View source for Dale-class oiler

{{Short description|Class of replenishment oilers for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary}}
{{For|the Dale class tankers chartered in 1967|Dale-class tanker}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=December 2017}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin |sclass=2}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=RFA Abbeydale.jpg
|Ship image size=300px
|Ship caption={{ship|RFA|Abbeydale|A109|6}} underway in 1952
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=Dale class
|Builders=*[[Swan Hunter|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd]]
*Blythwood Shipbuilding Company Ltd
*[[Cammell Laird]]
*[[Furness Shipbuilding Company]]
*[[Harland and Wolff]], [[Govan]]
*[[Hawthorn Leslie and Company]]
*[[Lithgows]]
|Operators=[[File:British-Royal-Fleet-Auxiliary-Ensign.svg|23px|RFA Ensign]] [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]]
|Class before={{sclass2|Ol|tanker (1936)|4}}
|Class after={{sclass2|Sprite|tanker|4}}
|Subclasses=3
|Cost=
|Built range=1936&ndash;1941
|In service range=
|In commission range=1937&ndash;1969
|Total ships building=
|Total ships planned=
|Total ships completed=18
|Total ships cancelled=
|Total ships active=
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=5
|Total ships retired=13
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Header caption=: First group
|Ship type=[[Replenishment oiler]]
|Ship displacement=*''Abbeydale'' and ''Arndale'': {{convert|17210|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
*''Aldersdale'': {{convert|17231|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
*''Bishopdale'': {{convert|17357|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
*''Boardale'' and ''Broomdale'': {{convert|17388|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} 
|Ship length=*''Abbeydale'', ''Arndale'' and ''Bishopdale'': {{convert|481|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*''Aldersdale'': {{convert|482|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*''Boardale'' and ''Broomdale'': {{convert|483|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam=*''Abbeydale'', ''Arndale'' and ''Aldersdale'': {{convert|62|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*''Bishopdale'': {{convert|61|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*''Boardale'' and ''Broomdale'': {{convert|61|ft|8|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*''Abbeydale'' and ''Arndale'': Droxford Diesel Engines
*''Bishopdale'' and ''Broomdale'': Burmeister and Wain Engines
|Ship speed={{convert|11.5|kn|mph km/h}}
|Ship range=880 tons of fuel oil
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=
|Ship complement=40
|Ship capacity={{convert|11650|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=
|Ship aircraft=
|Ship aircraft facilities=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Header caption=: Second group
|Ship displacement={{convert|17000|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length={{convert|483|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|58|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=Burmeister & Wain 8-clylinder diesels with a single shaft
|Ship speed={{convert|13|kn|mph km/h}}
|Ship range=*1000 tons of fuel oil
*75 tons of lubricating oil
|Ship complement=40
|Ship capacity={{convert|12000|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Header caption=: Third group (as second group except:)
|Ship displacement={{convert|17210|LT|t|0|abbr=on}}
|Ship length=*''Darkdale'', ''Denbydale'', ''Derwentdale'', ''Dewdale'', ''Ennerdale'' and ''Echodale'': {{convert|483|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*''Dingledale'', ''Dinsdale'', ''Eaglesdale'' and ''Easedale'': {{convert|479|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam=*''Darkdale'', ''Denbydale'', ''Derwentdale'', ''Dewdale'', ''Ennerdale'' and ''Echodale'': {{convert|59|ft|4|in|m|abbr=on}}
*''Dingledale'', ''Dinsdale'', ''Eaglesdale'' and ''Easedale'': {{convert|61|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draught={{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*''Darkdale'', ''Denbydale'', ''Derwentdale'', ''Dewdale'', ''Dingledale'', ''Dinsdale'' and ''Echodale'': Burmeister & Wain eight-cylinder diesels with a single shaft
*''Eaglesdale'', ''Easedale'' and ''Ennerdale'': triple-expansion steam engines with one shaft
}}
|}

The '''Dale class''' were a class of [[replenishment oiler]]s taken up for service with the [[Royal Fleet Auxiliary]], supporting the [[Royal Navy]] during the inter-war period. They went on to see action during the [[Second World War]] and supported British and allied fleet units in [[Cold War]] conflicts such as the [[Korean War]].

==Class overview==
The ships were eventually acquired in three batches. The first consisted of the acquisition of six tankers under construction for the [[British Tanker Company]] in 1937.<ref name=Janes>{{cite book  |title=Jane's Fighting Ships|page=81}}</ref><ref name=daleclass>{{cite web |last=Olver|url=http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/RFA/dale2.htm|title=Dale Class Tankers (First Group) |accessdate=7 March 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20081012093539/http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/RFA/dale2.htm|archivedate=12 October 2008}}</ref> The tankers all had slightly different designs and dimensions, but had a deadweight capacity of 11,650 tons of fuel oil.<ref name=Janes/> These initial eight were supplemented with the purchase of two tankers under construction for [[Royal Dutch Shell]] in 1938. These two new tankers were slightly larger and faster than their earlier class members.<ref name=Janes/><ref name=daleclass/> With the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] looming the Ministry of War Transport had ordered a number of new tankers to the designs used by the Royal Dutch Shell. Of these, ten were taken over by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary while under construction, and were subsequently incorporated into their Dale class.<ref name=Janes/><ref name=daleclass/> There were plans to take over an eleventh ship, to be named RFA ''Eppingdale'', but this was not carried out and the vessel was retained by the Ministry of War Transport.<ref name=daleclass/> All of the ships were named after English [[Dale (part of place name)|dales]], and were identified with the suffix '-dale' in their names.

==Group I==
The first group of six ships were under construction at a variety of yards when they were bought. [[Swan Hunter|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd]] and [[Harland and Wolff]] built two each, while [[Cammell Laird|Cammell Laird and Co.]] and [[Lithgows]] each produced one.<ref name=Janes/> The ships saw active service during the war, in the Arctic, Atlantic and the Far East. {{ship|RFA|Aldersdale|X34|2}} was bombed and sunk while sailing as part of [[Convoy PQ 17]] in 1942, while {{ship|RFA|Boardale||2}} was wrecked during the [[Battles of Narvik|operations off Narvik]] in 1940.<ref name=daleclass/><ref name=Colledge49>{{cite book |last=Colledge |title=Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2 |page=49}}</ref> {{ship|RFA|Abbeydale|A109|2}} was torpedoed in the Mediterranean and broke in half, but was later repaired, {{ship|RFA|Bishopdale|A128|2}} was nearly destroyed by a [[kamikaze]] attack in the Pacific, and {{ship|RFA|Broomdale|A168|2}} was accidentally torpedoed by {{HMS|Severn|N57|6}} at [[Trincomalee]] in 1944.<ref name=daleclass/> Those ships that survived the war remained in service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, with most being disposed of in the early 1960s. The longest-lived was ''Bishopdale'', which despite being decommissioned in 1959, was not scrapped until 1970.<ref name=HRFAbishop>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicalrfa.org/index.php/rfa-bishopdale|title=RFA Bishopdale |accessdate=7 March 2009|publisher=Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society}}</ref>

==Group II==
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary made two further purchases the following year, when they acquired two tankers being built for Royal Dutch Shell at the yards of Harland and Wolff and the Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd. These were taken into service as {{ship|RFA|Cairndale|X36|2}} and {{ship|RFA|Cedardale|A380|2}}.<ref name=Janes/><ref name=daleclass2>{{cite web |last=Olver|url=http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/RFA/dale1.htm|title=Dale Class Tankers (Second and Third Groups)|accessdate=7 March 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090712122029/http://www.btinternet.com/~warship/Postwar/RFA/dale1.htm|archivedate=12 July 2009}}</ref> Entering service just prior to the outbreak of war, both ships went on to be heavily engaged. ''Cairndale'' made numerous voyages from Britain to the African coast before being torpedoed and sunk in the Eastern Atlantic in 1941 by the Italian submarine {{ship|Italian submarine|Guglielmo Marconi|1939|2}}.<ref name=HRFAC>{{cite web |url=http://www.historicalrfa.org/index.php/ships-starting-with-c|title=RFA ships starting with C |accessdate=7 March 2009|publisher=Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society}}</ref> ''Cedardale'' saw service in the Far East, and survived the war. She continued in service throughout the 1940s and 1950s, and was scrapped in 1960.<ref name=Colledge72>{{cite book |last=Colledge |title=Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2 |page=72}}</ref>

== Group III ==
The third group was the largest of the Dale class. Ten new oilers that had been ordered by the Ministry of War Transport were acquired by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to expand their capabilities.<ref name=Janes/><ref name=daleclass2/> The first were ready for service in January 1939, with the final ships being completed by mid-1942.<ref name=daleclass2/> As with their earlier sisters, all saw active service in a variety of theatres. [[U-boat]]s scored several kills among the third group, {{ship|RFA|Darkdale||2}} and {{ship|RFA|Dinsdale|X106|2}} were both torpedoed and sunk in 1941.<ref name=Colledge99>{{cite book |last=Colledge |title=Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2 |page=99}}</ref><ref name=Colledge104>{{cite book |last=Colledge |title=Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2 |page=104}}</ref> {{ship|RFA|Denbydale||2}} was badly damaged by Italian [[frogman|frogmen]] of the [[Decima Flottiglia MAS]] in harbour at [[Gibraltar]] in 1941, and was written off.<ref name=daleclass2/> She did however continue in service throughout the war as a fuel and accommodation hulk, and was finally towed back to Britain for scrapping in 1955.<ref name=daleclass2/><ref name=Colledge101>{{cite book |last=Colledge |title=Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2 |page=101}}</ref> Three of the ships, {{ship|RFA|Derwentdale|A114|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Dewdale|A151|2}} and {{ship|RFA|Ennerdale|A173|2}}, were completed as [[Amphibious warfare ship|Landing Ships (Gantry)]] and given light anti-aircraft armament. Now capable of deploying 250 troops aboard 15 [[Landing Craft Mechanized|LCMs]], they initially took part in [[Operation Torch]], and went on to see action at later allied amphibious landings in the Mediterranean and Pacific.<ref name=daleclass2/> All three survived the war, though ''Ennerdale '' was badly damaged by a magnetic mine in December 1945, and were converted back into oilers.<ref name=daleclass2/> The survivors all continued in service until their increasing obsolescence led to their retirement from service in the late 1950s, with most having scrapped by the early 1960s.<ref name=daleclass2/>

==Ships==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Name
!Pennant
!Builder
!Laid down
!Launched
!Completed
!Fate
|-
! colspan=7 | Group I
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Abbeydale|A109|2}}
|A109
|[[Swan Hunter|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd]]
|
|28 December 1936
|4 March 1937
|Scrapped in 1960
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Aldersdale|X34|2}}
|X34
|[[Cammell Laird|Cammell Laird and Co.]]
|September 1936
|7 July 1936
|17 September 1937
|Sunk on 7 July 1942
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Arndale|A133|2}}
|A133
|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd
|
|5 August 1937
|September 1937
|Scrapped in 1960
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Bishopdale|A128|2}}
|A128
|[[Lithgows]]
|
|31 March 1937
|
|Scrapped in 1970
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Boardale||2}}
|
|[[Harland and Wolff]]
|
|22 April 1937
|7 June 1937
|Wrecked on 30 April 1940
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Broomdale|A168|2}}
|A168
|Harland and Wolff
|
|2 September 1937
|3 November 1937
|Scrapped in 1960
|-
! colspan=7 | Group II
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Cairndale|X36|2}}
|X36
|Harland and Wolff
|
|25 October 1938
|26 January 1939
|Sunk on 30 May 1941
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Cedardale|A380|2}}
|A380
|Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd
|
|25 March 1939
|25 May 1939
|Scrapped in 1960
|-
! colspan=7 | Group III
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Darkdale||2}}
|
|Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd
|October 1939
|30 July 1940
|November 1940
|Sunk on 22 October 1941
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Denbydale||2}}
|
|Blythswood Shipbuilding Company Ltd
|26 December 1939
|19 October 1940
|30 January 1941
|Scrapped in 1955
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Derwentdale|A114|2}}
|A114
|Harland and Wolff
|14 November 1939
|12 April 1941
|30 August 1941
|Sold in 1960
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Dewdale|A151|2}}
|A151
|Cammell Laird
|29 December 1939
|17 February 1941
|14 June 1941
|Scrapped in 1960
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Dingledale|A144|2}}
|A144
|Harland & Wolff
|11 December 1939
|27 March 1941
|10 September 1941
|Scrapped in 1967
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Dinsdale|X106|2}}
|X106
|Harland & Wolff
|1939
|21 October 1941
|11 April 1942
|Sunk on 1 June 1942
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Eaglesdale|A104|2}}
|A104
|[[Furness Shipbuilding Company]]
|20 December 1940
|18 November 1941
|9 January 1942
|Scrapped in 1959
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Easedale|A105|2}}
|A105
|Furness Shipbuilding Company
|15 February 1941
|18 December 1941
|12 February 1942
|Scrapped in 1960
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Echodale|A170|2}}
|A170
|Hawthorn Leslie
|4 January 1940
|29 November 1940
|4 March 1941
|Scrapped in 1961
|-
|{{ship|RFA|Ennerdale|A173|2}}
|A173
|Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd
|
|27 January 1941
|11 July 1941
|Scrapped in 1959
|-
|}

== See also ==
* [[List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary]]
* [[List of amphibious warfare ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==References==
*{{cite book |first=J.J.|last=Colledge |authorlink=J. J. Colledge|title=[[Ships of the Royal Navy]]: An Historical Index Volume 2: Navy-built Trawlers, Drifters, Tugs and Requisitioned Ships|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot}}
*{{cite book |title=[[Jane's Fighting Ships|Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II]]|year=1989|publisher=Crescent Books|location=New York}}
{{Dale class oilers}}

[[Category:Dale-class oilers| ]]
[[Category:Auxiliary replenishment ship classes]]
[[Category:Tankers of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary| Dale class oiler]]