On Wednesday 27 August 2025 Sydney Culllis (1960G) gave a fascinating talk about submarines, specifically the former SA Navy Daphne class submarine SAS Assegaai which is part of the Naval Museum annex in Simon's Town.

Dr Cullis who regularly speaks in the series of talks at The Mitre, explained different interesting features about the life of the submarine, from the finer technological details to the general aspects and life of staff living in it.

The talk was richly illustrated with slides.

A significant feature of the talk for Bishops, was the accounts of OD submariners who served in war or generally in the SANDF, which proved especially interesting.  

The following is from The Heritage Portal written by Leon Steyn:         

The move of a former South African Navy Daphne-class submarine from the Dockyard to its permanent display site at the new annex of the Naval Museum in Simon’s Town must rank as one of the most significant achievements in local ship preservation and can only be described as truly monumental. This mega move was carried out by the heavy lift contractor Vanguard during July and involved a complex over-land move of the 58 metre submarine with its estimated weight of almost 700 tons.

On Wednesday 03 September 2025 OD Architect Historian Geoff de Wet (1964G) will speak on the Architects that were involved in designing the buildings at Bishops up to 1945, starting with Tea served at 10.30am in The Mitre Lounge and the Talk at 11.00am.

On Wednesday 10 September 2025 ODU Executive Director Andy Wood (1977G) will speak on his adventures to Machu Picchu, starting with Tea served at 10.30am in The Mitre Lounge and the Talk at 11.00am.

Anyone interested in attending these talks are welcome - please contact Dr Paul Murray the ODA who organizes these talks if you would like to attend, with the number of people (for catering purposes) pmurray@bishops.org.za