imported>Ardfern at 21:22, 22 September 2025

2025-09-22T21:22:43Z

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{{Short description|1937 Dale-class replenishment oiler for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{EngvarB|date=February 2019}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=RFA Abbeydale.jpg
|Ship caption=
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{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag=[[File:British-Royal-Fleet-Auxiliary-Ensign.svg|60px|RFA Ensign]]
|Ship name=RFA ''Abbeydale''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=1936
|Ship builder=[[Swan Hunter|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd]], [[Wallsend]]
|Ship yard number=
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=28 December 1936
|Ship acquired=
|Ship completed=
|Ship commissioned=4 March 1937
|Ship decommissioned=18 September 1959
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship honours=North Africa 1942
|Ship fate=Arrived at ship breakers for scrapping on 4 September 1960
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship tonnage=
|Ship displacement=17,210 tons full load
|Ship length={{convert|481|ft|6|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|61|ft|8|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|2|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*1 × 4 cyl Doxford diesel engine
* 687 nhp
* One shaft
|Ship speed={{convert|11.5|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=44
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
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|Ship aircraft=
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|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''RFA ''Abbeydale'' (A109)''' was a fleet [[Oil tanker|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 [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]]. She was built by [[Swan Hunter|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd]] and launched on 28 December 1936. ''Abbeydale'' served until being decommissioned on 18 September 1959 and laid up at [[HMNB Devonport]]. She was then sold for scrapping, arriving at the [[Thos. W. Ward]] breakers' yards at [[Barrow-in-Furness]] on 4 September 1960.

==Career==
Ordered by the [[British Tanker Company]] in 1936, ''Abbeydale'' was built by [[Swan Hunter|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd]], [[Wallsend]] and launched on 28 December 1936. She was taken over by the [[British Admiralty|Admiralty]] on 4 March 1937 after completing her [[sea trial]]s, and on 5 March 1937 sailed from the [[River Tyne]] bound for [[Trinidad]] on her maiden voyage.<ref name="histrfa">{{Cite web |url=http://www.historicalrfa.org/rfa-abbeydale|title=RFA Abbeydale|website=Historical RFA |publisher=Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society|access-date=14 March 2019}}</ref> She made several voyages between [[Abadan]] on the [[Persian Gulf]], and on the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] she was returning to the UK from Australia and New Zealand. She sailed to Trinidad in October 1939 and in December was at [[Kingston, Jamaica]]. On 29 December 1939 the German newspaper ''Bremer Zeituag'' falsely reported ''Abbeydale'' as one of a number of ships that had been sunk.<ref name="histrfa"/> Early 1940 was spent in the Caribbean and Pacific, calling at [[Callao]], [[Colón, Panama|Colón]], Kingston and Bermuda. On 30 March 1940 she caught fire at Bermuda while moored alongside [[RFA Orangeleaf (1917)|RFA ''Orangeleaf'']]. Both ships were damaged.<ref name="histrfa"/>

''Abbeydale'' returned to the UK in May 1940. She was refitted on the [[River Clyde]] in November and December 1940, returning to the Caribbean in early 1941.<ref name="histrfa"/> From there she operated in the South Atlantic, calling at [[Rio de Janeiro]], [[Montevideo]] and [[Port Stanley]], [[Falkland Islands]]. She underwent repairs at Trinidad in September 1941 and at [[New Orleans]] from December 1941 to January 1942. ''Abbeydale'' arrived at [[Freetown]] in February 1942, and sailed from there to [[Saint Helena]]. She operated from Saint Helena and into the Atlantic over the next few months, refuelling Royal Navy warships. In October she was refitted at [[Gibraltar]] as a [[defensively equipped merchant ship]] and in November was assigned to support [[Operation Torch]], the allied invasion of North Africa.<ref name="histrfa"/> For her service she was awarded the [[battle honour]] "North Africa 1942". She sustained some damage that month after colliding with a sunken wreck off [[Oran]], damage that had been repaired by December. In January 1943 ''Abbeydale'' returned to the UK to undergo more thorough repairs and refitting, and in March sailed for New York with a convoy, before returning to the Mediterranean with a convoy the following month.<ref name="histrfa"/>

In May 1943 she was assigned to Operation Husky, the [[allied invasion of Sicily]]. On 18 June 1943 ''Abbeydale'' sailed from Gibraltar bound for [[Alexandria]] in Convoy XTG 2. On 27 June 1943 she was torpedoed by [[German submarine U-73 (1940)|''U-73'']] off the Algerian coast.<ref name="uboat">{{Cite web |url=https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/2966.html|title=Abbeydale|website=Uboat.net|access-date=18 March 2019}}</ref> There were no fatalities, but ''Abbeydale'' was severely damaged, breaking in two. [[RFA Salvestor|HMS ''Salvestor'']] towed the damaged vessel to [[Algiers]], with both parts later towed to [[Taranto]] dockyard, the aft section arriving on 14 October 1944 and the fore section on 18 October 1944.<ref name="histrfa"/> Work to reunite the halves did not begin until 30 May 1945, and the repaired ''Abbeydale'' did not return to service until June 1946.<ref name="histrfa"/>

Postwar, ''Abbeydale'' spent most of her time sailing between the UK, the Persian Gulf, Indian Ocean and the Pacific, with occasional visits to the Caribbean. On 19 June 1954, while sailing from [[Finnart]] to the Persian Gulf, she was involved in a collision with the British steamer ''Charles Dickens'' at [[Aden]]. The ''Charles Dickens'' struck the moored ''Abbeydale'' while attempting to berth, with both vessels sustaining some damage.<ref name="histrfa"/> On 18 September 1959 ''Abbeydale'' was laid up at [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]], and was put up for sale on 5 July 1960. She was sold on 11 August 1960 to [[British Iron & Steel Corporation]] for scrapping, and on 4 September 1960 arrived under tow from the tug ''Campaigner'' at [[Thos. W. Ward]] breakers' yards at [[Barrow-in-Furness]]. Her scrapping began on 14 September 1960.<ref name="histrfa"/>

==Citations==
{{reflist}}

==References==

* {{cite book |first=J. J. |last=Colledge |author-link=J. J. Colledge |title=[[Ships of the Royal Navy]]: An Historical Index: Navy-built Trawlers, Drifters, Tugs and Requisitioned Ships |year=1989 |volume=II |publisher=David & Charles |location=Newton Abbot |edition=2nd rev. |isbn=978-1-85367-028-2}}
* {{cite book |last=Warlow |first=Ben |year=2004 |title=Battle Honours of the Royal Navy |publisher=Maritime Books |location=Liskeard |isbn=1-904459-05-6}}

{{Dale class oilers}}
{{June 1943 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abbeydale}}
[[Category:Dale-class oilers]]
[[Category:Tankers of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary]]
[[Category:1936 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in June 1943]]
[[Category:Ships built by Swan Hunter]]

RFA Abbeydale - Revision history

imported>Ardfern at 21:22, 22 September 2025