. The 70,000 ton oil tanker Wafra ran aground on rocks off Cape Agulhas, the most southerly tip of the African continent.
With its 60,000-ton cargo of crude oil threatening to cause an ecological disaster for the area's wildlife, not to mention the renowned holiday resorts that were located around that part of the country, an ocean-going tug was called in to tow the stricken vessel off the rocks. Good seamanship by the tug's crew got the Wafra
clear of the reef with very little oil spillage and the tanker was towed some 200 miles (300km) out to sea. As the vessel was unsalvageable in her existing state and there was no chance of transferring her cargo to another tanker, the SAAF was briefed to sink her, with the added instruction that, if possible, the ship's internal structure was not to be ruptured, so that she could take her cargo with her when she sank.
No. 24 Squadron's Buccaneer S.50s, armed with a pair of Nord AS-30 air-to ground missiles under each wing, carried out two sorties against the vessel, under the guidance of No. 35 Squadron, but the tanker remained intact. Consequently,MR.3s were called into action and a salvo of depth charges dropped alongside the Wafra had the desired effect. She sank onto the Agulhas Plateau, 2,300ft (700m) below the turbulent meeting place of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, complete with her crude oil.
At least two SAAF MRJs are known to have returned to the UK. 1719 arrived on 25 February 1963 for a six-week training exercise with Coastal Command and it arrived back at D. F Malan on 1 April. The
following year, 1722 touched down at BalIykelly on 28 June, for a four-week course at the JASS, returning to Cape Town on 30 July 1964.
After the loss of 1718, the seven surviving MR.3s were all progressively modified to Phase III standard by Hawker Siddeley CWPs, except that the Armstrong Siddeley Viper jet boost (JATO) engines was never installed in any of the South African aircraft. The bases used by No. 35 squadron were deemed to be large
enough to get even a fully laden MRJ airborne. The Phase III modifications were implemented before the arms embargo and the full ECM suit was installed in all seven aircraft, so that they approximated to the
RAF's final MR.3 condition, apart from the Viper JATO.
Wing re-sparring was carried out on at least two aircraft, 1716 being out of service for the work between March 1973 and April 1976. Re-sparring on 1717 took a lot less time - no doubt the engineers had
learned from the work on 1716 - the squadron being without the aircraft from September 1975 to October 1977. At least two other aircraft, besides 1718 and 1723 already mentioned, had undercarriage
problems on landing. 1722's nose wheel refused to lock down on 7 June 1960 and the aircraft landed on a foam laid down at Langebaanweg, the nose-wheel assembly collapsing on contact with the runway. Two years later, on 10 September 1962, 1721 had to make a wheels-up landingat Ysterplaat, but the damage sustained was repaired in a comparatively short time.
One other mishap to the SAAF MRJ fleet occurred on 18 September 196 I, when 1720 was undertaking asymmetric landing practice. The pilot undershot the runway at D. F Malan and the aircraft was extensively
damaged. Rather than dismantling 1720 and taking it away for repair, a hangar was constructed around it for the work to be carried out where it was.
The arms embargo certainly had a detrimental affect on the SAAF's MR.3s, and the two re-sparrings already mentioned were quite an engineering accomplishment on the part of their maintenance engineers. Engine spares were impossible to obtain, as were new tyres and electronic replacements so, in November 1984, the Shackleton was officially withdrawn as an operational aircraft in the SAAF.
1723 had expended its fatigue life several years prior to this and had been grounded since 22 November 1977. It was stored in the open at Ysterplaat, until being purchased by Vic de Villiers, who acquired the aircraft via a triple deal involving both the South African Airways Museum and the SAAF Museum. De Villiers gave t