Dale Class Oiler - Group III

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. The first were ready for service in January 1939, with the final ships being completed by mid-1942. As with their earlier sisters, all saw active service in a variety of theatres. U-boats scored several kills among the third group, Darkdale and Dinsdale were both torpedoed and sunk in 1941. Denbydale was badly damaged by Italian frogmen of the Decima Flottiglia MAS in harbour at Gibraltar in 1941, and was written off. 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. Three of the ships, Derwentdale, Dewdale and Ennerdale, were completed as Landing Ships (Gantry) and given light anti-aircraft armament. Now capable of deploying 250 troops aboard 15 LCMs, they initially took part in Operation Torch, and went on to see action at later allied amphibious landings in the Mediterranean and Pacific. All three survived the war, though Ennerdale was badly damaged by a magnetic mine in December 1945, and were converted back into oilers. 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.