Dale class oiler
Encyclopedia
The Dale class were a class of replenishment oiler
s taken up for service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
, supporting the Royal Navy
during the inter-war period. The went on to see action during the Second World War and supported British and allied fleet units in Cold War
conflicts such as the Korean War
.
in 1937. The tankers all had slightly different designs and dimensions, but had a deadweight capacity of 11,650 tons of fuel oil. These initial eight were supplemented with the purchase of two tankers under construction for Royal Dutch Shell
in 1938. These two new tankers were slightly larger and faster than their earlier class members. With the outbreak of the Second World War looming the Ministry of War Transport had ordered a number of new tankers to the designs used by the Royal Dutch Shell. Of these, ten were taken over by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary while under construction, and were subsequently incorporated into their Dale class. There were plans to take over an eleventh ship, to be named RFA Eppingdale, but this was not carried out and the vessel was retained by the Ministry of War Transport. All of the ships were named after English dales
, and were identified with the suffix '-dale' in their names.
and Harland and Wolff
built two each, while Cammell Laird and Co.
and Lithgows
each produced one. The ships saw active service during the war, in the Arctic, Atlantic and the Far East. Aldersdale was bombed and sunk while sailing as part of Convoy PQ 17 in 1942, while Boardale was wrecked during the operations off Narvik
in 1940. Abbeydale
was torpedoed in the Mediterranean and broke in half, but was later repaired, Bishopdale
was nearly destroyed by a kamikaze
attack in the Pacific, and Broomdale
was accidentally torpedoed by at Trincomalee
in 1944. Those ships that survived the war remained in service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, with most being disposed of in the early 1960s. The longest-lived was Bishopdale, which despite being decommissioned in 1959, was not scrapped until 1970.
s scored several kills among the third group, Darkdale and Dinsdale were both torpedoed and sunk in 1941. Denbydale was badly damaged by Italian frogmen
of the Decima Flottiglia MAS
in harbour at Gibraltar
in 1941, and was written off. She did however continue in service throughout the war as a fuel and accommodation hulk, and was finally towed back to Britain for scrapping in 1955. Three of the ships, Derwentdale
, Dewdale
and Ennerdale
, were completed as Landing Ships (Gantry)
and given light anti-aircraft armament. Now capable of deploying 250 troops aboard 15 LCMs
, they initially took part in Operation Torch
, and went on to see action at later allied amphibious landings in the Mediterranean and Pacific. All three survived the war, though Ennerdale was badly damaged by a magnetic mine in December 1945, and were converted back into oilers. The survivors all continued in service until their increasing obsolescence led to their retirement from service in the late 1950s, with most having scrapped by the early 1960s.
Replenishment Oiler
A replenishment oiler or fleet tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds, which can replenish other ships while underway in the high seas. Such ships are used by several countries around the world....
s taken up for service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world. Its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment...
, supporting the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
during the inter-war period. The went on to see action during the Second World War and supported British and allied fleet units in Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
conflicts such as the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
.
Class overview
The ships were eventually acquired in three batches. The first consisted of the acquisition of six tankers under construction for the British Tanker CompanyBritish Tanker Company
British Tanker Company Limited was the maritime transport arm of the Anglo-Persian Oil Company, the forerunner of BP. The British Tanker Company was formed in 1915 with an initial fleet of seven oil tankers...
in 1937. The tankers all had slightly different designs and dimensions, but had a deadweight capacity of 11,650 tons of fuel oil. These initial eight were supplemented with the purchase of two tankers under construction for Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
in 1938. These two new tankers were slightly larger and faster than their earlier class members. With the outbreak of the Second World War looming the Ministry of War Transport had ordered a number of new tankers to the designs used by the Royal Dutch Shell. Of these, ten were taken over by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary while under construction, and were subsequently incorporated into their Dale class. There were plans to take over an eleventh ship, to be named RFA Eppingdale, but this was not carried out and the vessel was retained by the Ministry of War Transport. All of the ships were named after English dales
Dale (part of place name)
A Dale is a valley.Places where dale is part of the name, but not the entire common name:United Kingdom*Airedale, England*Annandale *Darley Dale, England*Denby Dale, England*Derbyshire Dales, England...
, and were identified with the suffix '-dale' in their names.
Group I
The first group of six ships were under construction at a variety of yards when they were bought. Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson LtdSwan Hunter
Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...
and Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff
Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland....
built two each, while Cammell Laird and Co.
Cammell Laird
Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company...
and Lithgows
Lithgows
Lithgows Limited, was a British shipbuilding company based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland.-Founding:The Company was established by Joseph Russell and his partners Anderson Rodger and William Lithgow who leased the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow from Cunliffe & Dunlop and...
each produced one. The ships saw active service during the war, in the Arctic, Atlantic and the Far East. Aldersdale was bombed and sunk while sailing as part of Convoy PQ 17 in 1942, while Boardale was wrecked during the operations off Narvik
Battles of Narvik
The Battles of Narvik were fought from 9 April-8 June 1940 as a naval battle in the Ofotfjord and as a land battle in the mountains surrounding the north Norwegian city of Narvik as part of the Norwegian Campaign of the Second World War....
in 1940. Abbeydale
RFA Abbeydale (A109)
RFA Abbeydale was a fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and was originally one of six ships ordered by the British Tanker Co which were purchased on the stocks by the Admiralty....
was torpedoed in the Mediterranean and broke in half, but was later repaired, Bishopdale
RFA Bishopdale (A128)
RFA Bishopdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.She was decommissioned on 8 October 1959 and was laid up at Devonport Dockyard....
was nearly destroyed by a kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....
attack in the Pacific, and Broomdale
RFA Broomdale (A168)
RFA Broomdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary....
was accidentally torpedoed by at Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
in 1944. Those ships that survived the war remained in service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, with most being disposed of in the early 1960s. The longest-lived was Bishopdale, which despite being decommissioned in 1959, was not scrapped until 1970.
Group II
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary made two further purchases the following year, when they acquired two tankers being built for Royal Dutch Shell at the yards of Harland and Wolff and the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd. These were taken into service as Cairndale and Cedardale. Entering service just prior to the outbreak of war, both ships went on to be heavily engaged. Cairndale made numerous voyages from Britain to the African coast before being torpedoed and sunk in the Eastern Atlantic in 1941 by the Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi. Cedardale saw service in the Far East, and survived the war. She continued in service throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and was scrapped in 1960.Group III
The third group was the largest of the Dale class. Ten new oilers that had been ordered by the Ministry of War Transport were acquired by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to expand their capabilities. The first were ready for service in January 1939, with the final ships being completed by mid-1942. As with their earlier sisters, all saw active service in a variety of theatres. U-boatU-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s scored several kills among the third group, Darkdale and Dinsdale were both torpedoed and sunk in 1941. Denbydale was badly damaged by Italian frogmen
Frogman
A frogman is someone who is trained to scuba diving or swim underwater in a military capacity which can include combat. Such personnel are also known by the more formal names of combat diver or combatant diver or combat swimmer....
of the Decima Flottiglia MAS
Decima Flottiglia MAS
The Decima Flottiglia MAS was an Italian commando frogman unit of the Regia Marina created during the Fascist regime.The acronym MAS also refers to various light torpedo boats used by the Regia Marina during World...
in harbour at Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
in 1941, and was written off. She did however continue in service throughout the war as a fuel and accommodation hulk, and was finally towed back to Britain for scrapping in 1955. Three of the ships, Derwentdale
RFA Derwentdale (A114)
RFA Derwentdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker and landing ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She served during the Second World War....
, Dewdale
RFA Dewdale (A151)
RFA Dewdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker and landing ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.Taken over by the Admiralty and completed as a Landing Ship Gantry carrying 15 LCMs with accommodation for 150 military personnel. Her landing craft were in the first assault waves during the North African...
and Ennerdale
RFA Ennerdale (A173)
RFA Ennerdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker and landing ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.Taken over by the Admiralty and completed as a Landing Ship Gantry carrying 15 LCMs with accommodation for 150 military personnel. Took part in the North African, Italian, and Far East landings.In August...
, were completed as Landing Ships (Gantry)
Amphibious warfare ship
Amphibious warfare ship, often shortened to amphibs or phibs and popularly known as gator freighters, denotes a range of classes of warship employed to land and support ground forces, such as marines, on enemy territory during an amphibious assault...
and given light anti-aircraft armament. Now capable of deploying 250 troops aboard 15 LCMs
Landing Craft Mechanized
The Landing Craft Mechanized or Landing Craft Mechanical was a landing craft designed for carrying vehicles. They came to prominence during the Second World War when they were used to land troops or tanks during Allied amphibious assaults....
, they initially took part in Operation Torch
Operation Torch
Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....
, and went on to see action at later allied amphibious landings in the Mediterranean and Pacific. All three survived the war, though Ennerdale was badly damaged by a magnetic mine in December 1945, and were converted back into oilers. The survivors all continued in service until their increasing obsolescence led to their retirement from service in the late 1950s, with most having scrapped by the early 1960s.
Ships
| Name | Pennant | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Completed | Fate |
| Group I | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abbeydale RFA Abbeydale (A109) RFA Abbeydale was a fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and was originally one of six ships ordered by the British Tanker Co which were purchased on the stocks by the Admiralty.... |
A109 | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd Swan Hunter Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which... |
28 December 1936 | 4 March 1937 | Scrapped in 1960 | |
| Aldersdale | X34 | Cammell Laird and Co. Cammell Laird Cammell Laird, one of the most famous names in British shipbuilding during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, came about following the merger of Laird, Son & Co. of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co. of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century.- Founding of the business :The Company... |
September 1936 | 7 July 1936 | 17 September 1937 | Sunk on 7 July 1942 |
| Arndale RFA Arndale (A133) RFA Arndale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, originally one of six ships ordered by the British Tanker Co which were purchased on the stocks by the Admiralty.... |
A133 | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd | 5 August 1937 | September 1937 | Scrapped in 1960 | |
| Bishopdale RFA Bishopdale (A128) RFA Bishopdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.She was decommissioned on 8 October 1959 and was laid up at Devonport Dockyard.... |
A128 | Lithgows Lithgows Lithgows Limited, was a British shipbuilding company based in Kingston, Port Glasgow, on the River Clyde in Scotland.-Founding:The Company was established by Joseph Russell and his partners Anderson Rodger and William Lithgow who leased the Bay Yard in Port Glasgow from Cunliffe & Dunlop and... |
31 March 1937 | Scrapped in 1970 | ||
| Boardale | Harland and Wolff Harland and Wolff Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries is a Northern Irish heavy industrial company, specialising in shipbuilding and offshore construction, located in Belfast, Northern Ireland.... |
22 April 1937 | 7 June 1937 | Wrecked on 30 April 1940 | ||
| Broomdale RFA Broomdale (A168) RFA Broomdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.... |
A168 | Harland and Wolff | 2 September 1937 | 3 November 1937 | Scrapped in 1960 | |
| Group II | ||||||
| Cairndale | X36 | Harland and Wolff | 25 October 1938 | 26 January 1939 | Sunk on 30 May 1941 | |
| Cedardale | A380 | Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd | 25 March 1939 | 25 May 1939 | Scrapped in 1960 | |
| Group III | ||||||
| Darkdale | Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd | October 1939 | 30 July 1940 | November 1940 | Sunk on 22 October 1941 | |
| Denbydale | Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd | 26 December 1939 | 19 October 1940 | 30 January 1941 | Scrapped in 1955 | |
| Derwentdale RFA Derwentdale (A114) RFA Derwentdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker and landing ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She served during the Second World War.... |
A114 | Harland and Wolff | 14 November 1939 | 12 April 1941 | 30 August 1941 | Sold in 1960 |
| Dewdale RFA Dewdale (A151) RFA Dewdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker and landing ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.Taken over by the Admiralty and completed as a Landing Ship Gantry carrying 15 LCMs with accommodation for 150 military personnel. Her landing craft were in the first assault waves during the North African... |
A151 | Cammell Laird | 29 December 1939 | 17 February 1941 | 14 June 1941 | Scrapped in 1960 |
| Dingledale RFA Dingledale (A144) RFA Dingledale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.She was first based at Gibraltar and served as escort oiler on several Malta Convoys... |
A144 | Harland & Wolff | 11 December 1939 | 27 March 1941 | 10 September 1941 | Scrapped in 1967 |
| Dinsdale | X106 | Harland & Wolff | 1939 | 21 October 1941 | 11 April 1942 | Sunk on 1 June 1942 |
| Eaglesdale RFA Eaglesdale (A104) RFA Eaglesdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary . She was launched in 1941 as Empire Metal and transferred to the RFA on completion in 1941.-History:... |
A104 | Furness Shipbuilding Company | 20 December 1940 | 18 November 1941 | 9 January 1942 | Scrapped in 1959 |
| Easedale | A105 | Furness Shipbuilding Company | 15 February 1941 | 18 December 1941 | 12 February 1942 | Scrapped in 1960 |
| Echodale | A170 | Hawthorne Leslie | 4 January 1940 | 29 November 1940 | 4 March 1941 | Scrapped in 1961 |
| Ennerdale | A173 | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd | 27 January 1941 | 11 July 1941 | Scrapped in 1959 | |