In an unprecedented trip, a group of reporters were ferried on South Africa's four main operational strike craft from Saldanha to Simon's Town, on the way engaging in tactical manoeuvres and even experiencing a mock battle.

The Thursday night and Friday morning sojourn was organised by the South African Navy in a bid to get the media and the public better acquainted with the country's sea defenders.

"This is the first time in ten years that the media, as a group, has been on board vessels... and never in the cramped confines of the strike craft but always on larger vessels such as the Drakensberg," said naval spokesman Captain Robert Higgs.

Departing from SAS Saldanha on Thursday, the media were split among the four strike craft to experience the rigours -- and hospitality -- on board these vessels.

Once out in the open waters, the four ships -- the SAS Adam Kok, the SAS Makhanda, the SAS Galashewe and the SAS Isaac Dyoba -- performed various seamanship exercises including refuelling at sea.

A live fire gunnery exercise was also performed, with the ship's 76mm cannon booming out into a clear, starry night after flares were fired as targets. The smell of cordite hung heavy in the air.

The smaller gunnery exercise -- with the 20mm and 12,7mm guns -- did not occur because both radars at the civilian air traffic control at Langebaan apparently went off-line. Langebaan is partly responsible for controlling an air corridor that aircraft take when approaching Cape Town International Airport.

"As a safety precaution we can't fire our guns, because the radars are down... and we don't want to make a mistake and shoot down an airliner," said captain of SAS Adam Kok, Commander Jasper van der Westhuizen to the disappointment of the anxiously waiting journalists.

As midnight approached the ships were still engaged in tactical manoeuvres in the South Atlantic on their way to Cape Town, before splitting into two groups of two ships each in what was to be known as the "Battle of Slangkop" near Kommetjie.

With battle lights on and men constantly scanning the horizon from the bridge with night vision binoculars, electronic warfare was employed as the two groups tried to outfox one another to secure the land around Slangkop.

At about 1.20am those who were trying to sleep through the din of the engines and the to-ing and fro-ing of the ship, were awakened by an operations room loud speaker indicating the target and range of a simulated missile strike. Each of the four strike craft can carry up to eight Skerpioen missiles.

It was a wan-looking bunch of journalists who emerged at the jetty at Simon's Town on Friday morning, after the trip proved a little too much for some of those with weaker intestinal fortitude.

The four strike craft will be phased out by the end of 2010 said Rear Admiral Eric Green.

"The new corvettes will not replace them, but are rather replacing our old frigates which went out during the 1980s. The corvettes would enhance our underwater, anti-submarine capabilities [with what?] and a new project to replace the strike craft with multi-purpose hulls is possible," he said.

With these multi-purpose hulls one could take-off and add-on, for example taking off a missiles component and adding a mine-detection component. 

With acknowledgement to Wendell Roelf and Sapa.