RFA Cedardale
Previous name:
Subsequent name:
Official Number: 167260
Class: 1st DALE CLASS Freighting Tanker
Pennant No: X80 / A380
Laid down:
Builder: Blythswood Ship Building Company
Launched: 25 March 1939
Into Service: 25 May 1939
Out of service: 15 November 1959 - laid up at Hong Kong
Fate: Sold at Hong Kong for breaking up 2 February 1960
Items of historic interest involving this ship: -
Background Data: Originally there were to have been 19 ships in this Class. The first 6 were purchased off the stocks fro the British Tanker Co Ltd whilst building at the instigation of the then Director of Stores, Sir William Gick, who was concerned at the age of the RFA Fleet and ships that were approaching the end of their economic lives. A further 2 ships were purchased from Anglo Saxon Petroleum Co Ltd for evaluation purposes. At the outbreak of WW2, a further 11 ships were acquired from the MoWT war programme although one of these, to have been named EPPINGDALE, which had been registered in London as EMPIRE GOLD on 21/02/43 and intended for transfer to the Admiralty for manning and management as an RFA and despite 5 Officers being appointed to her, the intended transfer was cancelled the following day and she thus never entered RFA service. 3 of this Class were converted into LSG’s and were then reconverted back into tankers at the end of the War.
25 March 1939 launched by Blythswood Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Scotstoun as Yard Nr 54 named CEDARDALE for the Anglo Saxon Petroleum Co Ltd, London
28 April 1939 Mr P B Weston RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
30 April 1939 Captain W Frost RFA appointed as Master
25 May 1939 completed and taken over by the Admiralty
27 May 1939 sailed on her maiden voyage from Greenock to Abadan
7 September 1939 sailed Port Said independently to Aden arriving on 8 October 1939
10 October 1939 sailed Aden
20 October 1939 sailed Port Said independently to Haifa arriving on 21 October and then open to Alexandria arriving on 24 October
3 January 1940 sailed Alexandria independently to Gibraltar arriving on 10 January 1940
13 January 1940 sailed Gibraltar in convoy HGF 15 detached from convoy 22 January for the Clyde
24 January 1940 arrived Greenock
5 February 1940 Mr D S Wood RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
28 February 1940 sailed the Clyde independently arriving Liverpool 1 March 1940
3 March 1940 sailed Liverpool in convoy OGF.21 for Trinidad arriving on 21 March 1940
24 March 1940 sailed Trinidad independently for Freetown arriving on 7 April 1940
5 July 1940 served with Force R
29 October 1940 suffered a badly leaking oil retaining gland and in need of urgent repairs
2 November 1940 ready for sea and proceeded to Mombasa
20 June 1941 refuelled the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle in Freetown Harbour
21 August 1941 sailed Freetown independently to New Orleans arriving on 19 September 1941
4 September 1941 Captain Douglas N J Williams RFA (Lieut-Commander RNR) appointed as Master
Captain Douglas N J Williams RFA
19 September 1941 arrived New Orleans for repairs, refit and docking
17 October 1941 sailed New Orleans independently to Curacao arriving 24 of the month
25 October 1941 at Curacao the Bosun, 7 A.B.'s, 1O.S., 1D.B., 1 Pumpman and 1 Cabin Boy walked off the ship and refused to sail. They presented a list of grievances to the British Consul. Reported by the Master to the Senior British Naval Officer and the Consul. The crew returned to the ship at 17.00hrs 26 October 1941 on promise that a full enquiry into the grievances would be helf at Simonstown, South Africa, the next port of call.
26 October 1941 sailed Curacao independently to SImonstown arriving 25 November 1941
5 December 1941 sailed Cape Town
15 December 1941 arrived Mauritius
18 December 1941 arrived Seychelles
22 February 1942 sailed Batavia in Convoy SJ 7
25 February 1942 Convoy SJ7 dispersed
28 February 1942 at Seychelles
15 March 1942 sailed Mahe, Seychelles independently
31 March 1942 at Addu Atoll
21 April 1942 arrived at Mombasa
23 April 1942 sailed Mombasa independently to Mahe arriving 3 May 1942
5 May 1942 sailed Mahe, Seychelles independently to Mombasa arriving 10 May 1942
5 July 1942 sailed Mombasa independently to Mahe arriving 9 July 1942
14 December 1942 Captain Albert E Curtain OBE RFA (Lieut-Commander RNR) appointed as Master
15 December 1942 Mr Arthur L Barr RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
Chief Engineer Officer Arthur L Barr RFA
29 January 1943 sailed Mahe, Seychelles independently to Addu Atoll arriving 6 February 1943
14 February 1943 sailed Addu Atoll in convoy A3 along with RFA GREEN RANGER to Trincomalee arriving four days later
6 May 1943 sailed Bombay independently to Abadan arriving 12 May 1943 to load
15 May 1943 sailed Abadan independently to Aden arriving on the 25 May 1943
25 May 1943 sailed Aden independently arriving Suez on the 31 of the month
4 June 1943 sailed Port Said independently to Alexandria arriving the next day
8 July 1943 sailed Benghazi as part of Force R for Operation Husky - the invasion of Sicily - providing refuelling support to destroyers
10 July 1943 In Operation Husky along with RFA’s DERWENTDALE (1), ENNERDALE (1),
23 July 1943 sailed Malta in convoy KMS 19T along with RFA PEARLEAF (1) to Tripoli arriving the next day
26 July 1943 sailed Tripoli in convoy MES 37Y to Alexandria arriving on the 31 July 1943
3 August 1943 sailed Alexandria in convoy MWS39 to Malta arriving on 10 August 1943
18 August 1943 sailed Malta and joined convoy UGS 13 to Port Said arriving on the 24 August 1943
27 August 1943 sailed Port Said to Beirut arriving two days later
30 August 1943 sailed Beirut independently to Haifa arriving the next day
3 September 1943 sailed Haifa independently to Port Said arriving the next day
4 September 1943 sailed Port Said independently to Alexandria arriving the next day
11 September 1943 sailed Alexandria in convoy XT 2 to Tripoli arriving on 16 September 1943
21 September 1943 sailed under escort from Tripoli to Malta arriving the next day
28 September 1943 sailed Malta and joined convoy UGS 17 to Port Said arriving on 4 October 1943
7 October 1943 sailed Port Said independently to Haifa arriving the next day
10 October 1943 sailed Haifa independently to Alexandria arriving two days later
21 October 1943 sailed Alexandria independently arriving at Port Said the next day
23 October 1943 sailed Port Said independently arriving at Haifa the next day
25 October 1943 sailed Haifa independently to Tripoli arriving the following day
29 March 1944 sailed Diego Suarez in Convoy MK 7B arrived Mombasa 1 April 1944
20 April 1944 sailed Bandar Abbas in Convoy PB 76 arrived Bombay 25 April 1944
27 August 1944 sailed Kilindini in Convoy KM 5 arrived Diego Suarez 1 September 1944
24 September 1944 sailed Colombo in Convoy JC 62C to Madras arriving 27 September 1944
16 February 1945 Captain Frank P Hennin OBE RFA appointed as Master
25 February 1945 sailed Colombo in convoy MB26 for Bombay arriving 2 March 1945
14 March 1945 part of British Pacific Fleet Train TF112.2.1
28 March 1945 took part in Operation Iceberg One - the British Pacific Fleet operations against Okinawa and outlying islands - as part of Task Force 112 - along with RFA’s ARNDALE, BACCHUS (2) (Distilling Ship), BROWN RANGER (Water Tanker), DINGLEDALE, WAVE KING and WAVE MONARCH.
May 1945 Took part in Operation Iceberg Two - 9 oilers made 18 sorties and refuelled the British Pacific Fleet on 5 occasions
6 May 1945 to 7 May 1945 elements of the British Pacific Fleet met up with the Tanker Group at Cootie One - 21.12 N 128.44 E - for refuelling purposes. The group consisted of RFA’s CEDARDALE, WAVE KING and WAVE MONARCH plus 2 other MFA oilers
7 May 1945 RFA CEDARDALE and 2 MFA’s were escorted to Leyte by HM ships AVON and WHIMBREL while RFA’s WAVE KING and WAVE MONARCH were escorted by the destroyer HMAS NORMAN
August 1945 Attached to the British Pacific Fleet along with RFA’s ARNDALE, BISHOPDALE, BACCHUS (2), BROWN RANGER, DINGLEDALE, EASEDALE, GREEN RANGER, RAPIDOL, SERBOL, WAVE EMPEROR, WAVE GOVERNOR, WAVE KING, WAVE MONARCH and HMS (later RFA) OLNA
3 October 1945 sailed Shanghai to Subic Bay arriving 8 October 1945
13 December 1945 arrived Singapore from Subic Bay
15 December 1945 sailed Singapore to Bombay arriving on 25 December 1945
27 December 1945 sailed Bombay for Glasgow arriving 7 February 1946
18 February 1946 sailed Glasgow but put back for repairs at Queens Dock
28 April 1946 sailed Queens Dock, Glasgow passing Gibraltar on 4 May 1946 arriving at Port Said 11 May 1946
18 May 1946 sailed Aden to Abadan arriving 24 May 1946
26 May 1946 sailed Abadan to Colombo arriving 4 June 1946
5 June 1946 sailed Colombo to Singapore arriving 10 June 1946
12 June 1946 sailed Singapore to Hong Kong
11 July 1946 sailed Hong Kong to Kure, Japan arriving 17 July 1946
20 July 1946 sailed Kure to Colombo arriving 6 August 1946
14 August 1946 sailed Colombo to Abadan arriving 24 August 1946
26 August 1946 sailed Abadan to Aden
4 September 1946 sailed Aden to Port Said
11 September 1946 sailed Port Said to Malta
19 September 1946 sailed Malta to Haifa arriving 23 September 1946
25 September 1946 sailed Haifa to Malta arriving 29 September 1946
19 October 1946 sailed Malta arriving Port Said 23 October 1946
23 October 1946 said Port Said to Aden arriving 29 October 1946
29 October 1946 sailed Aden to Abadan arriving 6 November 1946
8 November 1946 sailed Abadan to Port Said
22 November 1946 sailed Port Said to Gibraltar arriving 30 November 1946
6 December 1946 sailed Gibraltar to Malta and then Port Said arriving 13 December 1946
12 December 1946 Quartermaster I P Ah Kwong discharged dead. He is buried in Kalkara Royal Naval Cemetery, Malta
Image courtesy of British War Graves
14 December 1946 sailed Port Said to Abadan
28 December 1946 sailed Abadan
10 June 1947 arrived at Malta from Port Said with a cargo of FFO
18 August 1947 Mr H G May RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
19 January 1948 Captain Howard D Gausden DSO RFA appointed as Master
14 March 1949 Mr Harold M Pearson RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
6 October 1949 Mr S Turner RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
1 January 1951 Captain Emil E Sigwart RFA appointed as Master
24 June 1951 During a crew change at Malta 58 Chinese seaman were replaced by 37 Maltese seaman
30 June 1951 the 58 Chinese seaman crew who had been replaced by a Maltese crew sailed Malta this day on ss Mediterranean for Gibraltar to man RFA War Hindoo
30 August 1951 Captain Cecil R Rosen OBE RFA appointed as Master
1952 stranded near Mena-al-Ahmadi but refloated without serious damage
1 November 1952 Mr D G Edgar RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
3 February 1953 Captain Donald B C Ralph OBE DSC RFA appointed as Master
12 January 1954 Mr I M MacFarlane RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
13 May 1954 in refit at the Greenock Dockyard Company's facility on the Clyde
14 June 1955 Mr J A McKenzie RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
10 August 1955 Captain Robert H Venning RFA appointed as Master
14 November 1957 while off the coast of Spain Chief Officer Robert W. Major RFA lost over the side. He had been appointed to the ship on the 17 September 1956
19 November 1957 Captain Arthur J D Gosney RFA appointed as Master
1 January 1958 Mr K I J George RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
13 September 1958 after a two ship collision in the Gulf of Oman followed by a fire with 24 deaths. RFA Cedardale and RFA Sea Salvor and RN ships were involved in rescue and salvage with the Cedardale recovering about 11,000 tons of oil from one of the ships which she discharged at Pembroke Dockyard. A subsequent salvage claim by the Admiralty resulted in the Admiralty and the crew receiving various payments.
18 January 1959 Captain H W Lawford RFA appointed as Master
15 November 1959 laid up at Hong Kong
3 December 1959 advertised this day in the Times for sale 'as lying' at HM Dockyard, Hong Kong by the Ministry of Transport
2 February 1960 sold for demolition by Matthews Wighton at Hong Kong
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