The Dale class consisted of three tankers chartered for service for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1967. They served for a number of years supporting Royal Navy and allied fleet operations, during which one, Ennerdale, was lost. The remaining two were returned to their original owners in the mid-1970s.
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dale class |
| Builders | |
| Operators |  Royal Fleet Auxiliary |
| Preceded by | Leaf class |
| Succeeded by | Rover class |
| In service | 1967–1977 |
| Completed | 3 |
| Retired | 3 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Mobile reserve tanker |
| Displacement |
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| Length |
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| Beam |
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| Draught |
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| Propulsion | Burmeister and Wain Diesels |
| Speed |
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| Complement |
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Overview edit
Three large modern tankers, built to varying designs in the mid-1960s, were charted by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to support naval operations east of the Suez Canal, in the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Far East.[1] They were given traditional RFA names, reusing three names that had been used for the Second World War-era Dale-class oilers. They were not fitted with equipment to allow them to replenish ships at sea, and were classified instead as 'Mobile Reserve Tankers'.[1]
The smallest, RFA Ennerdale was also the shortest lived. She hit a coral reef and sank off Port Victoria on 1 June 1970.[1] The wreck was subsequently destroyed with explosives fired from Wessex helicopters to prevent an oil spillage from threatening the Seychelles.[1] RFA Derwentdale was returned to her original owners in 1974, but RFA Dewdale remained in service until 1977.[2] During this time Dewdale saw service with the Aden task force during the British withdrawal in 1967, and was then active then on the Beira Patrols.[2] She was the last to leave service with the RFA, being returned in 1977 and commencing service under her old name of Edenfield.[2]
Ships edit
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Previous name | Fate |
| Derwentdale | A221 | Hitachi | Halcyon Breeze | Returned in 1974 |
| Dewdale | A129 | Harland & Wolff | Edenfield | Decommissioned in September 1977 |
| Ennerdale | A213 | Kieler Howaldstwerke | Naess Scotsman | Wrecked on 1 June 1970 |
Notes edit
- ^ a b c d Olver. "Dale Group Mobile Reserve Tankers (AOM)". Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
- ^ a b c "RFA Dewdale". Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society. Retrieved 8 March 2009.
References edit
- Colledge, J.J. Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index Volume 2: Navy-built Trawlers, Drifters, Tugs and Requisitioned Ships. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.