 |
(Source: Royal Fleet Auxiliary by Captain E. E. Sigwart.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary by Tony James) |
From the reign of Henry V111 and the subsequent expansion in size of Britain’s Royal Navy there has been a requirement for a Merchant Fleet, which sailed not only in support of the Royal Navy but also Britain’s many famous explorers. From early Tudor times, the ships, often Spanish and French prizes or obsolete RN tonnage accompanied Admirals such as Frobisher and Drake and explorers like Anson carrying livestock, canvas, wood and lesser fleet requirements. The ships, manned by merchant seamen were referred to as ‘Pinks’, the meaning of which escapes me, any enlightenment would be greatly appreciated. Without these ships blockades maintained during the Seven Year War, the War of American Independence and Hawkes siege at Brest culminating in his famous victory at Quiberon Bay could not have been carried out. Again, Nelsons subsequent victories in the Mediterranean forty years later required the constant replenishment by the forerunner of the RFA.
BERWICK.
Seen here at Sydney with Supply
Built: the Thames in 1781 as an East Country ship.
Tonnage: 512grt.
Armament: 6 Guns.
Burnt to the waterline when loading cargo she was purchased by the Admiralty in 1781 and rebuilt as a store ship. She underwent a name change to Sirius in 1786 and her first voyage was to the Australian settlement accompanied by Supply, six transports and three Victuallers, they arrived in Botany Bay on the 20th of January 1788. She made a voyage to the Cape 1788-89 for stores and returned to Sydney on the 8th of May 1789. She was wrecked off Norfolk Island on the 15th of March 1790.
As sail eventually gave way to steam not only in the Royal Navy but that of the Merchant Service also and because of the size of Britain’s Empire strategically located coaling stations became a necessity. For instance a voyage out to the Far East would or could involve the possible coaling at Gibraltar, Malta, Port Said, Aden and Ceylon. Nevertheless there still remained the requirement for the supply of coal at sea and the Admiralty used Colliers for that purpose, below one can see how laborious an operation that must have been.
Orders and Handford S.S. Company’s Muriel is shown bunkering HMS Trafalgar.
A circular letter sent to all parties involved started in motion what was eventually to become the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1905.
| CIRCULAR LETTER |
| No. 9. |
| 3487 |
| T |
| 1905 |
ADMIRALTY S.W.
3rd August 1905
3rd August 1905
My Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty have decided that the title “H.M.S.” shall in future be strictly confined to commissioned ships flying the white ensign and shall never be applied to fleet auxiliaries which are manned with mercantile crews, whether they are owned by the Admiralty or taken up on Transport charter.
My Lords are pleased therefore to direct that auxiliaries which belong to the Admiralty shall in future be styled “Royal Fleet Auxiliaries,” and that those which are taken up on Transport charter shall be styled “Mercantile Fleet Auxiliaries.”
The special character of any of these ships should be denoted after the name, and whenever brevity is desired the initials “R.F.A.” or “M.F.A.” for the two classes respectively should be used. Thus the “Maine” should be styled R.F.A. “Maine,” Hospital Ship, and the “Sirdar,” M.F.A. “Sirdar,” Collier Transport.
By Command of their Lordships
Ewan MacGregor.
My Lords are pleased therefore to direct that auxiliaries which belong to the Admiralty shall in future be styled “Royal Fleet Auxiliaries,” and that those which are taken up on Transport charter shall be styled “Mercantile Fleet Auxiliaries.”
The special character of any of these ships should be denoted after the name, and whenever brevity is desired the initials “R.F.A.” or “M.F.A.” for the two classes respectively should be used. Thus the “Maine” should be styled R.F.A. “Maine,” Hospital Ship, and the “Sirdar,” M.F.A. “Sirdar,” Collier Transport.
By Command of their Lordships
Ewan MacGregor.
To all Commander in Chief.
Captains, Commodores, and
Commanding Officers of
H.M. Ships and Vessels.
Captains, Commodores, and
Commanding Officers of
H.M. Ships and Vessels.
RFA. MAINE.
©unknown
Built: 1887 by William Gray & Co. Ltd.
Tonnage: 2,816grt.
Engine: Single screw, Triple expansion by Central Marine E.W., 11 Knots.
Built for the American Atlantic Transport Company she was presented by their President to the British Army without cost in 1901. She was transferred to RFA in 1905 and she served in Africa during the Boer War and in China during the Boxer Revolution. Finally wrecked off the Isle of Mull in 1914 without loss off life.
The Admiralty decided in 1911 that their was a need for a permanent Service manned by Merchant Seamen to work alongside their Royal counterparts and so by Order in Council on the 22nd of March the Royal Fleet Auxiliary was formed as a recognised entity in its own right.
As one can see from the artist’s impression above of Muriel and H.M.S. Trafalgar bunkering coal when anchored was not a viable option especially in the event of war that would render both ships vulnerable to attack. Bunkering when underway was never even considered and so the Admiralty commenced on a protracted series of refits to change H.M.’s ships to oil burners, fortunately for Great Britain much of the work had been completed when war broke out in 1914 with Germany and her Allies. From 1911 through to 1918 the Admiralty built forty-five specially designed fleet tankers, it purchased a further nineteen already under construction for civilian companies and acquired a further six as viable entities.
As early as 1900 ships built for the Royal Navy were oil burners and it had purchased its first feet tanker Kharki in that year, though Burma not built until 1911 was the first tanker specifically designed for the refuelling of Battleships whilst being towed or used as a bunker barge when in harbour. Petroleum acquired in 1906 and built at Swan Hunters was also another tanker who’s pumping arrangement allowed for her to be towed by a Battleship whilst transferring bunkers.
H.M.S. MARS OR HANNIBAL BUNKERING FROM PETROLEUM USING THE STIRRUP METHOD.
©unknown
Between 1918 and 1922 another twenty were acquired including a Hospital Ship and a couple of store ships, these formed the nucleus of the RFA until the early thirties when the Admiralty embarked on a modernisation programme. Those vessels surplus to requirements were either laid up or placed under tanker company management. From the early thirties the responsibility of building up the sea and shore staff involved in storing and running the ships came under the Naval Store Department and it was during this period that the RFA became what might be called a fully operational subsidiary of the Royal Navy and ultimately owned by the Ministry of Defence. The Officer in overall command in the thirties was the Fourth Sea Lord more commonly referred to as the Chief of Fleet Support who in turn delegated the responsibility to the Director General of Supplies and Transport, a senior civil servant. However yet again the authority was handed down to the Director of Fuel, Movements and Transport and it was to this Officer that the actual running of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ultimately fell.
R.F.A. BOXAL REFUELLING FOUR DESROYERS OF THE 3RD DESTROYER FLOTILLA AT MARSAMOSCETTO, MALTA BETWEEN THE WARS.
The Navel Store Department
This department can be dated back to either 1514 when seaman and ship owner John Hopton, Gentleman Usher of the Chamber to King Henry V111 was appointed Keeper of the Kings new storehouses at Erith and Deptford or to the appointment of Richard Howlett as Clerk of Stores in 1542. Both appointments were part of Henry’s administrative organisation and were later to become known as the Navy Board. These early officials were responsible for the storing and supply of Henry’s Navy, whatever port it happened to be alongside in, usually Chatham, Deptford, Plymouth or Portsmouth and by 1567 those responsible became known as Clerk and Keeper of the Stores. Eventually the responsibility passed to the Department of Surveyor of the Navy and its Principal Officer was in charge of all material aspects including ship building and repairs, dockyard administration, purchase and distribution of stores and their eventual replacement. The situation remained until 1796 when a specific department known as the Office for Stores and Slops was set up within the Navy Board, this was the forerunner of the modern Naval Store Department with Slops (ready made clothing) transferring to the Victualling Department in 1827. Thus the Store Department responsibility extended to the storing/fuelling of not only the Royal Navy but that of the RFA and since 1911 it has also been responsible for the engagement of RFA crews, agency work and the procurement and refit of its fleet though during the first world war management was often delegated to commercial companies. In 1889 the office of Director of Stores was established and its first appointee was a Mr. W.C.P. Gilbert, previously the officers in charge had been known as Superintendents of Stores.
RFA. INDUSTRY
Captain E.E. Sigwart.
Built: 1901 by William Beardmore & Co. Ltd of Glasgow.
Tonnage: 800grt.
Engine: Single screw, Triple expansion by builder, 10 Knots.
Launched on the 7th of June as a Store Carrier, RFA’s first.
She was manned by a ‘Yard Craft’ crew until 1914 and was then manned by the RFA. She was in collision with the Dutch ship Zeeland off the Wold lightship on the 5th of August 1915. When being escorted by the armed trawler Persian Empire she was torpedoed on the 18th of October 1918 with a loss of four of her crew but managed to limp into port. She was sold on in 1919.
The Armament Supply Department.
This particular department can be traced back to the Kings Clerks who looked after the Kings ships during the reign of King John, though the first mention of the Ordnance Branch for the Navy was when Henry V111 constituted the Navy Board by letters patent in 1546. This Navy Board though independent and subordinate to the Lord High Admiral dealt with the civil administration until 1832. The Ordnance Stores Service transferred its care of the guns of the Fleet in the early years of the seventeenth century from the Surveyor of Ships and Master of Ordnance to the Honourable Board of Ordnance which had evolved from the Kings Artillery and Fortifications, this department came under the control of the Military in general. This arrangement was in existence for three hundred years, during which time the Navy made many representations as to its desirability declaring on numerous occasions as to the sloth and incapacity of those in charge. During the Crimean Campaign the letters patent for the Board of Ordnance were revoked in favour of the Secretary of State for War and in 1866 the Navy gained some ground when a Naval Officer was appointed the Director of Naval Ordnance at the Admiralty.
However the Navy was still under the control of the Army inasmuch as the provision for all Naval war-like Stores were still made within Army estimates and were bought by the War Office and were considered as one common stock. Bizarrely at some depots Naval ordnance came under the control of Army Officers though some came under Gunners RN or Naval Store Officers, all stores to whomever they belonged were known as War Office Stores.
The separation of Stores did not occur until 1888 and even then the resulting controlling body was in a state of flux, it wasn’t until the appointment of Captain J.A. Fisher (later Lord Fisher) in his role as Director of Naval Ordnance when he urged for the formation of a separate Ordnance Store Department that matters began to resolve themselves.
Admiral John 'Jackie' Fisher
Under extreme pressure the Government appointed a committee to investigate the maintenance and distribution of its Navy’s Ordnance and taking into account its deliberations separated its two services Ordnance Stores on the 16th of December 1890. Officially the Naval Ordnance Store gained its independence from the Army and War Office on the 1st of October 1891.
A number of Army Ordnance Officers transferred with the stores and thereafter served under the Admiralty. One of their number, Colonel Pease, later Sir Thales Pease became the first Storekeeper General of Naval Ordnance and its first civilian assistant was Mr David Evans who later became Director of Stores. A succession of Naval Officers followed until 1937 when its first civilian head was appointed, a Mr R.W. Wharhurst, by now his title was Chief Superintendent of Armament Supply and changed yet again in 1939 to Director of Armament Supply.
The Victualling Department.
Agents attached to the Royal Household initially supplied food to the British Navy but when Henry V111 set up the Navy Board in 1546 one of its remits was to look into the supply of food to its ships, subsequently in 1550 a Naval Victualling Department was created. Due to various Surveyors becoming financially embarrassed during the Hundred Year War, Commissioners holding office at Tower Hill, London had on more than one occasion have to jump into the breach so to speak and feed the fleet.
In 1650 the victualling was again sub contracted out when a certain Colonel Pride acting as an agent along with five partners took over from the Surveyor but four years later the responsibility reverted once more to the Navy Commissioners who had offices in Seething Lane, London. On the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the victualling was again put out to tender and this time it was Samuel Pepys who took over and carried the rank of Surveyor General of Victualling, it was said at the time that he much improved the sailors lot.
Samuel Pepys 1633-1703
Pepys successors re-established the Victualling Department under Commissioners in1683 and with few minor alterations it continued as such until 1832. It was in this year that control of the Department passed to the Board of Admiralty who in turn appointed an Officer who carried the grandiose title of Comptroller of Victualling and Transport Services, he in turn increased his remit and by 1844 clothing also came under his control.
In 1862 the Comptroller lost control over the Transport section and in 1869 his own post disappeared when the responsibility for the various sections involved were redistributed. A new department was then created called Contract and Purchase and the responsibility for the financial aspects fell to the Accountant General of the Navy. A new Superintendent of Victualling was appointed to oversee the running of the victualling Stores; his title was later changed to that of Director of Victualling and remains as such.
The then Empire dictated that the Navy’s stores were spread worldwide with main points of distribution situated at Deptford, Gosport, Plymouth, Sheerness, Milor, Brixham, Cork, Cape of Good Hope, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon, Alexandria, Trinidad, Freetown, Aden, Persian Gulf, Bombay, Simonstown, Malta, Stadden Point, Fernando Po, Ascension, Sydney, Bermuda, Halifax (Canada) and Jamaica, some of those mentioned were only activated during the Second World War and most have since been handed back to the Countries and States involved The four main points of distribution within the UK were Royal Victoria Yard at Deptford. Royal Clarence Yard at Gosport, Royal William Yard at Plymouth and the Royal Alexandra Yard at Hawlbowline, after the Second World War the Royal Elizabeth Yard at South Queensferry joined them. Hawlbowline in Southern Ireland was handed over to the Irish Free State at its inception in the twenties. The Royal Yard at Deptford was to close during the sixties to make way for housing for the poor of London.
The Operational running of the RFA.
The Director of Fuel, Movements and Transport is responsible for the day to day running of the RFA which is comparable in size to that of any other major company whether it be maritime or land based. Their sea staffs are men of the Merchant Navy and sign Board Of Trade agreements in its Shipping Offices; its Superintendents are drawn from its own workforce whether they are Deck or Engine. During the late sixties it employed approximately 3,200 men and ran thirty-seven ships, its Officers and men work extremely closely alongside their Royal Navy colleagues. Its first Commodore was Captain S.G. Kent and his pennant was hoisted at Rosyth on the 7th of October 1951 on RFA Fort Dunvegan in the presence of Admiral Sir Phillip Vian, and at his command by order of their Lordships.
RFA. FORT DUNVEGAN.
Captain E.E. Sigwart
Built: 1944 by Burrard Drydock Co. Ltd., Vancouver, Canada.
Tonnage: 7,225grt.
Engine: Single screw, Triple expansion by Allis-Chalmers of Canada, 10.5 Knots.
Completed as a VSIS and managed by the Ellerman Bucknall Line. After the War she was laid up in reserve until being taken up by the RFA in 1951 and renamed Fort Dunvegan becoming a Store Carrier. Took part in the Review at Spithead in 1953 and flew the Commodores Flag, Captain S.G. Kent. From that time until 1960 she served on the UK-Malta run before being transferred to the Far East Station. During this time she underwent conversion, first to a Air SIS and then in July of 1961 at Hong Kong to an NS/VSIS. Scrapped at Kaohsiung in 1968.
The first Commodore Engineer Officer was appointed shortly afterwards and he was Mr D. Leathly. Commodore W. Gregory R.N.R., was appointed its first Technical Adviser, later to be known as Marine Superintendent in about 1920 and Mr J. Brown was appointed Engineer Superintendent a few years later. During times of War or any other extenuating circumstances when the RFA couldn’t provide the tonnage required the Admiralty would charter ships in, these ships had the prefix MFA, or Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary, as time has gone on for whatever argument one wishes to adopt this is no longer the case. Until the end of the Second World War RFA ships were stationed all over the world and were more commonly referred to as station ships, manned by RFA Officers, the crew and Petty Officers were drawn from indigenous people from that station. This situation no longer exists, as fixed Naval Bases are vulnerable. With the dissolution of Empire so to the number of overseas bases diminished leaving the Navy and RFA to perfect ways to replenish ships at sea and draw on experience previously gained in pre war years.
Fuelling at Sea.
Early experiments to fuel ships at sea began as early as 1906 and carried on until 1937, the earlier picture of Muriel and Trafalgar attempting to coal using no more than fixed derricks and a sling appear to be typical, I’d be surprised if that method managed to keep up with the demands of boilers at anchor let alone when under way. The First World War presented few problems as most of the action undertaken took place in home waters or close to overseas bases and for a greater part of the War the German and their Allies Fleets remained firmly ensconced in their respective home ports. However as the possibility of another war with Germany loomed greater importance was attached to the problem and more serious experiments were undertaken from 1937. A previous photograph shows the stirrup method in use, in practice a wire was passed between the two ships in line ahead with both ships having to keep station, the only allowance being a manila spring attached to the receiving ship, the bronze hose was then fed down the wire. During experiments in 1906 a total of between 37 to 57 tons an hour was achieved using a five-inch hose, four years later this was raised to 140 tons though in attaining this figure the hose pressure had been raised to 200lbs per square inch, unfortunately this resulted in many burst pipes with subsequent pollution, not high on anybody’s agenda in those days I admit.
In 1924 an advance in fuelling was reached or so they thought when the wire was passed through the hose, this enabled the oil to pass through a more or less straight hose and using a five inch diameter pipe 100 tons an hour was reached at pressures varying between 100 to 150 lbs per sq inch. The downsides was that when a leak occurred not only did the defective length of hose have to be replaced but also the wire had to be fed through it all over again, the scheme was abandoned and the fleet and auxiliaries returned once more to the stirrup method.
A new system was devised in 1937 called the trough method where the ships sailed abeam of each other and held together by double eight inch manila springs, the interaction of the sea between the two ships now became extremely important.
RFA. BROWN RANGER
BROWN RANGER AND DESTROYER OF FORCE ‘R’, OPERATION TORCH.
Captain E.E. Sigwart.
Built: 1940 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast.
Tonnage: 3,417grt.
Engine: Single screw, by builder Burmeister & Wain 6 Cylinder, 14 Knots.
Fuel supplies, 2,600 tons fuel oil, 550 tons diesel and 90 tons petrol, own bunkers 300 tons allowed for twenty-one days at 14 Knots. Sisters Black Ranger & Blue Ranger. Scrapped in 1975.
A three and a half inch hose by way of a steel trough suspended from a derrick in the waist of the tanker and passed in a centenary to the warship. The method was also used when larger warships refuelled smaller destroyers and corvettes. During the war both methods were used simultaneously with ships abeam using the trough system and a ship astern using the stirrup system.
Go to Page Two
©unknown
Built: 1887 by William Gray & Co. Ltd.
Tonnage: 2,816grt.
Engine: Single screw, Triple expansion by Central Marine E.W., 11 Knots.
Built for the American Atlantic Transport Company she was presented by their President to the British Army without cost in 1901. She was transferred to RFA in 1905 and she served in Africa during the Boer War and in China during the Boxer Revolution. Finally wrecked off the Isle of Mull in 1914 without loss off life.
The Admiralty decided in 1911 that their was a need for a permanent Service manned by Merchant Seamen to work alongside their Royal counterparts and so by Order in Council on the 22nd of March the Royal Fleet Auxiliary was formed as a recognised entity in its own right.
As one can see from the artist’s impression above of Muriel and H.M.S. Trafalgar bunkering coal when anchored was not a viable option especially in the event of war that would render both ships vulnerable to attack. Bunkering when underway was never even considered and so the Admiralty commenced on a protracted series of refits to change H.M.’s ships to oil burners, fortunately for Great Britain much of the work had been completed when war broke out in 1914 with Germany and her Allies. From 1911 through to 1918 the Admiralty built forty-five specially designed fleet tankers, it purchased a further nineteen already under construction for civilian companies and acquired a further six as viable entities.
As early as 1900 ships built for the Royal Navy were oil burners and it had purchased its first feet tanker Kharki in that year, though Burma not built until 1911 was the first tanker specifically designed for the refuelling of Battleships whilst being towed or used as a bunker barge when in harbour. Petroleum acquired in 1906 and built at Swan Hunters was also another tanker who’s pumping arrangement allowed for her to be towed by a Battleship whilst transferring bunkers.
H.M.S. MARS OR HANNIBAL BUNKERING FROM PETROLEUM USING THE STIRRUP METHOD.
©unknown
Between 1918 and 1922 another twenty were acquired including a Hospital Ship and a couple of store ships, these formed the nucleus of the RFA until the early thirties when the Admiralty embarked on a modernisation programme. Those vessels surplus to requirements were either laid up or placed under tanker company management. From the early thirties the responsibility of building up the sea and shore staff involved in storing and running the ships came under the Naval Store Department and it was during this period that the RFA became what might be called a fully operational subsidiary of the Royal Navy and ultimately owned by the Ministry of Defence. The Officer in overall command in the thirties was the Fourth Sea Lord more commonly referred to as the Chief of Fleet Support who in turn delegated the responsibility to the Director General of Supplies and Transport, a senior civil servant. However yet again the authority was handed down to the Director of Fuel, Movements and Transport and it was to this Officer that the actual running of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ultimately fell.
R.F.A. BOXAL REFUELLING FOUR DESROYERS OF THE 3RD DESTROYER FLOTILLA AT MARSAMOSCETTO, MALTA BETWEEN THE WARS.
The Navel Store Department
This department can be dated back to either 1514 when seaman and ship owner John Hopton, Gentleman Usher of the Chamber to King Henry V111 was appointed Keeper of the Kings new storehouses at Erith and Deptford or to the appointment of Richard Howlett as Clerk of Stores in 1542. Both appointments were part of Henry’s administrative organisation and were later to become known as the Navy Board. These early officials were responsible for the storing and supply of Henry’s Navy, whatever port it happened to be alongside in, usually Chatham, Deptford, Plymouth or Portsmouth and by 1567 those responsible became known as Clerk and Keeper of the Stores. Eventually the responsibility passed to the Department of Surveyor of the Navy and its Principal Officer was in charge of all material aspects including ship building and repairs, dockyard administration, purchase and distribution of stores and their eventual replacement. The situation remained until 1796 when a specific department known as the Office for Stores and Slops was set up within the Navy Board, this was the forerunner of the modern Naval Store Department with Slops (ready made clothing) transferring to the Victualling Department in 1827. Thus the Store Department responsibility extended to the storing/fuelling of not only the Royal Navy but that of the RFA and since 1911 it has also been responsible for the engagement of RFA crews, agency work and the procurement and refit of its fleet though during the first world war management was often delegated to commercial companies. In 1889 the office of Director of Stores was established and its first appointee was a Mr. W.C.P. Gilbert, previously the officers in charge had been known as Superintendents of Stores.
RFA. INDUSTRY
Captain E.E. Sigwart.
Built: 1901 by William Beardmore & Co. Ltd of Glasgow.
Tonnage: 800grt.
Engine: Single screw, Triple expansion by builder, 10 Knots.
Launched on the 7th of June as a Store Carrier, RFA’s first.
She was manned by a ‘Yard Craft’ crew until 1914 and was then manned by the RFA. She was in collision with the Dutch ship Zeeland off the Wold lightship on the 5th of August 1915. When being escorted by the armed trawler Persian Empire she was torpedoed on the 18th of October 1918 with a loss of four of her crew but managed to limp into port. She was sold on in 1919.
The Armament Supply Department.
This particular department can be traced back to the Kings Clerks who looked after the Kings ships during the reign of King John, though the first mention of the Ordnance Branch for the Navy was when Henry V111 constituted the Navy Board by letters patent in 1546. This Navy Board though independent and subordinate to the Lord High Admiral dealt with the civil administration until 1832. The Ordnance Stores Service transferred its care of the guns of the Fleet in the early years of the seventeenth century from the Surveyor of Ships and Master of Ordnance to the Honourable Board of Ordnance which had evolved from the Kings Artillery and Fortifications, this department came under the control of the Military in general. This arrangement was in existence for three hundred years, during which time the Navy made many representations as to its desirability declaring on numerous occasions as to the sloth and incapacity of those in charge. During the Crimean Campaign the letters patent for the Board of Ordnance were revoked in favour of the Secretary of State for War and in 1866 the Navy gained some ground when a Naval Officer was appointed the Director of Naval Ordnance at the Admiralty.
However the Navy was still under the control of the Army inasmuch as the provision for all Naval war-like Stores were still made within Army estimates and were bought by the War Office and were considered as one common stock. Bizarrely at some depots Naval ordnance came under the control of Army Officers though some came under Gunners RN or Naval Store Officers, all stores to whomever they belonged were known as War Office Stores.
The separation of Stores did not occur until 1888 and even then the resulting controlling body was in a state of flux, it wasn’t until the appointment of Captain J.A. Fisher (later Lord Fisher) in his role as Director of Naval Ordnance when he urged for the formation of a separate Ordnance Store Department that matters began to resolve themselves.
Admiral John 'Jackie' Fisher
Under extreme pressure the Government appointed a committee to investigate the maintenance and distribution of its Navy’s Ordnance and taking into account its deliberations separated its two services Ordnance Stores on the 16th of December 1890. Officially the Naval Ordnance Store gained its independence from the Army and War Office on the 1st of October 1891.
A number of Army Ordnance Officers transferred with the stores and thereafter served under the Admiralty. One of their number, Colonel Pease, later Sir Thales Pease became the first Storekeeper General of Naval Ordnance and its first civilian assistant was Mr David Evans who later became Director of Stores. A succession of Naval Officers followed until 1937 when its first civilian head was appointed, a Mr R.W. Wharhurst, by now his title was Chief Superintendent of Armament Supply and changed yet again in 1939 to Director of Armament Supply.
The Victualling Department.
Agents attached to the Royal Household initially supplied food to the British Navy but when Henry V111 set up the Navy Board in 1546 one of its remits was to look into the supply of food to its ships, subsequently in 1550 a Naval Victualling Department was created. Due to various Surveyors becoming financially embarrassed during the Hundred Year War, Commissioners holding office at Tower Hill, London had on more than one occasion have to jump into the breach so to speak and feed the fleet.
In 1650 the victualling was again sub contracted out when a certain Colonel Pride acting as an agent along with five partners took over from the Surveyor but four years later the responsibility reverted once more to the Navy Commissioners who had offices in Seething Lane, London. On the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 the victualling was again put out to tender and this time it was Samuel Pepys who took over and carried the rank of Surveyor General of Victualling, it was said at the time that he much improved the sailors lot.
Samuel Pepys 1633-1703
Pepys successors re-established the Victualling Department under Commissioners in1683 and with few minor alterations it continued as such until 1832. It was in this year that control of the Department passed to the Board of Admiralty who in turn appointed an Officer who carried the grandiose title of Comptroller of Victualling and Transport Services, he in turn increased his remit and by 1844 clothing also came under his control.
In 1862 the Comptroller lost control over the Transport section and in 1869 his own post disappeared when the responsibility for the various sections involved were redistributed. A new department was then created called Contract and Purchase and the responsibility for the financial aspects fell to the Accountant General of the Navy. A new Superintendent of Victualling was appointed to oversee the running of the victualling Stores; his title was later changed to that of Director of Victualling and remains as such.
The then Empire dictated that the Navy’s stores were spread worldwide with main points of distribution situated at Deptford, Gosport, Plymouth, Sheerness, Milor, Brixham, Cork, Cape of Good Hope, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Singapore, Ceylon, Alexandria, Trinidad, Freetown, Aden, Persian Gulf, Bombay, Simonstown, Malta, Stadden Point, Fernando Po, Ascension, Sydney, Bermuda, Halifax (Canada) and Jamaica, some of those mentioned were only activated during the Second World War and most have since been handed back to the Countries and States involved The four main points of distribution within the UK were Royal Victoria Yard at Deptford. Royal Clarence Yard at Gosport, Royal William Yard at Plymouth and the Royal Alexandra Yard at Hawlbowline, after the Second World War the Royal Elizabeth Yard at South Queensferry joined them. Hawlbowline in Southern Ireland was handed over to the Irish Free State at its inception in the twenties. The Royal Yard at Deptford was to close during the sixties to make way for housing for the poor of London.
The Operational running of the RFA.
The Director of Fuel, Movements and Transport is responsible for the day to day running of the RFA which is comparable in size to that of any other major company whether it be maritime or land based. Their sea staffs are men of the Merchant Navy and sign Board Of Trade agreements in its Shipping Offices; its Superintendents are drawn from its own workforce whether they are Deck or Engine. During the late sixties it employed approximately 3,200 men and ran thirty-seven ships, its Officers and men work extremely closely alongside their Royal Navy colleagues. Its first Commodore was Captain S.G. Kent and his pennant was hoisted at Rosyth on the 7th of October 1951 on RFA Fort Dunvegan in the presence of Admiral Sir Phillip Vian, and at his command by order of their Lordships.
RFA. FORT DUNVEGAN.
Captain E.E. Sigwart
Built: 1944 by Burrard Drydock Co. Ltd., Vancouver, Canada.
Tonnage: 7,225grt.
Engine: Single screw, Triple expansion by Allis-Chalmers of Canada, 10.5 Knots.
Completed as a VSIS and managed by the Ellerman Bucknall Line. After the War she was laid up in reserve until being taken up by the RFA in 1951 and renamed Fort Dunvegan becoming a Store Carrier. Took part in the Review at Spithead in 1953 and flew the Commodores Flag, Captain S.G. Kent. From that time until 1960 she served on the UK-Malta run before being transferred to the Far East Station. During this time she underwent conversion, first to a Air SIS and then in July of 1961 at Hong Kong to an NS/VSIS. Scrapped at Kaohsiung in 1968.
The first Commodore Engineer Officer was appointed shortly afterwards and he was Mr D. Leathly. Commodore W. Gregory R.N.R., was appointed its first Technical Adviser, later to be known as Marine Superintendent in about 1920 and Mr J. Brown was appointed Engineer Superintendent a few years later. During times of War or any other extenuating circumstances when the RFA couldn’t provide the tonnage required the Admiralty would charter ships in, these ships had the prefix MFA, or Mercantile Fleet Auxiliary, as time has gone on for whatever argument one wishes to adopt this is no longer the case. Until the end of the Second World War RFA ships were stationed all over the world and were more commonly referred to as station ships, manned by RFA Officers, the crew and Petty Officers were drawn from indigenous people from that station. This situation no longer exists, as fixed Naval Bases are vulnerable. With the dissolution of Empire so to the number of overseas bases diminished leaving the Navy and RFA to perfect ways to replenish ships at sea and draw on experience previously gained in pre war years.
Fuelling at Sea.
Early experiments to fuel ships at sea began as early as 1906 and carried on until 1937, the earlier picture of Muriel and Trafalgar attempting to coal using no more than fixed derricks and a sling appear to be typical, I’d be surprised if that method managed to keep up with the demands of boilers at anchor let alone when under way. The First World War presented few problems as most of the action undertaken took place in home waters or close to overseas bases and for a greater part of the War the German and their Allies Fleets remained firmly ensconced in their respective home ports. However as the possibility of another war with Germany loomed greater importance was attached to the problem and more serious experiments were undertaken from 1937. A previous photograph shows the stirrup method in use, in practice a wire was passed between the two ships in line ahead with both ships having to keep station, the only allowance being a manila spring attached to the receiving ship, the bronze hose was then fed down the wire. During experiments in 1906 a total of between 37 to 57 tons an hour was achieved using a five-inch hose, four years later this was raised to 140 tons though in attaining this figure the hose pressure had been raised to 200lbs per square inch, unfortunately this resulted in many burst pipes with subsequent pollution, not high on anybody’s agenda in those days I admit.
In 1924 an advance in fuelling was reached or so they thought when the wire was passed through the hose, this enabled the oil to pass through a more or less straight hose and using a five inch diameter pipe 100 tons an hour was reached at pressures varying between 100 to 150 lbs per sq inch. The downsides was that when a leak occurred not only did the defective length of hose have to be replaced but also the wire had to be fed through it all over again, the scheme was abandoned and the fleet and auxiliaries returned once more to the stirrup method.
A new system was devised in 1937 called the trough method where the ships sailed abeam of each other and held together by double eight inch manila springs, the interaction of the sea between the two ships now became extremely important.
RFA. BROWN RANGER
BROWN RANGER AND DESTROYER OF FORCE ‘R’, OPERATION TORCH.
Captain E.E. Sigwart.
Built: 1940 by Harland & Wolff, Belfast.
Tonnage: 3,417grt.
Engine: Single screw, by builder Burmeister & Wain 6 Cylinder, 14 Knots.
Fuel supplies, 2,600 tons fuel oil, 550 tons diesel and 90 tons petrol, own bunkers 300 tons allowed for twenty-one days at 14 Knots. Sisters Black Ranger & Blue Ranger. Scrapped in 1975.
A three and a half inch hose by way of a steel trough suspended from a derrick in the waist of the tanker and passed in a centenary to the warship. The method was also used when larger warships refuelled smaller destroyers and corvettes. During the war both methods were used simultaneously with ships abeam using the trough system and a ship astern using the stirrup system.
Go to Page Two