RFA Green Ranger (original) (raw)

1941 Ranger-class fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

50°58′19″N 4°32′06″W / 50.972°N 4.535°W / 50.972; -4.535 (wrecksite of RFA Green Ranger)

History
RFA EnsignUnited Kingdom
Name Green Ranger
Ordered 28 August 1939
Builder Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Dundee
Yard number 391
Laid down 23 September 1940
Launched 21 August 1941[1]
In service 4 December 1941
Out of service 17 November 1962
Fate Wrecked on Gunpath Rock, Devon 17 November 1962
Notes [2]
General characteristics
Class and type Ranger-class fleet support tanker
Displacement 6,700 long tons (6,808 t) full load
Length 355 ft 3 in (108.28 m) o/a[1]
Beam 47 ft (14 m)[1]
Draught 20 ft 2 in (6.15 m)[1]
Installed power 3,500 shaft horsepower (2,600 kilowatts)
Propulsion 1 × 6-cylinder B&W diesel engine 1 shaft
Speed 13 knots (15 mph; 24 km/h)
Range 6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 13 kn (15 mph; 24 km/h)
Complement 40

RFA Green Ranger was a Ranger-class fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

On 24 September 1946, Green Ranger was struck by a torpedo in Portland Harbour, Dorset. Although holed belowe the waterline, she remained afloat.[3] She was wrecked on the Hartland peninsula, on a large rock, called Gunpath Rock, on 17 November 1962. She broke her tow from the tug that was taking her to be refitted in Cardiff, and drifted onto the rocks. Her skeleton crew of seven were rescued by the Hartland Lifesaving Company, with their breeches buoy.[4] The ship became a total loss, and her remains are still visible at low tide.[5]

  1. ^ a b c d Blackman 1962, p. 262.
  2. ^ "RFA Green Ranger - Historical RFA". historicalrfa.uk. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  3. ^ Arkin, William M.; Handler, Joshua (June 1989). "Naval Accidents 1945 - 1988" (PDF). Greenpeace / Institute for Policy Studies. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
  4. ^ Tovey, Ron. "A Chronology of Bristol Channel Shipwrecks" (PDF). Swansea Docks. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Ships aground in Mortehoe Woolacombe, Devon". Retrieved 14 April 2017.