RFA Sprucol

RFA Sprucol

RFA Sprucol rusting away on a beach on the island of Orkney

RFA Sprucol - another view from the end of the runway at Kirkwall Airport

© Ian Balcombe

Previous name:
Subsequent name:                 Juniata

Official Number:                      142289                                                                     

Class:                                       SECOND 1000 t CREOSOL CLASS Harbour Oiler

Pennant No:                             X67

Laid down:
Builder:                                    Short Brothers, Pallion
Launched:                               4 July 1917
Into Service:                           January 1918

Out of service:                        31 March 1920 - Sold commercially

Fate:                                        Scuttled

Items of historic interest involving this ship: -

Background Data:  On the outbreak of WW1, the Admiralty embarked on a further programme of tanker construction for the newly-formed RFA Service. Eventually there were 18 ships in this Class, 12 of which were named after trees with the OL suffix, while the remainder had names connected with the oil industry also with the OL suffix. 4 of the Class were diesel engined and were sold after the Armistice but the rest, being triple expansion steamers, had long and successful lives

4 July 1917 launched by Short Bros & Co Ltd, Sunderland as Yard Nr 411 named  SPRUCOL

16 July 1917 Engineer Lieutenant Alexander D Scott RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer until 11 February 1920 when he was appointed to RFA Limol

Chief Engineer Officer Alexander D Scott RFA

19 September 1917 Lieutenant R A Pritchard RNR appointed in command until 20 November 1918 when he was appointed in command of RFA Oakol

10 July 1918 was torpedoed and badly damaged in position 54.24 N 00.25 E by the German submarine UB-110 ( Kptlt.   Werner Fürbringer ) but managed to reach the Humber Estuary under her own power. She was then towed to Earles’s Shipbuilding & Engineering Co Ltd’s yard, Hull for repairs. 950 tons of cargo was lost and she was out of  service  for over 4 months. - there were no fatalities.

11 December 1918 Lieutenant John H T Lewis RNR appointed in command until 30 April 1919 when he was appointed in command of RFA Birchol (1)

Lieutenant John H T Lewis RNR

1 May 1919 Lieutenant John Weir RNR appointed in command until 26 January 1920 when he was appointed to RFA Sunhill

31 March 1920 purchased by Anglo American Oil Co Ltd (J. Hamilton, Manager) London and renamed JUNIATA

1930's laid up at London during the shipping depression

1931 manager now F.J. Wolfe

July 1934 sold to the French company Ste. Auxiliare de Transports, Rouen name unchanged

1936 Anglo-American Oil bought her back again

1940 acquired by Metal Industries Ltd, Rosyth and proceeded to Blyth to be prepared to be used as a block ship by the Admiralty. She was a replacement for the former Depot Ship PANDORA which had been used as a floating workshop in Portsmouth Harbour which too was earmarked for use as a blockship but had hit a  mine when about to enter Blyth Harbour in tow and had sunk in less than five minutes on 23 November 1939

17 April 1940 scuttled at Water Sound, Scapa Flow as part of No.4 Barrier, east of the Churchill Barrier linking the islands of South Ronaldsay and Burray

July 1949 was raised for scrapping. It was found that her condition would not permit towing her to a shipbreaking yard, so she was towed to Inganess Bay, Orkney and beached. Some scrapping work seems to have been carried out there, as the stern section has been separated from the wreck, leaving only the bow section still visible above the surface, a short distance out from the sandy beach off the end of the main runway at Kirkwall airport

Notes:

Her preparation as a blockship took three or four weeks. The first task was to clean the hull of barnacles and fungus to reduce towing resistance in order to speed the journey to Scapa Flow and to facilitate handling when she was being positioned in the strong tideways there. She was so fouled that she made only 4 knots! Next she had to be lightened as much as possible, consistent with stability, by removing her engines and boilers and by lifting of any of the deck machinery that could be spared.. It was necessary to leave on board the windlass, anchors and cables, bollards for mooring and hand steering gear to ensure her safety at sea and for manoeuvring  and holding in place when she reached her destination. When she had risen to as light a draught as possible, wooden patches measuring about 10 feet x 5 feet were affixed to the outside of the hull. Next she was loaded with broken concrete and stone rubble mixed with cement, This done, she was little more than a solid block, deep down in the water with the wooden patched well submerged. Tugs then towed her to Scapa where divers tightened the wooden patches. The plating behind them was cut away, bulkheads were opened up and explosives positioned and wired up. Finally the patches were blown off and the ship sank. She remained effective as a blockship throughout the War despite the strong tideways