RFA ''Darkdale'' was a Dale-class

fleet tanker A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

of the

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by ...

(RFA), launched on 23 July 1940 as ''Empire Oil'', completed in November 1940 and transferred to the RFA as ''Darkdale''. She was sunk during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

on 22 October 1941 by the German submarine . Her wreck in James Bay off

Jamestown, Saint Helena Jamestown is the capital city of the British Overseas Territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, located on the island of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is also the historic main settlement of the island and is on ...

continued to leak oil, posing a potential environmental threat to the coastal waters of

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

, until

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

divers drained the ship's tanks in 2015.

Description

''Empire Oil'' was long, with a beam of . She had a depth of , and a draught of . She was assessed at , . The ship was powered by a

four-stroke A four-stroke (also four-cycle) engine is an internal combustion (IC) engine in which the piston completes four separate strokes while turning the crankshaft. A stroke refers to the full travel of the piston along the cylinder, in either directio ...

single cycle single acting

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

which had six cylinders of 29 inches diameter by 59 inches stroke. The engine was built by J G Kincaid & Co Ltd,

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

Renfrewshire Renfrewshire () ( sco, Renfrewshire; gd, Siorrachd Rinn Friù) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfr ...

. As RFA ''Darkdale'', her armament comprised a 4.7-inch gun, a 12-pounder gun, two "pig trough" rocket launchers, two Hotchkiss

machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...

s, two Marlin machine guns and two Lewis guns with parachute and cable rockets.

History

''Empire Oil'' was built by Blythswood Shipbuilding Company of

Scotstoun Scotstoun ( gd, Baile an Sgotaich) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, west of Glasgow City Centre. It is bounded by Garscadden and Yoker to the west, Victoria Park, Jordanhill and Whiteinch to the east, Jordanhill to the north and the River Clyde ...

, Glasgow. She was laid down in October 1939, launched on 23 July 1940, completed in November 1940. Built for the Ministry of Shipping, her port of registry was

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

. The United Kingdom

Official Number Official numbers are ship identifier numbers assigned to merchant ships by their flag state, country of registration. Each country developed its own official numbering system, some on a national and some on a port-by-port basis, and the formats hav ...

165991 was allocated. ''Empire Oil'' was subsequently transferred to the

as RFA ''Darkdale''. In August 1941 she arrived at Saint Helena, as fleet oiler for the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

and refuelled a number of

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

ships there including the cruiser and the aircraft carrier . At anchor in James Bay in the early hours of 22 October 1941, she was struck by four torpedoes from the German submarine , commanded by

Karl-Friedrich Merten Karl-Friedrich Merten (15 August 1905 – 2 May 1993) commanded the U-boat in Nazi Germany's ''Kriegsmarine'' during World War II. He received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. Merten was credited with the sinking of ...

, broke in two and sank. Forty-one men were lost and two men on deck were blown clear and survived. Seven men, including the captain, were ashore. The lost crew are commemorated on the Cenotaph at Jamestown and at the

Tower Hill Memorial The Tower Hill Memorial is a pair of Commonwealth War Graves Commission memorials in Trinity Square Gardens, on Tower Hill in London, England. The memorials, one for the First World War and one for the Second, commemorate civilian, merchant seaf ...

in London. St-Helena-Jamestown

The wreck leaked fuel oil, posing a potential environmental threat to the coastal waters of Saint Helena. In April 2012 a team from Salvage and Marine Operations, an arm of the

Defence Equipment and Support Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics ...

organisation

(MOD), left for Saint Helena to examine the wreck. The ice patrol ship surveyed it in October 2012 to provide additional

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigation, navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect o ...

imagery. In 2015, Salvage and Marine Operations divers drained of oil from the ship's tanks. Royal Navy divers also removed 38 shells from the two main guns.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darkdale 1940 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Empire ships Dale-class oilers Tankers of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary World War II shipwrecks in the South Atlantic Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II Maritime incidents in October 1941 History of Saint Helena Saint Helena and Dependencies in World War II