Identity
Person No.
29401
Old ROH no.
75
Service No.
80100167PE
Last Name
First Name
Gilbert Timothy
Initials
G T
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
24
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
Unknown
Cause of Death
Died after the collision between SAS President Kruger and SAS Tafelberg while abandoning ship, 18 February 1982
Military Service
Branch
Navy
Rank
Able Seaman
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,815
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Operation
Operation
Dates
1982-02-18
About
At about 03:50 on 18 February 1982, during night station-keeping / replenishment exercises, SAS President Kruger collided with the replenishment ship SAS Tafelberg and sank about two hours later. Fourteen men in Mess 12 were killed by the impact; Chief Petty Officer D. Webb and Able Seaman G.T. Benjamin died while abandoning ship (Webb’s body recovered by SAS Protea on 19 February). Source: Bennett, Three Frigates (2006).
Notes
Son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin
Listed by Chris Bennett, Three Frigates (2006), as one of two men who survived the initial Mess 12/impact phase but died while abandoning SAS President Kruger after the collision with SAS Tafelberg on 18 February 1982. Lost while abandoning ship; body not recovered.
Research notes
Bennett, Chris. Three Frigates: President Class Frigates bring the SA Navy to maturity. Just Done Productions / Lulu, 2006 (ISBN 978-1-920169-02-2).
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Bennett — Three Frigates (President Class)
open source ↗
Abandoning ship — PK/Tafelberg, 18 Feb 1982
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 136-137 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
-
samilhistory.com
open source ↗
samilhistory.com Remembrance / Peter Dickens SAS President Kruger honour roll
Stories 2
G T Benjamin , lost their lives after the collision and whilst abandoning ship. Of these last named two only CPO Webb?s body was recovered after being sighted by SAS Protea on the morning of 19 February. See the full story in Three Frigates by Rear Admiral Chris Bennett SAN (Ret) John Dovey
In the early hours of Thursday 18 February 1982, SAS President Kruger , oldest of the three Type 12 Frigates of the South African Navy, collided with the replenishment vessel, SAS Tafelberg . Both ships were severely damaged but TAFELBERG returned safely to Simon?s Town. President Kruger sank approximately two hours after the collision when efforts to keep her afloat failed. 14 men from Mess 12, Chief Petty Officers
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.