# Dale-class tanker

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.

## Overview

Three large modern tankers, built to varying designs in the mid-1960s, were charted by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to support naval operations east of the Suez Canal, in the waters of the Indian Ocean and the Far East.
They were given traditional RFA names, reusing three names that had been used for the Second World War-era Dale-class oilers. They were not fitted with equipment to allow them to replenish ships at sea, and were classified instead as 'Mobile Reserve Tankers'.
The smallest, RFA Ennerdale was also the shortest lived. She hit a coral reef and sank off Port Victoria on 1 June 1970. The wreck was subsequently destroyed with explosives fired from Wessex helicopters to prevent an oil spillage from threatening the Seychelles.
RFA Derwentdale was returned to her original owners in 1974, but RFA Dewdale remained in service until 1977. During this time Dewdale saw service with the Aden task force during the British withdrawal in 1967, and was then active then on the Beira Patrols. She was the last to leave service with the RFA, being returned in 1977 and commencing service under her old name of Edenfield.

## Background

In July 1967, the MOD announced that it had bareboat chartered, for a period of seven years, three large tankers for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. These vessels were the largest in the RFA fleet at the time.

### Comparison

Dale-Class Mobile Reserve Tankers :
| Tonnages |||||
| Name | Gross register tonnage | Net register tonnage | Deadweight tonnage | Displacement (full load tonnage) |
| Derwentdale | 42,343 | 28,288 | 73,375 | 88,555 |
| Dewdale | 35,642 | 24,504 | 63,588 | 67,000 |
| Ennerdale | 29,189 | 18,066 | 49,209 | 62,000 |
| Dimensions |||||
| Name | Length oa | Beam | Draught | Depth |
| Derwentdale | 798ft 11in | 117ft 10in | 42ft 6in | 55ft 4in |
| Dewdale | 774ft 6in | 107ft 10in | 41ft 5in | 55ft |
| Ennerdale | 710ft | 98ft 7in | 37ft 6in | 51ft 10in |
Machinery & Speed :
| Name | Engine | bhp | Shaft | Speed |
| Derwentdale | 1 x Hitachi/B&W 9-cylinder diesel | 20,700bhp | single shaft | 15.5 knots |
| Dewdale | 1 x H&W/B&W 9-cylinder diesel | 17,000bhp | single shaft | 15 knots |
| Ennerdale | 1 x Krupp/B&W 8-cylinder diesel | 16,800bhp | single shaft | 15.5 knots |

## Ships
### Derwentdale

Derwentdale was launched as Halcyon Breeze by Hitachi Zosen Corporation at its Innoshima, Hiroshima shipyard on 18 January 1964, for Caribbean Tankers Ltd, managed by Court Line(Ship Management) Ltd, London. She began her RFA charter on 17 June 1967.

### Dewdale

Dewdale was launched as Edenfield for Hunting (Eden) Tankers Ltd, managed by Hunting & Son Ltd, by Harland & Wolff on 5 March 1965 and began her charter on 14 August 1967.

### Ennerdale

Ennerdale was launched on 31 August 1963 as Naess Scotsman for the Anglo-Norness Shipping Co Ltd and began her charter in July 1967.