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RFA Abbeydale underway in 1952
Class overview
Name	Dale class
Builders	Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd Blythwood Shipbuilding Company Ltd Cammell Laird Furness Shipbuilding Company Harland and Wolff, Govan Hawthorn Leslie and Company Lithgows
Operators	Royal Fleet Auxiliary
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	Abbeydale and Arndale: 17,210 long tons (17,486 t) Aldersdale: 17,231 long tons (17,508 t) Bishopdale: 17,357 long tons (17,636 t) Boardale and Broomdale: 17,388 long tons (17,667 t)
Length	Abbeydale, Arndale and Bishopdale: 481 ft (147 m) Aldersdale: 482 ft (147 m) Boardale and Broomdale: 483 ft (147 m)
Beam	Abbeydale, Arndale and Aldersdale: 62 ft (19 m) Bishopdale: 61 ft (19 m) Boardale and Broomdale: 61 ft 8 in (18.80 m)
Draught	27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Propulsion	Abbeydale and Arndale: Droxford Diesel Engines Bishopdale and Broomdale: Burmeister and Wain Engines
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	1000 tons of fuel oil 75 tons of lubricating oil
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	Darkdale, Denbydale, Derwentdale, Dewdale, Ennerdale and Echodale: 483 ft (147 m) Dingledale, Dinsdale, Eaglesdale and Easedale: 479 ft (146 m)
Beam	Darkdale, Denbydale, Derwentdale, Dewdale, Ennerdale and Echodale: 59 ft 4 in (18.08 m) Dingledale, Dinsdale, Eaglesdale and Easedale: 61 ft 3 in (18.67 m)
Draught	27 ft 6 in (8.38 m)
Propulsion	Darkdale, Denbydale, Derwentdale, Dewdale, Dingledale, Dinsdale and Echodale: Burmeister & Wain eight-cylinder diesels with a single shaft Eaglesdale, Easedale and Ennerdale: triple-expansion steam engines with one shaft

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.

Class overview

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.

Group I

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.

Group II

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary made two further purchases the following year, when they acquired two tankers being built for Royal Dutch Shell at the yards of Harland and Wolff and the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd. These were taken into service as Cairndale and Cedardale. Entering service just prior to the outbreak of war, both ships went on to be heavily engaged. Cairndale made numerous voyages from Britain to the African coast before being torpedoed and sunk in the Eastern Atlantic in 1941 by the Italian submarine Guglielmo Marconi. Cedardale saw service in the Far East, and survived the war. She continued in service throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and was scrapped in 1960.

Group III

The third group was the largest of the Dale class. Ten new oilers that had been ordered by the Ministry of War Transport were acquired by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to expand their capabilities. The first were ready for service in January 1939, with the final ships being completed by mid-1942. As with their earlier sisters, all saw active service in a variety of theatres. U-boats scored several kills among the third group, Darkdale and Dinsdale were both torpedoed and sunk in 1941. Denbydale was badly damaged by Italian frogmen of the Decima Flottiglia MAS in harbour at Gibraltar in 1941, and was written off. She did however continue in service throughout the war as a fuel and accommodation hulk, and was finally towed back to Britain for scrapping in 1955. Three of the ships, Derwentdale, Dewdale and Ennerdale, were completed as Landing Ships (Gantry) and given light anti-aircraft armament. Now capable of deploying 250 troops aboard 15 LCMs, they initially took part in Operation Torch, and went on to see action at later allied amphibious landings in the Mediterranean and Pacific. All three survived the war, though Ennerdale was badly damaged by a magnetic mine in December 1945, and were converted back into oilers. The survivors all continued in service until their increasing obsolescence led to their retirement from service in the late 1950s, with most having scrapped by the early 1960s.

Ships

See also

• List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
• List of amphibious warfare ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Notes

1. ^ Jane's Fighting Ships. p. 81.
2. ^ Olver. "Dale Class Tankers (First Group)". Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
3. Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2. p. 49.
4. "RFA Bishopdale". Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
5. ^ Olver. "Dale Class Tankers (Second and Third Groups)". Archived from the original on 12 July 2009. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
6. "RFA ships starting with C". Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society. Retrieved 7 March 2009.
7. Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2. p. 72.
8. Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2. p. 99.
9. Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2. p. 104.
10. Colledge. Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2. p. 101.

References

• Colledge, J.J. Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index Volume 2: Navy-built Trawlers, Drifters, Tugs and Requisitioned Ships. Newton Abbot: David & Charles.
• Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II. New York: Crescent Books. 1989.

• Dale-class oilers
• Auxiliary replenishment ship classes
• Tankers of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary