RFA Melita

RFA Melita

 

 

 

Previous name:                       HMS Ringdove
Subsequent name:                Telima

Official Number:                      132764

Class:                                        REDBREAST CLASS Gunboat (originally)

Pennant No:                             X37 /  X40

Laid down:                               1 June 1888

Builder:                                     HM Dockyard, Devonport
Launched:                                30 April 1889
Into Service:                             7 December 1915
Out of service:                         22 January 1920
Fate:                                          Sold out of service commerically

 

Items of historic interest involving this ship: -

Background Data:  She was one of a Class of 9 gunboats  2 of which were converted into Salvage Ships, designed by Sir William Henry White, the Royal Navy Director of  Naval Construction in 1888, which were the last of the composite-hulled gunboats built for the Royal Navy. The Class consisted of HM ships GOLDFINCH, LAPWING, MAGPIE, REDBREAST, REDPOLE, RINGDOVE, SPARROW, THRUSH and WIDGEON

30 April 1889 launched by HM Dockyard, Devonport as the composite gunboat HMS RINGDOVE

November 1889 conducted trils off Malta - reached 11 knots in a 'choppy sea'

16 September 1890 commissioned for service in Australian waters with Commander King Hall, Royal Navy in command

20 January 1891 berthed at Famagusta, Cyprus

7 February 1891 sailed Larnaca for Malta with ancient artifacts destined for the British Museum

27 April 1891 with HMS Undaunted rescused the French Cruiser Seignelay which had run aground in heavy weather off the port of Jaffa

4 July 1897 returned to Devonport and was paid off into refit

9 November 1897 recommissioned for a further 4 years service

27 February 1899 arrived at Malta

9 September 1899 made an official visit to Odessa - the first British Warship since the Crimean War

27 September 1899 in the Black Sea a gun burst during gun practice and one seaman - Able Seaman Walker - was killed and others injured

21 January 1900 sailed Constantinople for Alexandria

25 May 1901 returned to Devonport

7 June 1901 paid off for a refit but was placed in reserve

April to September 1905 saw service with Newfoundland Fisheries

1906 to 1913 transferred to the coastguard for Fishery Protection duties off Scotland

20 May 1907 Lieutenant W W Wilson Royal Navy appointed in command

18 December 1912 Lieutenant L M Darbyshire Royal Navy in command

1914 to 1915 on the Examination Service at Queenstown, Ireland

November 1915 taken in hand for conversion into a Salvage Vessel

7 December 1915 Was renamed MELITA

 3 January 1916 Engineer Lieutenant Walter M Murdoch RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer. He signed off on 1 October 1917

29 January 1916 Lieutenant  Horace A Gauld RNR appointed in command. He was transferred on 17 April 1917 to RFA Racer

4 July 1916 Stoker Petty Officer Hugh Rooney discharged dead - drowned. He was cremated at Edinburgh (Seafield) Crematorium

1917 re-entered service as a Salvage Vessel

17 April 1917 Lieutenant John W Miskin RNR appointed in command. Had previously been Chief Officer.

2 July 1917 Rigger Albert Seager logged as deserting. He had signed on on 27 May 1916

1 October 1917 Engineer Lieutenant William H Reynolds RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

16 October 1917 Lieutenant W Thomas-Pryce RNR appointed in command

29 November 1917 Rigger John F Harwood discharged dead. He had signed on on the 26 May 1916. He drowned at Leith, Scotland and is buried in an unmarked grave in Edinburgh (Seafield) Cemetery.

 

Panel 6 remembers Rigger Harwood

12 January 1918 HMS Opal and HMS Narborough, both destroyers reported missing while enroute to Scapa Flow in heavy snow. RFA Melita advised not required for the search as the destroyers must be assumed to have foundered.

14 January 1918 wreckage of two destroyers found at Windwick Bay at 58 46N 2 0W RFA Melita directed to sail to Aberdeen. One survivor (AB William Sissons) from HMS Opal found. Court of Enquiry set up.

6 July 1918 Rigger George Metcalf logged as deserting. He had signed on 6 May 1918.

4 September 1918 Fireman John A Gordon logged as deserting. He had signed on on 5 September 1917

18 September 1918 Lieutenant James Ellias RNR appointed in command

27 June 1919 offered for sale by the Admiralty - advertised in the Times - the ship was lying at Liverpool

22 January 1920 sold to Ship Salvage Corporation (J.R. Delanet, Manager) Plymouth and was renamed TELIMA

13 March 1920 involved with other ships in the salvage of a Norwegian ship Morgana which lost her propeller off the Yorkshire coast. Awarded £300 in a subsequernt claim in the Admiralty division of the High Court and reported in the Times on the 23 June 1920

21 December 1920 at Gravesend brought in by tow the steamer Limehouse to anchor after being salvaged

1926 reported broken up during the 2nd quarter of this year

 

Ships of the same name

 

Melita. An Algerine class minesweeper built by Redfern, Toronto and launched on the 8 December 1942, she was reduced to a drill ship in April 1947 and renamed Satellite.  Arrived at Rees, Llanelli for breaking up on the 25 February 1959.

Battle Honours for this Vessel: NORMANDY 1944, ATLANTIC 1945, EAST INDIES 1945.