What lies beneath

A sleek, black leviathan rests silently on land, its massive form contrasting sharply with the clear blue sky above Simon’s Town. Towering over the curious crowd, the submarine’s superstructure proudly bears the insignia “S99.” Children buzz with excitement, craning their necks to take in the imposing figure of the SAS Assegaai. Nearby, an Indian couple admires its smooth, dark hull, still exuding the aura of a powerful machine once designed for stealth and strength beneath the waves. This is no ordinary exhibit—it’s South Africa’s first and only submarine museum, docked permanently at Cole Point within Simon’s Town naval base.

Once a feared underwater predator, the SAS Assegaai now invites visitors to step aboard and explore its preserved interior. Decommissioned and stripped for scrap in 2003, the vessel was saved by the South African Navy and the Naval Heritage Trust and transformed into a floating time capsule of Cold War-era naval technology.

Originally part of South Africa’s fleet of three Daphné-class submarines, the Assegaai is the only one that remains. Tours inside the submarine are conducted in small groups of no more than 10 people due to the confined spaces. This limitation, however, creates an intimate and immersive experience. The tour begins in the officers’ quarters— compact and efficiently designed—offering a glimpse into the personal spaces of those who once lived and worked beneath the ocean’s surface. Commander Leon Steyn of the South African Naval Museum explains, “The interior has been left untouched. The submarine is a perfect ‘time