Guiding the Seafarers: The South African Hydrographic Office and the Contribution of the Three Proteas

dc.creator	Thean Potgieter
dc.date	2013-02-01T00:00:00Z
dc.date.accessioned	2015-07-20T20:08:14Z
dc.date.available	2015-07-20T20:08:14Z
dc.identifier	10.5787/40-3-1038
dc.identifier	2224-0020
dc.identifier	https://doaj.org/article/d93e508871304680b1f5f32f646f7240
dc.identifier.uri	http://evidence.thinkportal.org/handle/123456789/8055
dc.identifier.uri	https://doaj.org/article/d93e508871304680b1f5f32f646f7240
dc.description	As seafarers require a comprehensive record that provides information on coastlines, the seabed and sea conditions, cartography dates back to antiquity. During the early modern period, states and merchant companies employed cartographers to collect and report important nautical information. The Dutch East India Company (VOC), for example, created valuable nautical charts and provided detailed sailing instructions on the South African coast. Open exchange of such information is a twentieth-century phenomenon dating back to the creation of the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) in 1921. The SA Navy was created in 1922. One of its first ships was the survey ship <em>HMSAS Protea,</em> which was laid up in 1933. During the two decades following the Second World War, hydrographic survey work was done by three converted former Royal Navy vessels (<em>SAS Protea, SAS Natal</em> and <em>SAS Haerlem</em>). South Africa became a member of the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) in 1951 and the SA Navy established its own Hydrographic Office in April 1955. The SA Navy’s Hydrographic vessels were always outdated or redundant ships, but in 1972 the SA Navy commissioned its first purpose-built hydrographic survey ship (the current <em>SAS Protea</em>).
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy)
dc.relation	http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1038
dc.relation	https://doaj.org/toc/2224-0020
dc.source	Scientia Militaria : South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 40, Iss 3 (2013)
dc.subject	Protea
dc.subject	Hydrography
dc.subject	Charting
dc.subject	SA Navy
dc.subject	Survey ship
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	DOAJ:Military Science
dc.subject	DOAJ:Technology and Engineering
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.subject	Military Science
dc.subject	U
dc.title	Guiding the Seafarers: The South African Hydrographic Office and the Contribution of the Three Proteas
dc.type	Article