Dictionary of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships from 1905

440 pages

Chris O’Flaherty

With a pedigree that originates from the Fourth Sea Lord’s oversight of the Fleet Coaling Service, the rich history of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary begins with the 1905 purchase of the 6,000 ton merchant ship Petroleum. As their first ocean-going tanker styled as an RFA, Petroleum was the lead ship of a vital fleet service that has spent 120 years delivering fuel, food, naval stores, battle damage repair, aviation support, and even a few drugs busts.  It has achieved this via 430 individual ships, spread across 50 RFA ship-classes.

This volume positions itself as a helpful reference for all naval historians and aficionados of the RFA. A short introduction sets out some key dates, command nuances and evolutionary highlights of the service before precisely 400 pages detail every ship, class, and major capability.

The text is rich with nuggets of history that could enliven many wardroom quiz nights:

• There have been six separate UK MoD attempts to procure an RFA hospital ship designed specifically for that role from the keel up. (1908; 1911; 1936; 1952; 1982; 1998). All have failed.
• The 1963 specification for an Air Stores support ship included a “Special Stowage for Rum”, alongside 300,000 cu ft of Air stores.
• The ‘Arapaho’ concept, using about 84 pre-configured twenty-foot ISO containers to convert a container ship into a temporary helicopter support ship, was first fitted to a UK vessel in 1983 – RFA Reliant (formerly MV Astronomer).
• The infamous 1950’s 7’ x 7’ x 5’ Chacon (Chatham Container) was reputedly designed in Chatham Dockyard by Superintending Naval Stores Officer Mr Montgomery.
• The Royal Research Ship Discovery was, between 1962 and 1969, managed and crewed by RFA Officers.
• RFA Empire Salvage is a rare example of a 20th century war prize from a foreign navy (ex-German Lothringen), being captured intact on 15 June 1941 by HMS Dunedin before re-registry as an RFA.
• RFAs Conning and City of Oxford were used by the Royal Naval Air Services’ Kite Balloon Section, during World War I.
• In April 1970, three RFAs (Ennerdale; Tideflow; and Tarbatness) were in alternate splashdown positions for the return of NASA’s Apollo XIII spacecraft.
• The first RFA credited with flying a Royal Navy Senior Officer’s insignia was RFA Fort Beauharnois, in 1956-7. (Commodore Grapple Squadron, off Christmas Island).
• In 1967, RFA Fort Langley was converted at a cost of £422,000 to transport the UK’s Polaris missiles from the USA to RNAD Coulport.
• When naming the Bay Class LSD(A)s in 1997, both Aboukir Bay and Quiberon Bay were rejected as being politically incorrect.
• The only naval oiler never to have served as an RFA was HMS Bulawayo. (In commission between 1947 and 1955, she remained fully RN crewed. Due to RFA manning constraints, RFA Olna (1945) spent her first 9 months’ service under the White Ensign (as HMS), but reverted to RFA crewing/Blue Ensign in April 1946).
• In 1956/57, just 13% of fuel for the RN fleet was supplied by RAS. By 1960/61, almost 50% of the fleet’s fuel was being issued at sea.
• The longest RFA RAS/pump-over started on 25 April 1982, between the STUFT Tanker British Tamar and RFA Pearleaf. They remained connected for 54 hours.
• The last steamship in RFA service was RFA Olna (1966), between 1966 and 2000.
• There have been no RFAs with names starting in Q, X, Y or Z.

This book is a lovely example of persistent, dedicated and fascinating research by the author. As your reviewer it thus pains me to note that the publisher has sent it to press without a thorough copy-edit, which has allowed a distractingly high number of errors of spelling, formatting, nomenclature and even obviously erroneous figures and dates, to remain in the text. Notwithstanding, the wealth of detail, including citations and sources which allow further research where merited, make this a useful reference work covering 20th and 21st century fleet support. A positive recommend for all Royal and Merchant Navy historians.