COLOUR SCHEMES:

The DAPHNEs were delivered to the South African Navy in overall semi-gloss black with gloss red stencilling on the side of the fin depicting the pennant number and name.

The SA Navy experimented with various colour schemes before finally settling on, a scheme with the following characteristics

    1.    Upper areas of fin and casing        Matt black

    2.    Sides of fin and casing                     Matt blue-grey

    3.    Ballast tanks                                      Matt black

    4.    Underside of the ballast and keel Matt red

    5.    The name and pennant number was deleted from the side of the fin.

This scheme lasted until the mid-eighties when during a combined exercise with the SAAF, the latter kindly provided dramatic photographic evidence of the high visibility of   this scheme at periscope depth during certain sea conditions. In a matter of days the scheme was changed to matt black all over. This scheme remained unchanged until the first quarter of 1992, when in the light of easing of regional tensions; it was reverted back to a variation of the original French scheme. The latest colour scheme now includes a matt black and matt red in lieu of the original French semi-gloss. The stencilling depicting the pennant number and name has been replaced on the side of the fin.