Previous name:                      
Subsequent name:

Official Number:                      363145

Class:                                       ROVER CLASS Small Fleet Tanker

Pennant No:                             A271

Laid down:                               
Builder:                                     Swan Hunter, Wallsend
Launched:                                7 March 1973
Into Service:                             22 March 1974
Out of service:
Fate:

Items of historic interest involving this ship: -

Background Data:   In 1967, tenders were invited for what eventually turned out to be 5 ships in this Class. Owing to unsatisfactory performance from the original engines, which had been a political decision, the first 3 ships in the Class were re-engined in 1974. The final 2 ships differed slightly from the earlier 3 and had improved accommodation standards and different stern anchor arrangements

7 March 1973 launched by Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Ltd, Wallsend as Yard Nr 59  named GOLD ROVER. The Lady Sponsor was Mrs M. Lovett, the wife of Mr P.J. Lovett  MBE, the then DST (AS)

6 December 1973 her Ship’s Badge was officially presented to her

9 March 1974 Captain Barry H Rutterford RFA appointed as Master

Captain Barry H Rutterford RFA

22 March 1974 completed at a cost of £7.7m

10 July 1974 until 30 September 1974 stood by off Cyprus following a coup d’etat attempt  and subsequent Turkish invasion with a Task Force including the carrier HMS HERMES with 41 Commando Royal Marines and RFA’s  OLNA (3), OLWEN (2) and REGENT

22 July 1975 along with RFA’s TARBATNESS and TIDESPRING sailed U.K. as part of Task Group 317.3 led by the guided missile destroyer HMS GLAMORGAN

24 June 1977 to 29 June 1977 took part in the Silver Jubilee Fleet Review at Spithead with eight other RFA's and unots of the Royal Navy and foreign navies

16 August 1977 Captain Rex A Cooper RFA appointed as Master

5 September 1977 Carried out successful feasibility abeam refuelling trials with the British merchant tanker BRITISH TAMAR which was earmarked for duties in wartime as a Convoy Escort Oiler, to establish whether or not an RFA oiler could load its own  cargo tanks by accepting fuel from commercial products tankers underway without  the need for prior fitting of specialised RAS equipment on the commercial vessel

1982 did not see service during the Falklands Conflict as she was out in Singapore at the time

29 July 1982 assisted a Special Forces demonstration in Poole Bay

1 November 1984 Mr E M Quigley RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

14 November 1984 sailed Gibraltar after refit - the last RFA to be refitted in the HM Dockyard  there

31 August 1985 berthed at Pensacola after avoiding Hurricane Elena in the Gulf of Mexico

9 June 1986 humanitarian relief - was in Operation Jubilee along with the frigate HMS ARIADNE after heavy rains in Jamaica

26 July 1990 Captain Brian J Waters RFA appointed as Commanding Officer

1 September 1990 Lost her rudder in severe weather in the South Atlantic and sent out a distress call.   Some of her crew were airlifted off and she managed to get to anchor 17 miles east of  Lively island to ride out the storm

20 November 1990 Captain Peter Robinson RFA appointed as Commanding Officer

18 April 1992 Humanitarian aid - along with the frigate HMS CAMPBELTOWN, she assisted the Panamanian-registered tanker WORLD HITACHI ZOSEN on fire after a collision off West Africa with the bulk carrier CLIPPER PIONEER

15 April 1995 Captain Peter A Robinson RFA appointed as Commanding Officer

13 April 1996 put on standby off Liberia after breakdown in civil rule in that country

16 October 1996 Humanitarian aid - rescued 3 St Vincent nationals adrift in an open boat

2 to 4 November 1998 Humanitarian aid - whilst supporting the frigate HMS SUTHERLAND she acted as a helicopter refuelling point off South Georgia during the evacuation of a seriously ill woman from the cruise liner EXPLORER

15 September 1999 sailed Mayport naval base to avoid Hurricane Floyd bearing down on the port.

18 January 2000 towed back to Plymouth by two RMAS tugs when she broke down off the Lizard Point.

15 February 2000 rescued trawler taking in water in the English Channel after pan pan alert from Brixham coast guard

28 May 2001 along with RFA’s TIDESPRING, SIR PERCIVALE and DILIGENCE she featured  on a postage stamp issued by South Georgia and the South Sandwich Isles

13 November 2001 Humanitarian aid - rescued 4 crew from the yacht  BON SOCOUR in the North Atlantic

23 February 2002 Captain Peter Farmer RFA appointed as Commanding Officer

14 October 2002 to 20 December 2002 in refit

May 2003 visited Freetown, Sierra Leone

11 December 2003 visited Luanda, Angola with HMS Glasgow for a courtesy call

23 March 2004 Captain Shaun Jones RFA appointed as Commanding Officer

3 April 2004 at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

13 June 2004 alongside at Montevideo, Uruguay

17 July 2004 at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands

29 March 2005 Captain (E) Robert J Smith RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

December 2005 in company with the frigate HMS IRON DUKE, met up with solo yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur 2 degrees north of the equator on her yacht  B & Q

13 April 2006 Captain (E) Robert J Smith RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

1 June 2006 accompanied the frigate HMS CHATHAM to Lagos to mark the 50th Anniversary of  the Nigerian Navy at their Fleet Review by President Obassango

28 June 2006 involved in exercises with Brazillian frigate BNS Bossio and HMS Liverpool off Brazil.

6 October 2006 while supporting the frigate HMS ARGYLL in a multi-national operation off West  Africa, intercepted mv STER 11 seized 1.8 tonnes of cocaine off the coast of West Africa worth an estimated £60 million

1 March 2007 Captain Anthony McNally RFA appointed as Commanding Officer until 10 July 2007

22 March 2007 Captain (E) Robert J Smith RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

13 June 2007 with HRH Prince Edward embarked the Captain and a contingent of the crew attended a memorial service at Fitzroy, East Falkland to those killed on RFA Sir Galahad and RFA Sir Tristram during the Falklands War

July 2007 Captain Paul Minter RFA appointed as Commanding Officer

30 October 2007 arrived at Tristan da Cunha with HMS Southampton

19 November 2007 Captain Paul Minter RFA, Commanding Officer of the Gold Rover presented a copy of 'No Sea to Rough' to the Governor of St. Helena

16 December 2007 arrived at Tristan da Cunha after having been tasked to urgently resupply drugs and medical stores to the island after 271 members of the islands population suffered a viral infection which depleted stocks to a dangerous level

13 March 2008 Captain (E) Robert J Smith RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

17 April 2008 berthed at Gibraltar from Freetown

21 April 2008 sailed Gibraltar for Portsmouth

25 January 2009 alongside at Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

29 April 2009 visited the Island of St. Helena where wreaths were laid at the RFA Darkdale memorial on the Island's Cenotaph in the capital Jamestown

Captain Paul Minter RFA laying his wreath at the RFA Darkdale memorial

© The St. Helena Independent acknowledged

6 May 2009 South Atlantic  - found yacht 'Sea Jade' reported long overdue enroute from St. Helena to Capte Town. As Falklands Island news service reported 'Found needle in field of haystacks'. Yacht was reported with faulty steering and damage to the rigging and had been believed to have been lost in very heavy weather until the successful search undertaken by Gold Rover

30 January 2010 at Jamestown, St. Helena

24 April 2011 joined Lyme Regis and Weymouth RNLI Lifeboats, Sidmouth Independent Lifeboat, Coastguard Rescue helicopters from Lee-on-Solent in the search for a missing diver reported to be a man aged 61 and from Bristol, was in an eight-strong group of visiting and local divers operating from a charter boat out of Lyme Regis. Not found - diver given up for dead

26 April 2011 entered Plymouth Sound

8 July 2011 berthed on Yonderberry Pier, Devonport