The SAS Somerset is stationed at the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront (V&A Waterfront), Cape Town. The SAS Somerset is a bar-class boom defence vessel, a type of net-laying ship that was used during World War II and is the only ship of its kind still in existence. The ship was previously called Ship No 280, since 15 April 1941, when it was built in the Blyth shipyard, Northumberland, by the Blyth Shipbuilding Company in England. In 1942, the ship sailed to South Africa and reached Durban, Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal) in 1947.
The ship was renamed the SAS Somerset in 1955 to commemorate the horse that carried Dick King from Durban to Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, in 1842. A seahorse is displayed on the ship's crest and badge to highlight this connection. On 24 May 1988, the ship became a museum after the South African Navy handed the ship over to the South African (SA) Cultural History Museum now Iziko Museums. The ship museum opened to the public on 2 September 1988 and is still open to the public daily.
Cape Town Heritage (2020), SAS Somerset, Available online: www.cape-town-heritage.co.za/museum/sas-somerset.html. Accessed [16/05/2020].
CapeTownMagazine.com (2020), SA Maritime & SAS Somerset Museum at the V&A Waterfront, Available online: www.capetownmagazine.com/arts-culture/sa-maritime-and-sas-somerset-museum-at-the-v-and-a-waterfront/104_22_17165. Accessed [16/05/2020].
Iziko Maritime Centre (2020), Maritime Centre, Available online: www.iziko.org.za/museums/maritime-centre. Accessed [14/05/2020].
SA Naval Museum (2019), The future of SAS Somerset, Available online: www.sanavymuseum.co.za/2019/02/05/the-future-of-sas-somerset/. Accessed [14/05/2020].