Dale-class oiler

The Dale class was a group of replenishment oilers taken up for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary to support the Royal Navy in the years before and during the Second World War, each ship named after an English dale. They were acquired in three batches: six tankers bought in 1937 while under construction for the British Tanker Company, two being built for Royal Dutch Shell bought in 1938, and ten more ordered by the Ministry of War Transport that were taken over as they were built. Harland and Wolff built some of each batch; its Belfast yard completed Boardale and Broomdale among the first six, Cairndale among the Shell pair, and Dingledale, Derwentdale and Dinsdale in the final group. The ships saw heavy service in the Arctic, the Atlantic, the Mediterranean and the Far East, and several were lost to bombing and torpedoes. Derwentdale, Dewdale and Ennerdale were completed as Landing Ships (Gantry), able to carry 15 landing craft, before being converted back into oilers.