized, Chief Ndlambe led his followers back across the Fish River. The operation, which was over by March 1812, would have a lasting effect on the history of South Africa. Andre concluded by discussing the effect of the war on the colony and the Xhosa people and his views on Col Graham and the operation in general.
The main lecture by Franco Cilliers was on The History of the Anti-Shipping Missile (ASM), which begins with the German WW2 development of two types of ASMs, namely the Fritz X for armoured ships and the Henschel Hs 293 for unarmoured ships. One of the reasons for developing the ASM is that it has a higher chance of hitting a target than unguided munitions. Although the Germans were able to sink some ships with ASMs, they were not war winning weapons. The US developed the Bat ASM, which was used on a limited scale late in the war.
The post-war development of ASMs was initially limited to the USSR, which saw the merit of the weapon as giving a small ship a big punch. The first operational post-war use of the ASM was the sinking of the INS Eilat, which was hit by 3 missiles launched from an Egyptian harbour over the space of an hour and sank shortly thereafter. This incident caused the West to accelerate their ASM development programmes, as well as to develop methods of countering the growing threat of Soviet ASMs.
The next encounter between navies equipped with ASMs turned out differently. The Israeli intention was to neutralise the threat of the Syrian Navy to its coast during the Yom Kippur war. They approached the Syrian harbour of Latakia and sank two picket vessels with naval gunfire. The Syrians launched Styx missiles at the Israeli ships. All of the launched missiles were deflected with the use of Electronic Counter Measures and Chaff. The Israeli ships were able to close the range and launch missiles which sank Syrian ships.
The West and the USSR followed different approaches with the development of ASMs. The USSR opted for big missiles with long ranges and heavy warheads. These missiles had ranges averaging 300 kms, with the SS-N-19 Shipwreck reaching roughly 620 kms. On average, warheads weighed 569 kgs, with the SS-N-19 Shipwreck carrying a 720 kg warhead. Some Soviet ASMs were supersonic, with the SS-N-22 Sunburn reaching Mach 3. These design decisions meant that the missiles were not manoeuvrable, relying instead on quantity to hit and penetrate target ships. The West generally opted for lighter, slower, but more manoeuvrable missiles such as the Harpoon and Exocet. The average range of a Western ASM was 125 kms, with the average warhead weighing 203 kgs. While the USSR developed an ASM for a specific launch platform type, ie either ship, submarine or air launched, the West tended to develop missiles with multiple option launch platforms, eg the Harpoon, which can be launched from land, sea, underwater or air.
ASMs are still being developed and updated, with the Chinese developing and deploying an anti-carrier ballistic missile for possible use against US carrier strike groups in the Pacific Ocean. The US Navy is currently developing the Long Range ASM to be able to hit a target at a range 3600 kms within 30 minutes of launch.
SAMHSEC’s next meeting will be at 1400 on 11 June 2011 in the Education Department of Rhodes University in Grahamstown (the same venue as last year). The curtain raiser by Nadia Czeredrecki-Schmidt will be A Polish paratrooper's story. The main lecture by Rupert Jackson will be on The Yom Kippur War. The family member’s military service presentation will be by John Stevens. There will be a morning tour to either the Frontier Wars signal tower on Governor’s Kop or the Great Trek Bible Monument, ABW trenches and part of the WW2 air school. Whichever option is decided, please meet at the Monument at 0945 for 1000 departure. Attendance by as many members as possible is requested as a gesture of appreciation for the Grahamstown Stalwarts’ contribution to SAMHSEC.
Malcolm Kinghorn.
SAMHSEC SCRIBE
culturev@lantic.net
082 331 6223