History
RFA EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameGold Ranger
Ordered28 August 1939
Laid down14 May 1940
Launched12 March 1941
Commissioned4 July 1941
Decommissioned
  • December 1972
  • Laid up at Singapore
Stricken1973
IdentificationIMO number: 5132937
Fate
  • Sold commercially with name unchanged, July 1973
  • Scrapped at Hong Kong, March 1977
General characteristics
Class and typeRanger-class fleet support tanker
Displacement6,700 long tons (6,808 t) full load
Length365 ft 4 in (111.35 m)
Beam47 ft (14 m)
Draught22 ft 2 in (6.76 m)
Propulsion
  • 1 × 4-cylinder Doxford diesel
  • 2,800 shp (2,100 kW)
  • 1 shaft
Speed13 knots (15 mph; 24 km/h)
Range6,000 nmi (11,000 km) at 13 kn (15 mph; 24 km/h)
Complement40

RFA Gold Ranger (A130) was a Ranger-class fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary which first served in World War II.

In December, 1949, she supported Operation Corkscrew by providing aviation fuel at Deception Island for aircraft which helped relieve men of the Falkland Islands Dependencies Survey at Base E on Stonington Island. She later served in the Korean War, and in support of the atomic tests at Mauro Atoll. She was later employed as a support ship for minesweepers during the Indonesian Confrontation.

In 1972 she brought the expedition members of the Joint Services Egmont Islands Expedition (JSEI) from Gan, Addu Atoll to the Egmont Atoll. Led by Sqn Leader "Dickie" Bird RAF, it was the first scuba diving expedition in the Chagos Archipelago.[1] Following its success, a second expedition was undertaken to Danger Island the following year.[2]

References

  1. ↑ The History of Army Recreational Diving and the Army Sub-Aqua Diving Association (ASADA)
  2. ↑ Baldwin, EA (ed.), A report on the Joint Services Expedition to Danger Island in the central Indian Ocean, December 1974 to April 1975, Ministry of Defence Publication, London 1975


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