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RFA Battleships
During the First World War the Admiralty requisitioned 14 ships, which were converted into Dummy Battleships. These were a mixture of Cargo ships and Passenger Liners, which, with a bit of the ‘Blue Peter’ treatment of canvas and wood, were transformed to look like Battleships of the Grand Fleet, with suitable ballast and complete with gun turrets, masts and the like.
The idea behind this project was to confuse the Germans into thinking that the Royal Navy had more capital ships than they did, and whether this subterfuge worked is not known. The Dummy Battleship project did not last for long and all of the ships concerned were converted for other duties, eight of them went on to serve in the RFA, either as Tankers, Store Ships or in one case as a Kite Balloon Ship, and this is the story of those ships.
Here is a potted history of the ships that went on to serve in the RFA Service, with, where possible their service history after the First World War.
Builder: Barclay Curle and Co, Whiteinch, Glasgow
Yard No: 420
Launched: 21st November 1899
Tonnage: 7,550 grt
Length: 446 feet
Beam: 52 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engines, 2 shafts
Speed: 13 knots
Builder: Harland and Wolff, Belfast
Yard No: 270
Launched: 23rd August 1893
Tonnage: 8,315 grt
Length: 500 feet
Beam: 60.2 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engines, 2 shafts.
Speed: 13 knots
Builder: Barclay Curle and Co, Whiteinch, Glasgow.
Yard No: 307
Launched: 13th June 1882
Tonnage: 4,019 grt
Length: 400 feet
Beam: 43.2 feet
Builder: Palmers Shipbuilding and Iron Co, Jarrow.
Yard No: 724
Launched: 17th May 1897
Tonnage: 6,983 grt
Length: 445 ft
Beam: 52.2 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engine, single shaft
Speed: 12.5 knots
Builder: Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Wallsend
Yard No: 230
Launched: 17th August 1898
Tonnage: 8,747 grt
Length: 470 feet
Beam: 56 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engine, single shaft.
Speed: 12 knots
Builder: Alexander Stephen and Sons, Glasgow.
Yard No: 383
Launched: 11th July 1899
Tonnage: 7,345 grt
Length: 485 feet
Beam: 59 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engines, 2 shafts.
Speed: 13 knots
Builder: Hawthorne Leslie and Co Ltd, Hebburn
Yard No: 315
Launched: 12th August 1893
Tonnage: 5,865 grt
Length: 420 feet
Beam: 54 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engine, single shaft
Speed: 12 knots
Builder: Barclay Curle and Co, Whiteinch, Glasgow.
Yard No: 422
Launched: 31st March 1900
Tonnage: 7,392 grt
Length: 446 feet
Beam: 52 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engines, 2 shafts.
Speed: 13 knots
Builder: Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson, Wallsend
Yard No: 261
Launched: 22nd February 1901
Tonnage: 7,474 grt
Length: 470 feet
Beam: 56.2 feet
Machinery: Triple expansion engine, single shaft.
Speed: 13 knots