The Southern class was a class of whale-catcher ships requisitioned from a commercial whaling company for service during the Second World War. The whalers were converted for anti-submarine and minesweeping duties and were in use in the British Royal Navy and South African Navy. Six ships were built in Germany for the Southern Whaling Company and after the war, one was retained in the South African Navy, one had been sunk by a mine and four were sold back to commercial whaling companies.
The six whale catchers were owned by Southern Whaling & Sealing Co. Ltd., London, United Kingdom and were used for whale catching in the Southern Ocean and Antarctic waters. The fleet of six ships was accompanied by the factory ship in their annual whaling season sorties. The fleet spent four seasons in the Antarctic before being requisitioned for naval service on their return to Cape Town after completion of the 1939-40 season. The owners requested that all six ships were to be taken up into the Royal Navy, but only Southern Breeze was taken up for service in the UK, with the other five vessels being assigned to the South African Seaward Defence Force (the renamed South African Naval Service).
"AS Whaler" denotes anti-submarine equipped whaler.
| style= width="120" | Name | Pennant number | Previous name(s) | In service with | Launch date | Requisitioned date | In-service date | Role | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY318 | SS Southern Breeze | Royal Navy | Jun 1936 | Mar 1940 | Sep 1941: Bought by Salvesen while under RN command – name remained unchanged. Returned to Salvesen in January 1946.[1] Broken up for scrap in Sep 1970 by Goldfields Metal Traders Ltd., Fremantle[2] | ||||
| T26 | SS Southern Floe | S. Afr. Seaward Defence Force | 1936 | 18 Jun 1940 | Oct 1940 | AS Whaler | Sunk by mine off Tobruk on 11 Feb 1941 | ||
| T27 | SS Southern Maid | S. Afr. Seaward Defence Force | 1936 | 18 Jun 1940 | Oct 1940 | AS Whaler | Laid up May 1946. Sold to Union Whaling Co on 7 May 1946. Fate unknown. | ||
HMSAS Steenberg | T28 | SS Southern Barrier | S. Afr. Seaward Defence Force | 1936 | 17 Jul 1940 | 5 Oct 1940 | Minesweeper | In September 1941, vessel was sold to Chr. Salvesen & Co who retained the name until January 1945 when vessel was in-turn sold to Union Government of South Africa as a minesweeper and named HMSAS Steenberg T.28.[3] | |
| T29 | SS Southern Isles | S. Afr. Seaward Defence Force | 1936 | 22 Jul 1940 | Nov 1940 | AS Whaler | Laid up May 1946. Sold to Union Whaling Co on 7 May 1946. Fate unknown. | ||
| T30 | SS Southern Sea | S. Afr. Seaward Defence Force | 1936 | 22 Jul 1940 | Nov 1940 | AS Whaler | Laid up May 1946. Sold to Union Whaling Co on 7 May 1946. Fate unknown. | ||