RFA Gold Ranger

RFA Gold Ranger

 

 

 

 

 

Previous name:
Subsequent name:

Official Number:                             168175

Class:                                            RANGER CLASS Fleet Attendant Oiler

Pennant No:                                  X30 / A130

Laid down:                                    14 May 1940
Builder:                                          Caledon, Dundee
Launched:                                     12 March 1941
Into Service:                                  4 July 1941
Out of service:                               July 1973
Fate:                                             Broken up at Hong Kong

 

Items of historic interest involving this ship: -

 

Background Data:  The 6 ships in this Class were designed in the mid -1930’s by Rowland Baker as replacements for the 2000t BELGOL CLASS and were the first Admiralty-designed tankers since the  1917 5000t FAST LEAF CLASS. As originally built, for camouflage purposes, they had canvas deckhouses, a dummy plate funnel forward, their foremast was on the starboard bow, the wheelhouse was offset to port, and in some cases their genuine funnel was cut low and was on the port quarter, fitted with a spark arrester. Originally armed with 1 x 4” LA, 1 x 12 pdr HA/LA and several Lewis guns, as the War progressed the armament fits altered and finally averaged 1 x 4” HA, 1 x 40mm Bofors and 4 x single 20mm Oerlikons. These vessels served extensively as Escort Tankers on the Russian Convoys, Norwegain coastal raids, Malta Convoys and with the British Pacific Fleet. Apart from GRAY RANGER which became a War Loss, the Class had exceptionally long Service lives and were finally replaced by the ROVER CLASS

 

12 March 1941 launched by Caledon Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Dundee as Yard Nr 389 named GOLD RANGER

 March 1941 Mr R R Darroch RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

26 June 1941 Captain P H Brooke RFA appointed as Master

4 July 1941 completed

5 July 1941 sailed Dundee to join the Fleet Fuelling Service arriving at Grangemouth the same day

7 July 1941 sailed Grangemouth

11 July 1941 at Leith Docks

27 July 1941 arrived Methil Roads

31 July 1941 sailed Methil Roads

8 August 1941 arrived Scapa Flow for OAS trials remaining there until 9 December 1941

August 1941 undertook OAS trials with the cruiser HMS BERWICK using the Trough Method

3 November 1941 at Scapa Flow alongside HMS DUKE OF YORK to refuel her with 551 tons of FFO

12 December 1941 sailed Lyness to the Clyde arriving the next day

15 December 1941 at Glasgow for repairs remaining on the Clyde and area until early January 1942

18 January 1942 directed to be part of Convoy OS 17 from Liverpool but did not sail.

29 January 1942 refuelled from RFA DEWDALE (1)

8 February 1942 arrived at Freetown

19 April 1942 sailed Freetown in convoy ST20. The convoy dispersed on 19 April 1942

25 May 1942 arrived Freetown

22 October 1942 Captain Raymond V Boodle RFA appointed as Master

4 January 1943 ordered to sail from the East Indies to act as Fleet Attendant Oiler at Durban

8 January 1943 sailed Mombasa for refit in Durban

17 January 1943 arrived Durban

17 April 1943 sailed Durban independently to Mombasa arriving on 23 April 1943

14 November 1943 sailed Mombasa

17 November 1943 returned back at Mombasa

17 February 1944 Mr Harry F Duce DSC RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

Chief Engineer Officer Harry F Duce DSC RFA

7 April 1945 sailed Mombasa independently to Colombo arriving on 16 April 1945

17 April 1945 sailed Colombo independently to Trincomalee arriving on 19 April 1945

26 April 1945 sailed Trincomalee

2 May 1945 took part in Operation Dracula - the entry into Rangoon - along with RFA ECHODALE

3 May 1945 Captain E C Rogers RFA appointed as Master

4 May 1945 sailed Kyaukpyu in convoy KRS1A arriving at Rangoon on 19 May 1945

19 May 1945 sailed Rangoon independently to Trincomalee arriving 25 May 1945

26 June 1945 sailed Trincomalee independently to Bombay arriving 1 July 1945

7 July 1945 under going repairs at Bombay Dockyard completed 20 August 1945

26 July 1945 Mr J A McKenzie RFA appointed Chief Engineer Officer

24 September 1946 struck by a practice torpedo in Portland Harbour during test firing

15 October 1946 Captain Douglas N J Williams RFA (Lieut-Commander RNR) appointed as Master

28 November 1946 Mr W E Burke RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

27 October 1947 Mr W H Macfarlane RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

29 January 1948 at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands the RRS John Biscoe alongside being refuelled

31 January 1948 sailed from Port Stanley, Falkland Islands to Bermuda

6 May 1948 Captain W R Parker RFA appointed as Master

8 October 1948 sailed from Bermuda with RN ships shortly before what was described as the most destructive hurricane to hit the Island for 20 years arrived. She safely rode out the hurricane at sea before returning to the Island.

Between 1949 and 1950 Gold Ranger was based in the West Indies and during this period she made a number of excursions to the Antarctic in support of various expeditions

28 March 1949 sailed Kingston, Jamaica

30 March 1949 involved in exercises with UK, US and Canadian Naval units off the US Naval Base at Guatanamo Bay, Cuba 

7 October 1949 at the Royal Naval Hospital, Bermuda Fireman James Pigot discharged dead - heart failure

November 1949 accompanied RRS JOHN BISCOE to the South Shetlands and Deception Islands in Antarctica

2 December 1949 - Operation Corkscrew - providing aviation fuel at Deception Island, Antarctica for aircraft being used by the Falkland Island Dependencies Survey.

16 February 1950 Mr W E Burke RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

13 December 1950 Captain James H Chant RFA appointed as Master

7 March 1951 Mr D S Wood RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

31 August 1951 involved in major naval exercises with the Home Fleet around the UK and off Gibraltar

28 September 1951 at Invergordon HMS St Austell Bay secured alongside to refuel

1 October 1951 sailed from Invergordon

10 January 1952 Mr W H Macfarlane RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

15 September 1952 sailed Rosyth with RFA Wave Premier and UK, US, Canadian and New Zealand naval units to take part in Operation Mainbrace

18 September 1952 berthed at Rosyth

19 September 1952 at Rosyth with USS Fred T Berry DDE585 alongside refuelling her

20 September 1952 sailed Rosyth to take part in Operation Mainbrace (Part 2)

3 October 1952 took part in Operation Hurricane 1 - the first British atomic bomb tests at the Monte Bello Islands off NW Australia  - along with 6 other RFA’s

13 October 1952 Mr R C Veitch RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

16 February 1953 Captain Alfred M Uglow RFA appointed as Master

11 September 1953 Captain Leslie G Rowling DSC RFA appointed as Master

28 December 1953 Mr C D Reid RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

21 April 1954 Mr J C Calvert RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

1 June 1955 South of Lombok, Indonesia RASed with HMAS Warramunga (astern) and HMAS Arunta (abeam)

 

Image copyright: © Australian War Memorial

14 July 1955 Mr Lionel W Pool RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

16 August 1955 took part in Exercise Comex between Kure and Kagoshima with RN Units

15 March 1956 Captain Stephen J Pethurst RFA appointed as Master

31 October 1956 in Operation Musketeer - the Suez Crisis - along with 34 other RFA’s

9 July 1957 Mr J Brett RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

4 August 1957 RAS'ed with HMS Loch Fada at Khor Kuwai, Persian Gulf

22 November 1957 Captain R J Lockwood RFA appointed as Master

1957 to 1960 supported Operation Grapple - the British H-bomb test at Christmas  Island in the Pacific Ocean  - along with 16 other RFA’s

 

 

24 February 1958 to 1March 1958 involved in fleet exercises with RFA's Wave Master, Fort Charlotte, Fort Sandusky, HMS Newcastle and 9 other RN ships

25 March 1958 berthed at Jesselton with HMNZS Royalist

17 February 1959 RAS'ed HMS Cavalier between Hong Kong and Singapore

30 April 1959 Captain N B J Stapleton RD RFA (Lieut-Commander RNR) appointed as Master

23 March 1960 Mr R E Davies RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

24 December 1960 4th Engineer Norman G Cowell RFA discharged dead - he is buried in Kranji Military Cemetery, Singapore in Plot 14 Row D Grave 17

 

Image supplied by Tony Beck with thanks

 

18 March 1961 Captain Dan de V Moulds RFA appointed as Master

4 May 1961 Mr J Scott RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

July 1961 provided support during Operation Vantage - the Kuwait Crisis -along with 12 other RFA’s

7 April 1962 Captain Walter Gibb MBE RFA appointed as Master

23 May 1962 with RN units was engaged on anti pirate patrols in the Tawau area and off the Celebes

4 June 1962 berthed at SIngapore Naval Base

14 June 1962 Mr C D Reid RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

29 March 1963 Captain B H Lawrence RFA appointed as Master

9 June 1963 at Thomas Road Hospital Singapore Chief Cook Cheng Wang Cheous discharged dead - natural causes

16 August 1963 Captain Charles Stuart Bonshaw Irwin DSO DSC RD RFA (Lieutenant Commander RNR (ret)) appointed as Master

28 January 1964 her Ship‘s Badge was officially presented to her

6 June 1964 off Jesselton Harbour RAS'ed with HMAS's PARRAMATTA, SYDNEY and YARRA

31 July 1964 Mr J R Ramsey RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

January 1965 to 11 August 1965 provided support to RN units from the Far East Fleet and units of an Inshore Squadron during the Indonesian Confrontation along with RFA’s EDDYROCK, FORT CHARLOTTE, TIDEREACH and WAVE SOVEREIGN

1 September 1965 Captain G Bray MBE RFA appointed as Master

12 September 1965 Mr R C Veitch RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

16 October 1965 in the Moro Gulf (off Philippines East Coast) RASed with HMAS CURLEW

7 April 1966 Captain J G M Coull RFA appointed as Master

23 August 1966 at Labuan refuelled HMAS PARRAMATTA

25 October 1966 off Luzon RASed with HMAS PARRAMATTA

22 March 1967 Captain C W P Summer RFA appointed as Master

26 April 1967 Mr Ronald C Putt RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

 

Chief Engineer Officer Ronald C Putt RFA

The insigna of the Dragon Squadron (6MCMS) was displayed on her funnel.

23 October 1967 involved in the rescue of an Indonesian ship Perak which was adrift in the Nicobar Strait. She towed the Perak with 19 crew on board to Sabang. North Sumatra.

February 1968 Captain R M Miller RFA appointed as Master

2 April 1968 inadvertenly entered, by one mile, waters claimed by the Government of Communist China and was escorted to the International shipping lane to Hong Kong by Chinese gun boats

18 August 1968 Mr G R Henderson RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

December 1969 Captain E G May DSC RFA appointed as Master

22 March 1970 RASed with HMNZS Taranaki while on passage from Hong Kong to Manila

4 May 1971 berthed at Singapore

31 October 1971 took part in the final steam past of  17 ships from the RN, RAN, RNZN and RFA Far  East Fleet in the Singapore Straits after the closure of the naval base there which also included RFA’s FORT SANDUSKY, OLNA (3), RELIANT (2), RESOURCE, STROMNESS, TIDEFLOW and TIDEPOOL. Immediately afterwards for 3 hectic  days  she participated in  Operation Curtaincall - a combined RN, RAN, RNZN and RFA Fleet Exercise off the NW coast of Malaysia

20 June 1972 berthed at Simonstown Dockyard, South Africa

21 August 1972 berthed at Simonstown Dockyard, South Africa

23 September 1972 2nd Officer Malcolm Douglas Cameron Lee RFA discharged dead after an accident in Singapore -he was buried at sea

22 December 1972 arrived Singapore for the last time to destore and to be laid up

7 March 1973 offered for sale this day in the Straits Times, Singapore

5 April 1973 on the Disposal List - closing date for tenders

July 1973 sold out of service to Tunas Tankers & Bunkering Service Pte Ltd under the  Singapore flag

March 1977 broken up at Hong Kong by Lee Sing & Co Ltd