RFA Grey Rover
ship built in 1970
RFA Grey Rover (A269) was a Rover-class small fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). She was decommissioned in 2006.
Launch and commissioning
Grey Rover was launched at the Swan Hunter yard, Hebburn on Tyne, on 17 April 1969. The Lady Sponsor was Lady Parker, the wife of Vice Admiral Sir John Parker who was Flag Officer Medway. She was completed on 10 April 1970 and accepted into service three months later than planned.
Operational history
1970–1980
In September 1970, Grey Rover took over from RFA Black Ranger as Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) tanker.
In July 1973, she was involved in a collision with the Canadian submarine HMCS Okanagan resulting in the need to dry dock in Govan for repairs.
Between 17 June and 22 June 1976 she stood off the Lebanon to evacuate British nationals along with RFA Stromness and the frigates HMS Exmouth and HMS Mermaid.
1981–1990
During Operation Corporate (the Falklands War), Grey Rover was the only operational RFA tanker which remained in UK waters. She carried out replenishment at sea (RAS) trials with STUFT ships en route to the Falkland Islands in the southwest approaches to the English Channel whilst herself was based at Portland.
The public source identifies “RFA Grey Rover” as ship built in 1970. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Grey, Rover and ship.
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This entry incorporates text from “RFA Grey Rover” 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.