The guns came first. In 1942, with German U-boats prowling the sea lanes around southern Africa and pressure mounting on Table Bay, the Allied forces turned to Saldanha Bay as an alternative harbor. On the headlands of Baviaanskop, Elands Bay, Malgaskop, and Hoedjiespunt, crews installed 6-inch and 12-inch coastal defense guns. Anti-submarine nets were strung across North Bay, and eight lines of moored mines protected the harbor entrance. A control center on land coordinated the defenses, and the women who ran it -- members of the South African Women's Auxiliary Naval Services, known as SWANS -- operated the detection equipment and controls. From this wartime fortification, SAS Saldanha would grow into the South African Navy's primary training base, a place that has shaped naval careers for more than seven decades.
The transition from defensive outpost to training facility happened in stages. All British living quarters at the base became South African Navy property on June 14, 1944, while the war was still being fought. In 1948, the training establishment HMSAS Field Marshal Smuts relocated from Saldanha to Salisbury Island in Durban, and for a few years the base quieted. But in 1951, the Naval Gymnasium was established at Saldanha with 44 trainees reporting for a year's training, and the base found its permanent purpose. Before it was christened SAS Saldanha on March 1, 1956, the facility went through several identities -- the Naval and Marine Gymnasium, then SAS Drommedaris -- each name marking a step in the young navy's evolution from a wartime improvisation into a permanent institution.
When South Africa implemented 12 months of compulsory national service, SAS Saldanha became the gateway through which thousands of young men entered naval life. The base trained recruits from both the national service intake and the permanent force, running parallel programs that gave the facility a scale and energy it had not known before. In May 1989, SAS Saldanha was elevated to a full naval base with both training and operational responsibilities. The dual mandate lasted only until 1990, when rationalization measures returned it to a pure training role. That role has proved durable. Today, SAS Saldanha runs Military Skills Development training, the three-tier Military Training for Ratings program that takes sailors from seaman to petty officer to warrant officer, and seamanship training at the base's jetty, where trainees learn swimming, rafting, and survival skills in the cold waters of the bay.
The base has expanded its mission beyond traditional naval recruitment. Through the NARYSEC program -- the National Rural Youth Service Corps -- the South African Navy trains young people from across the country in a youth leadership development program administered in partnership with the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development. In 2023, SAS Saldanha welcomed an intake of 734 young South Africans for phase two of the program, which uses military-style training to build leadership skills. West Coast College and Boland College provide the academic components. The program reflects a broader shift in the base's identity: from a Cold War-era military installation to a facility that serves both defense needs and social development goals. The harbor that once bristled with anti-submarine nets and coastal guns now trains the next generation of sailors and, increasingly, the next generation of community leaders.
Located at 33.02S, 18.00E on the shores of Saldanha Bay, South Africa. The naval base is visible on the northern shore of the bay, identifiable by its jetty, parade grounds, and associated military structures. Best viewed at 2,000-4,000 ft AGL. Note: this is an active military installation -- maintain appropriate altitude and distance. Nearest airports: Cape Town International (FACT) approximately 105 km southeast. The iron ore terminal and the South African Military Academy are nearby landmarks.