Dale-class oiler
RFA Abbeydale underway in 1952
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| Class overview | |
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| Name: | Dale class |
| Builders: |
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| Operators: |
 Royal Fleet Auxiliary
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| Preceded by: | Ol class |
| Succeeded by: | Sprite class |
| Subclasses: | 3 |
| Built: | 1936–1941 |
| In commission: | 1937–1969 |
| Completed: | 18 |
| Lost: | 5 |
| Retired: | 13 |
| General characteristics : First group | |
| Type: | Replenishment oiler |
| Displacement: |
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| Length: |
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| Beam: |
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| Draught: | 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 11.5 knots (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h) |
| Range: | 880 tons of fuel oil |
| Capacity: | 11,650 long tons (11,837 t) |
| Complement: | 40 |
| General characteristics : Second group | |
| Displacement: | 17,000 long tons (17,273 t) |
| Length: | 483 ft (147 m) |
| Beam: | 58 ft 6 in (17.83 m) |
| Draught: | 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) |
| Propulsion: | Burmeister & Wain 8-clylinder diesels with a single shaft |
| Speed: | 13 knots (15 mph; 24 km/h) |
| Range: |
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| Capacity: | 12,000 long tons (12,193 t) |
| Complement: | 40 |
| General characteristics : Third group (as second group except:) | |
| Displacement: | 17,210 long tons (17,486 t) |
| Length: |
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| Beam: |
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| Draught: | 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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The Dale class were a class of replenishment oilers taken up for service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, supporting the Royal Navy during the inter-war period. They 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.
The ships were eventually acquired in three batches. The first consisted of the acquisition of six tankers under construction for the British Tanker Company 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.
The first group of six ships were under construction at a variety of yards when they were bought. Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd 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 HMS Severn 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.
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Wikipedia