RFA Spapool (A222)

RFA Spapool (A222) was a Spa-class[1] coastal water carrier of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

History
United Kingdom
Name: RFA Spapool
Builder: Charles Hill & Sons, Bristol
Laid down: 13 August 1945
Launched: 28 February 1946
Commissioned: 14 June 1946
Decommissioned: 1976
Stricken: 1976
Fate:
  • Sold into commercial service, July 1976
  • Scrapped, 1984
General characteristics
Type: Coastal water carrier
Tonnage: 500 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Displacement: 1,219 long tons (1,239 t) full load
Length: 172 ft (52 m)
Beam: 30 ft 2 in (9.19 m)
Draught: 12 ft (140 in)
Propulsion: 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine, 675 ihp (503 kW), 1 shaft
Speed: 9 knots (17 km/h; 10 mph)
Armament:

The ship was laid down on 13 August 1945 by Charles Hill & Sons of Bristol,[2] launched on 28 February 1946, and was commissioned on 14 June 1946, serving until 1976 when it was sold off by the Ministry of Defence.

Spapool was purchased commercially in July 1976 at Mombasa and used by Divecon Ltd. as a salvage vessel later that year for the recovery of M/V Southern Pioneer, a tanker that sank at Tanga, Tanzania. She was used as a bunker barge in Mombasa after the boiler was condemned. The ship sank on Christmas Day 1983, and was salvaged by Divecon Ltd., Mombasa in 1984, and scrapped.

References

  1. "Miscellaneous Tankers". rfaaplymouth.org. Retrieved 16 November 2009.
  2. "RFA Spapool". www.historicalrfa.org. Retrieved 16 November 2009.


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