RFA Montenol

RFA Montenol

 

 

 

Previous name:
Subsequent name:

Official Number:                   140408

Class:                                    SECOND 2000t BELGOL CLASS Tanker

Pennant No:                          X 66  /  X 45

Laid down:
Builder:                                  Central Yard, William Gray, West Hartlepool
Launched:                             5 July 1917
Into Service:                          20 November 1917
Out of service:                       21 May 1942   
Fate:                                       Sunk

 

Items of historic interest involving this ship: -

Background Data:  There were 10 ships in this Class, all Admiralty designed of which 5 were named after Allied countries while the other 5 were given names indicating power or speed, all with the OL suffix. 3 of them, RFA’s FRANCOL, MONTENOL and SERBOL had upright funnels with a single tall mast close by, while the remainder had a raking funnel and 2 raking masts. During WW2 the mainmast was removed from these.

 

5 July 1917 Launched by Wm Gray & Co Ltd, West Hartlepool as Yard Nr 887 named  MONTENOL

 1 June 1917 Engineer Lieutenant John Burnie RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer. Signed off on

11 July 1917 on being transferred to RFA Rapidol as Chief Engineer Officer.

7 August 1917 Engineer Lieutenant Richard G Sibun RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

11 October 1917 Lieutenant George P Wilkinson RNR appointed in command

20 November 1917 completed

20 November 1917 Greaser Arthur Nevin logged as deserted. He had signed on on 13 November 1917. Having had previously served on RFA Fernleaf

26 December 1917 Signalman & Able Seaman J Leggett logged as deserted. He had signed on on the 11 October 1917

15 February 1918 Stoker J Sewell logged as deserted. He had signed on on the 13 November 1917.

21 October 1918 Stoker A Green, MMR 774816, discharged dead. He was buried in and remembered on the Screen Wall of the City of London & Tower Hamlets Cemetery. He had signed on on the 13 November 1917.

17 December 1918 Third Officer Stewart M Evans RFA appeared before a court martial charged with being drunk on board. The charged was not proved and he was acquitted. Sub Lieutenant Arthur S Belyea  RNR appeared before a court martial charged with (a) making an irregular issue of rum and (b) drunk on board . The the first charge was found proved and the second charge not proved.  Adjudged to be severely reprimanded . 

6 January 1919 Assistant Cook H Mills, MMR 869963, logged as being absent. He was arrested at Northampton. He had signed on on 16 January 1918

13 May 1919 Engineer Lieutenant David J Rees RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

28 May 1919 a number of Turkish citizens who had been detailed in the Bekir Aga Prison for alleged Armenian persecution were removed to Malta on board HMS Princess Ena

1 August 1919 Captain W A Wooster RFA appointed as Master

26 August 1919 refuelled alongside HM Monitor M29 in the Black Sea

29 August 1919 refuelled alongside HM Monitor M29 at Ochakov with 7 tons of fuel oil

24 December 1919 Stoker G Zarb Discharged to Detention. He had signed on on 5 September 1919

1 March 1920 Greaser Laurence Mangion discharged dead. He had signed on on 6 December 1919

17 May 1920 Captain G L Capsey RFA appointed as Master

29 July 1920 Mr F C Pavitt RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

8 December 1920 at Batumi Poti, Georgia, in the Black Sea alongside HMS Torch refuelling her with 120 tons FFO and 1.4 tons culinary coal

1 October 1921 all 59 Turkish prisoners at Malta were returned to Turkey on RFA Montenol and HMS Crysanthemum.

16 December 1921 Captain W T Williams RFA appointed as Master

6 July 1923 Mr Percy E C Ogden RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

28 November 1923 Captain W A Wooster RFA appointed as Master

16 October 1925 Mr D E Morgan RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

10 May 1926 Captain Reginald J Harland RFA appointed as Master

13 January 1927 Mr L A Taylor RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

4 May 1928 Captain J B Hurst RFA appointed as Master

27 December 1928 Mr F C Pavitt RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

7 August 1929 Mr William W Ridgway RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

10 September 1929 Captain T Drever RFA appointed as Master

20 July 1930 berthed at Malta

5 August 1930 Captain A Peters RFA appointed as Master 

14 July 1931 Captain George E Thickett RFA appointed as Master and Mr D E Morgan RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

 

Engraved 'Presented to Captain G E Thickett from Deck and Engine Room Dept R F A Montenol'

1932 - 1935 in reserve at Rosyth

1 February 1936 has paravanes fitted and the Admiralty write to the Grangemouth Dock Company who had undertaken the work

 

Courtesy Falkirk Council Archives

 

18 July 1936 sailed Malta for the UK

1936 - 1939 recommissioned as Fleet Attendant Oiler on the Biscay Coast, based at La Rochelle, during the Spanish Civil War and then in the Haifa and Alexandria areas

28 January 1938 Mr William C Elliott RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

6 September 1938 Captain J C Lodge RFA appointed as Master

1 May 1939 Mr H Ringshaw RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

9 June 1939 Captain Herbert  A Shacklock RFA appointed as Master

26 June 1939 at Portland alongside HMS Royal Oak refuelling her

10 August 1939 sailed Invergordon

31 August 1939 at Scapa Flow with HMS Sharpshooter alongside being refuelled

3 September 1939 at the outbreak of World War 2 was in Scapa Flow

15 September 1939 at Sullom Voe alomgside HMS EDINBURGH refuelling her with 644 tons FFO

2 October 1939 at 1155hrs at Loch Ewe alongside HMS HOOD refuelling her - slipped at 1325hrs

12 October 1939 at 0745hrs at Loch Ewe alongside HMS HOOD refuelling her - slipped at 1330hrs

28 October 1939 Mr Henry S Edwards RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer

31 October 1939 at 1100hrs at Greenock alongside HMS HOOD refuelling her

2 November 1939 alongside HMS Sharpshooter at Greenock refuelling her

18 February 1940 on the Clyde with another oiler (not named and non RFA) alongside HMS WARSPITE refuelling her with 1,998 tons of FFO

13 April 1940 Captain Donald B C Ralph RFA appointed as Master. Whilst at anchor off the Tail of the Bank, she was hit by the BP tanker BRITISH COURAGE

22 July 1940 until 1 September 1940 Fuel Oil depot ship - River Clyde

5 September 1940 sailed the Clyde in convoy WN13 to Scapa Flow arriving on the 8 September 1940

11 September 1940 refuelled HMS Hood at Scapa Flow

11 September 1940 to 20 April 1941 at Scapa Flow

9 October 1940 Mr G W Martin RFA appointed as Chief Engineer Officer.  Sailed for Shaalefjord in the Faroes, escorted by 2 Tribal Class destroyers

July 1941 Captain Horace W Taylor RFA appointed as Master

10 July 1941 at Greenock

20 July 1941 requested for OAS trials in the Clyde area

30 August 1941 In company with the cruiser HMS Dunedin she rendezvoused with the battle cruiser HMS REPULSE

25 October 1941 at Greenock alongside HMS Roberts ( monitor) to refuel her

19 November 1941 Equipped for fuelling escorts, she sailed with her own escort of  the corvette HMS BERGAMOT to join Convoy SL 93, transferring to Convoy OS11 with the Freetown Escort Force

29 December 1941 in collision with the Clyde ferry DUCHESS OF MONTROSE

20 January 1942 sailed the Clyde in convoy ON58 but returned the next day

24 March 1942 under repair on the river Clyde. Repairs completed 2 April 1942.

12 May 1942 sailed Liverpool in convoy OS28 towards Freetown

21 May 1942 Torpedoed by German U-Boat U159 off the West Coast of Africa at 36.41N, 22.45W while part of convoy OS28 and badly damaged. Four of the crew died.

22 May 1942 Sunk by gunfire from the corvette HMS WOODRUFF.

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