Belgol-class tanker

Belgol-class tankers were a class of oil tankers used by the United Kingdom during the 20th century. There were ten tankers in this class, which could each hold about 2000 tons of fuel. ^[1] Five of the ships were named after Allied countries, while the others were given names indicating power or speed, and all names ended with -ol. Three of the ships ( Francol , Montenol , Serbol ) had upright funnels with a single tall mast close by, while the others had a raking funnel and two raking masts. During World War II, the main masts of the ships were removed. ^[2] Four of the ships were sunk. ^[3]

Date of Launch	Country of Origin	Ship	Fate	Notes
21 April 1917	United Kingdom	Slavol	Sunk	The ship was built in Greenock. [4] It was sunk on 26th March 1942 by a U-652 or U-205 [5] [3]
23 April 1917	United Kingdom	Belgol	Scrapped [6]	The ship was built in Irvine. [6] It was scrapped at Charlestown on 22 June 1958. [2] Named after Belgium
23 April 1917	United Kingdom	Rapidol	Scrapped	The ship was built in Hartlepool. It was scrapped on 3 October 1955 at Hong Kong. [7] Probably named after 'rapid'
21 May 1917	United Kingdom	Fortol	Scrapped	The ship was built in Dumbarton. It was scrapped on 6 August 1958 at Rosyth. [8]
23 May 1917	United Kingdom	Celerol	Scrapped	Scrapped at Bo'ness by P. & W. McClellan Ltd [9]
24 May 1917	United Kingdom	Vitol	Sunk	It was sunk on 7 March 1918 by a naval mine while travelling from Liverpool to Queenstown (now Cobh). Four of the crew were killed. [1] [10]
5 July 1917	United Kingdom	Montenol	Sunk	Sunk in the North Atlantic [3] by corvette HMS Woodruff [11] or U-152 on 21 or 22 May 1942 respectively Named after Montenegro
7 July 1917	United Kingdom	Serbol	Scrapped	26 August 1953 out of service at Malta 30 June 1958 arrived at Devonport to be scrapped [12] Named after Serbia
4 September 1917	United Kingdom	Prestol	Scrapped	The ship was built in Old Kilpatrick. It arrived at St David's Harbour, Inverkeithing, on 8 June 1958 at to be broken up by James A White & Co. Ltd. [13] [14] [15] Probably named after presto
18 October 1917	United Kingdom	Francol	Sunk	It was sunk on 3 March 1942 by Japanese planes off the coast of Java, soon after the attack on Pearl Harbour [3] [16] Named after France

See also

• List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

References

1. Whitewright, J. "RFA Vitol". Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Wales. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
2. nwilliams (2008-10-24). "RFA Belgol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
3. "Based on "British Warships 1914-1919" by F J Dittmar & J J Colledge". Naval History. The National Museum Royal Navy. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
4. nwilliams (2008-10-16). "RFA Slavol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
5. nwilliams (2008-10-16). "RFA Slavol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
6. "ST BELGOL". Shipvault.com. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
7. nwilliams (2008-10-20). "RFA Rapidol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
8. nwilliams (2008-10-26). "RFA Fortol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
9. nwilliams (2008-10-26). "RFA Celerol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
10. "Vitol". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 27 February 2025.
11. nwilliams (2008-10-26). "RFA Montenol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
12. nwilliams (2008-10-16). "RFA Serbol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
13. nwilliams (2008-10-25). "RFA Prestol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.
14. "Prestol". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
15. "St David's Harbour". ScotlandsPlaces. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 5 March 2025.
16. nwilliams (2008-10-06). "The loss of RFA Francol". Historical RFA. Retrieved 2025-02-27.