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Previous name:
Subsequent name:
Official Number: 169996
Class: CANADIAN FORT CLASS Stores Ship
Pennant No: A300
Laid down:
Builder: Burrard, Vancouver, Canada
Launched: 11 March 1944
Into Service: 25 April 1944
Out of service: 1969
Fate: Broken up
Items of historic interest involving this ship: -
Background Data: After the outbreak of WW2, the first cargo vessels built in Canada for the War Effort were the “North Sands” type, the hulls of which conformed to original British working drawings supplied by the North Sands Shipyard of J.L. Thompson & Sons at Sunderland. Following experience gained from these ships, improved versions with a more economic operation were introduced. These were the ”Victory” and “Canadian” types. The “Victory” type was an oil burner and two water tube boilers were substituted for the original 3 Scotch boilers. Because of the then concerns about oil fuel supplies, the “Canadian” type had coal bunkers and alternate oil fuel capacity installed, but with a reversion to the original 3 Scotch boilers of the “North Sands” type. In 1943, when the shipping situation in the Pacific was becoming acute, the British Government ordered that a number of the ships of the Canadian building programme be completed as Stores Issuing Ships whose intended task would be to follow and victual naval units as part of the British Pacific Fleet Train. In all, 16 ships were completed as Stores Issuing Ships as follows: 3 as Ammunition Carriers, 2 as Air Stores Issuing Ships, 2 as Naval Stores Issuing Ships and 9 as refrigerated Victualling Stores Issuing Ships. All were managed by commercial companies with vast experience of Far Eastern Waters as Mercantile Fleet Auxiliaries with Merchant Navy Crews and a detachment of Stores Staff from the Victualling Division of the Admiralty under a Commander. On the refrigerated ships, the refrigerated space was in the tween decks and amounted to 111,480 cubic feet in 25 chambers. The lower holds were used for non-perishable items of stores, clothing, etc. After WW2, 8 of these ships became RFA’s. They were only armed during WW2.
11 March 1944 launched as a “Victory” type by Vancouver Dry Dock Co Ltd, Vancouver as Yard Nr 207 named FORT CONSTANTINE for the MoWT.
25 April 1944 completed as a refrigerated VSIS by Burrard Dry Dock Co Ltd, Vancouver and placed under initial management of Ellerman and Bucknall Steamship Co Ltd, London
20 July 1944 at Colombo
14 November 1944 sailed Colombo to Freemantle arriving 1 December 1944
4 December 1944 sailed Freemantle to Melbourne arriving 10 December 1944
16 December 1944 sailed Melbourne to Vancouver arriving 22 January 1945
12 March 1946 sailed Hong Kong
30 October 1946 sailed Hong Kong for Singapore
7 April 1947 arrived Sydney, NSW from Hong Kong
2 June 1947 arrived Hong Kong from Sydney, NSW
1948 Managers now W.H. Seager & Co, Cardiff name unchanged
1949 Acquired by the Admiralty
10 August 1949 Captain A Spencer RFA appointed as Master
5 December 1949 Transferred to RFA manning and management.
22 January 1950 Mr R C Veitch RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
1 August 1950 Mr Lionel W Pool RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
6 March 1951 Sailed Bermuda with the final remaining stores from the former Naval Dockyard there which had ceased to exist as such as from 1 March 51
16 October 1951 Captain George F Rutter RD RFA (Commander RNR (ret)) appointed as Master
12 December 1951 Mr George McBain RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
17 May 1952 sailed Malta with His Grace Mgr. Sir Michael Gonzi, Metropolitan Archbishop and his Chaplain as passengers
4 June 1952 at Rosyth
3 October 1952 In support of Operation Hurricane 1 - the first British test atomic bomb explosion at Monte Bello Islands off NW Australia - along with RFA’s FORT BEAUHARNOIS, FORT ROSALIE (1), GOLD RANGER, WAVE PRINCE, WAVE RULER (1) and WAVE SOVEREIGN
29 September 1953 Mr V J Cooney RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
15 February 1954 sailed Malta with Vice Admiral and Lady Elizabeth Davis as passengers. Vice Admiral Davis had just ended his appointment as Flag Officer Second in Command Mediterranean Station and Flag Officer (Air) Mediterranean
1 November 1954 Mr D L Walls RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
3 December 1954 sailed Malta eastbound
12 July 1955 Captain Stanley C Kernick RFA appointed as Master
17 January 1956 berthed at Plymouth after a voyage from Hong Kong and Singapore
September 1956 converted into a NS/VSIS
3 October 1956 Mr Charles Scott DSC RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
30 July 1957 Mr V J Cooney RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
1 October 1957 Captain F G Edwards appointed as Master
1957 - 1959 Supported Operation Grapple - the British H-bomb test at Christmas Island in the Pacific Ocean - along with 16 other RFA’s
April 1957 a victualling dispute with the Lascar crew resulted in fresh food stores being delivered from Sydney, NSW and the dispute ending within seven days.
13 June 1958 berthed at Plymouth after a voyage from Hong Kong and Singapore
17 August 1959 Captain Geoffrey B A Livesey RFA appointed as Master
Captain Geoffrey B A Livesey RFA
as a Cadet with P&O in about 1920
11 January 1960 Mr David C Leathley OBE RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
6 April 1960 berthed at Malta from Gibraltar
30 May 1960 berthed at Malta from Gibraltar
16 June 1960 involved in a collision with INS Beas south of Plymouth Sound. Slight damage to the Indian Naval Frigate
18 August 1960 Commodore Thomas Elder CBE DSC RFA appointed as Master
8 September 1961 Captain R A Shaw RD RFA (Lieutenant Commander RNR (Rtd)) appointed as Master
8 January 1962 Mr A King RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer
18 December 1962 laid up at Devonport
August 1969 placed on disposal list at Devonport
27 August 1969 and 6 September 1969 Offered for sale ‘as is – where is’ at Devonport by the Crown Agents Disposal Corporation, Canada in the Times newspaper of this day - the ship was loaded with 1293 tons of Boom Defence Equipment included in the sale
26 October 1969 arrived at Hamburg, Germany in tow for breaking up by Elkhart & Co GmbH
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