RFA Wave Ruler ( A212 ) Wave Ruler was a that was built in 1946 as Empire Evesham by Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd , Haverton Hill - on - Tees , Co Durham , United Kingdom for the British Ministry of Transport . In 1947 , she was transferred to the Admiralty and commissioned into the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ( RFA ) as " Wave Ruler " . She was in active service until 1970 when she was hulked in the Maldive Islands , serving RAF Gan until 1975 . She was sold in 1976 and scrapped in Taiwan in 1977 . Description . The ship was built in 1946 by Furness Shipbuilding Co Ltd , Haverton Hill - on - Tees , Co Durham . She was yard number 373 . The ship was long , with a beam of . She had a draught of . She was assessed at 8 , 138 GRT , 4 , 554 NRT . Her full displacement was 16 , 650 tons . The ship was propelled by two Parsons turbines . , double reduction geared , driving a single screw propeller . The turbines were made by Richardsons Westgarth & Co Ltd , West Hartlepool , Co Durham . They were rated at 6 , 800 shp . They could propel her at . Steam was supplied by three boilers . History . " Empire Evesham " was laid down on 27 October 1944 . She was launched on 17 January 1946 . In February , she was transferred to the Admiralty . " Empire Evesham " was completed in April 1946 . The United Kingdom Official Number 180849 was allocated . Her Code Letters were GKNR . She was placed under the management of the Eagle Oil and Shipping Company , Middlesbrough , Yorkshire . On 7 March 1947 , " Empire Evesham " was commissioned into the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ( RFA ) and renamed " Wave Ruler " . The Pennant number A212 was allocated . This would later be changed to X135 . In May 1951 , her captain refused to enter the harbour at Cairns , Queensland , Australia as there was insufficient depth of water for " Wave Ruler " . As a result of this , the harbour authorities purchased a dredger . On 3 April 1952 , " Wave Ruler " caught fire whilst anchored off Greenock , Renfrewshire . At the time , she was fully laden and all non - essential personnel took to the lifeboats . The fire , which was in a pumproom , was under control within two hours . It damaged " Wave Rulers " steering gear and she had to be assisted by four tugs to berth for the discharge of her cargo . On 3 October , " Wave Ruler " was in the Montebello Islands , Australia in support of Operation Hurricane . On 18 September 1953 , " Wave Ruler " lost all power off Oporto , Portugal . The tugs and were sent to her aid . On 28 September , she ran aground off Swansea , Glamorgan . Her cargo was transferred to on 3 October and she was refloated two days later and taken to Swansea for examination . On 1 December 1957 , " Wave Ruler " arrived at Christmas Island to participate in Operation Grapple . From 30 September 1958 to 15 December 1960 , " Wave Ruler " was deployed off Iceland in support of Royal Navy ships participating in the First Cod War . She was then refitted at Hebburn . In July 1961 , " Wave Ruler " was one of thirteen RFA ships deployed in support of the Kuwait Crisis . On 10 September 1962 , she participated in Exercise Tucker Box 2 in the Coral Sea and in November she was at Perth , Western Australia where the Commonwealth Games were taking place . On 21 November , a mayday was received from the Scripps research vessel , which was off St Paul Island and had a crewmember who was critically ill . " Wave Ruler " responded and gave assistance . In July 1963 , " Wave Ruler " was one of four RFA ships that escorted from the United Kingdom to the Far East . In February 1965 , " Wave Ruler " suffered a major engine breakdown off Port Said , Egypt . She slowly sailed to Malta for repairs , arriving on 10 February . In 1967 , she was one of the last British naval vessels to be refitted in Malta . On 26 August 1970 , " Wave Victor " departed from HMNB Devonport for the Maldive Islands , where she was to replace as a fuel hulk . She arrived on 3 October and her colours were struck for the last time on 14 October . She served until 1975 , when RAF Gan closed . In October that year she was offered for sale . On 11 November , her remaining cargo was transferred to . In January 1976 , " Wave Ruler " was sold to Straits Engineers Contracting Private Ltd , Singapore for scrapping . She was towed to Singapore in March and laid up in the Singapore Roads . In 1977 , she was sold to Taiwanese shipbreakers . " Wave Ruler " was scrapped that year at Kaohsiung .