RFA Darkdale
dale-class replenishment oiler for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
RFA Darkdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), launched on 23 July 1940 as Empire Oil, completed in November 1940 and transferred to the RFA as Darkdale. She was sunk during the Second World War on 22 October 1941 by the German submarine U-68. Her wreck in James Bay off Jamestown, Saint Helena continued to leak oil, posing a potential environmental threat to the coastal waters of Saint Helena, until Ministry of Defence divers drained the ship's tanks in 2015.
Description
Empire Oil was 468 feet 0 inches (142.65 m) long, with a beam of 56 feet 3 inches (17.15 m). She had a depth of 39 feet 8 inches (12.09 m), and a draught of 33 feet 3 inches (10.13 m). She was assessed at 8,145 GRT, 4,743 NRT. The ship was powered by a four-stroke single cycle single acting diesel engine which had six cylinders of 291⁄8 inches diameter by 591⁄16 inches stroke. The engine was built by J G Kincaid & Co Ltd, Greenock, Renfrewshire. As RFA Darkdale, her armament comprised a 4.7-inch gun, a 12-pounder gun, two "pig trough" rocket launchers, two Hotchkiss machine guns, two Marlin machine guns and two Lewis guns with parachute and cable rockets.
History
Empire Oil was built by Blythswood Shipbuilding Company of Scotstoun, Glasgow. She was laid down in October 1939, launched on 23 July 1940, completed in November 1940.
The public source identifies “RFA Darkdale” as dale-class replenishment oiler for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Darkdale, dale-class and replenishment.
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This entry incorporates text from “RFA Darkdale” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.