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Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Ol class |
Operators | Royal Fleet Auxiliary |
In service | 1918–1952 |
Completed | 6 |
Retired | 6 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Tanker |
Displacement | 10,200 DWT |
Length | 444.1 ft (135.4 m) |
Beam | 57 ft 2 in (17.42 m) |
Draught | 27.2 ft (8.3 m) |
Propulsion | 1 screw, triple expansion engine, 3100 hp; 3 Scotch boilers |
Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
Range | 10,000 nmi (19,000 km) at 16 kn (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Complement | 43 |
The Ol-class tankers were Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) replenishment oilers built from 1917 to 1919, tasked with providing fuel and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world. There were six ships in the class. Until 1936 they were managed by Davies and Newman with RFA crews, after which time they were transferred to the British Admiralty.
The lead ship of the class, RFA Olcades, was originally built as British Beacon and acquired for RFA use in 1918. She was renamed in 1936. The six ships in the Ol class saw wide service during World War II as far afield as India, Singapore and the Far East.
Name | Pennant | Builder | Laid down | Launched | Into service | Out of service | Ref |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Olcades (ex-British Beacon) | X18 | Workman Clark, Belfast | 9 September 1918 | 9 October 1918 | April 1953 | [1] | |
Oligarch (ex-British Lantern) | X12 | 1918 | 30 June 1918 | 1 August 1918 | 14 April 1946 | [2] | |
Olynthus (ex-British Star) | X11 | Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson, Wallsend | 20 June 1917 | 14 February 1918 | March 1918 | 1949 | [3] |
Olwen (ex-British Light) | X09 | Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Company, Jarrow | 1917 | 3 October 1917 | 17 April 1937 | 1947 | [4] |
Olna | X47 | His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport | 14 June 1920 | 21 June 1921 | 10 October 1921 | 18 May 1941 | [5] |
Oleander | X46 | Pembroke Dockyard, Pembroke Dock | 1 December 1920 | 26 April 1922 | 20 October 1922 | 26 May 1940 | [6] |
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by providing fuel and stores through replenishment at sea, transporting Royal Marines and British Army personnel, providing medical care and transporting equipment and essentials around the world. In addition the RFA acts independently providing humanitarian aid, counter piracy and counter narcotic patrols together with assisting the Royal Navy in preventing conflict and securing international trade. They are a uniformed civilian branch of the Royal Navy staffed by British merchant sailors. The RFA is one of five RN fighting arms.
RFA Orangeleaf was a Leaf-class fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom, and which served with the fleet for over 30 years, tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy and allied naval vessels around the world.
RFA Bayleaf (A109) was a Leaf-class support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom, which served with the fleet for 30 years, tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.
RFA Oakleaf (A111) was a Leaf-class fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. Formerly the Swedish vessel MV Oktania, built by A. B. Uddevalla, Sweden, and completed in 1981, Oakleaf was added to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1986, before being decommissioned in 2007.
RFA Brambleleaf (A81) was a Leaf-class support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. Originally built as MV Hudson Deep she was chartered by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1980.
RFA Olwen (A122) was an Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was the lead ship of her class, and launched in 1964 as RFA Olynthus, the second ship to bear this name.
RFA Olna (A123) was the third and final of the three Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. When she entered service she was one of the largest and fastest ships in the RFA Fleet. Olna saw service in the Falklands War and the Gulf War.
RFA Olmeda (A124) was an Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was designed by the builders to meet specific requirements and be capable of maintaining “fleet speed”. When she entered service she was one of the largest and fastest ships in the RFA Fleet. Initially named Oleander, she was renamed after two years in operation.
RFA Tidespring (A75) was a Tide-class replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. As a replenishment oiler, her main purpose was to refuel other ships. The ship had a long career in the RFA, entering service in the early 1960s, and finally being decommissioned in 1991.
RFA Tidepool (A76) was a Tide-class replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Green Rover (A268) was a Rover-class small fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), built by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders on the River Tyne, UK and completed in 1969. After decommissioning in 1992 she was sold to the Indonesian Navy and renamed KRI Arun (903)
NRP Bérrio (A5210) was a fleet support tanker of the Portuguese Navy. She was built by Swan Hunter in 1969 at Hebburn, England as RFA Blue Rover (A270) of the Rover-class and from 1970 to 1993 was part of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary. In 1982 during her British service she participated in the Falklands War.
The Tide class was a series of six replenishment oilers used by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom, the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), and the Chilean Navy.
The Leaf class was a class of support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. The class is somewhat unusual as it is an amalgam of various civilian tankers chartered for naval auxiliary use and as such has included many different designs of ship. Leaf names are traditional tanker names in the RFA, and are recycled when charters end and new vessels are acquired. Thus, there have been multiple uses of the same names, sometimes also sharing a common pennant number.
The Rover class is a British ship class of five small fleet tankers, active from 1970 to 2017 with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. One remains in service, having been sold to Indonesia; the rest have been scrapped or are awaiting disposal, including the one sold to Portugal. They are tasked with the replenishment at sea (RAS) of naval warships with fuel oils and with limited supplies of other naval stores. For RAS tasking, they can refuel a vessel on either beam and a third trailing astern and have a large flight deck to allow vertical replenishment with helicopters.
The Dale class consisted of three tankers chartered for service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. 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.
The Surf class were a class of replenishment oilers taken up for service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), supporting the Royal Navy during the Korean War. Two were commercial tankers under construction in British yards as the war began. A third ship was captured from in the Far East and brought into the RFA as Surf Pilot. She was never utilised however, and was laid up until being scrapped in 1960. The remaining two tankers were laid up at about this time, and were either sold or scrapped by 1970.
The Ol-class tankers were a series of three "fast fleet tankers" used by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom, tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.
The Ol-class coastal tankers were a class of harbour or port oilers used by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. They were built between 1945–46 and served for just over twenty years.