RFA ''Fort Duquesne'' (A229) was an air stores ship of the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary a
Fort type ship.
The ship was launched on 28 September 1944 and named ''SS Queensborough Park''. Built as merchant
steamship
A steamship, often referred to as a steamer, is a type of steam-powered vessel, typically ocean-faring and seaworthy, that is propelled by one or more steam engines that typically move (turn) propellers or paddlewheels. The first steamships ...
constructed for
Canada's
Merchant Navy in 1944 during the
Second World War as part of Canada's
Park ship
Park ships were merchant steamships constructed for Canada’s Merchant Navy during the Second World War. Park ships and Fort ships (built in Canada for operation by the British) were the Canadian equivalent of the American Liberty ships. All th ...
program. Managed by the Park Steamship Company in Montreal.
World war 2
On 25 November 1944 she was commissioned and renamed ''Fort Duquesne'' for the
Ministry of War Transport. She was completed as a
refrigerated
The term refrigeration refers to the process of removing heat from an enclosed space or substance for the purpose of lowering the temperature.International Dictionary of Refrigeration, http://dictionary.iifiir.org/search.phpASHRAE Terminology, ht ...
Victualling Stores Issuing Ship (VSIS) and placed under management of George Nisbet & Company of
Glasgow UK.
On 3 January 1945 she sailed in escorted convoy HX 330 from New York to Tyne. On 25 February 1945 she sailed in escorted convoy ON 287 from the Clyde to Panama. On 22 November 1946 sailed Sydney to Hong Kong with a cargo of 160 tons of frozen meat. On 19 March 1947 she passed Gibraltar sailing on to Trincomalee, Ceylon and to Plymouth. On 24 March 1947 arrived at Plymouth Sound from Hong Kong and Colombo.
Post war
The ship was transferred to the RFA-
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Navy on 16 September 1947. On 31 January 1951 and 4 February 1951 she did sea trials off
Isle of Portland and
Plymouth
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
UK using Dragon Fly
helicopters from
RNAS Gosport
G, or g, is the seventh letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''gee'' (pronounced ), plural ''gees''.
History
The ...
and
RNAS Culdrose. The trials were conducted with
705 Naval Air Squadron
705 Naval Air Squadron was first formed as a flight in 1936 from No 447 Flight Royal Air Force and operated Swordfish torpedo bombers from battlecruisers. It achieved squadron status in 1939 before being disbanded in 1940. The squadron was re-form ...
in the
English Channel using two
Dragonfly HR1 helicopters. The helicopters used were Dragonfly VX598 and Dragonfly VZ963.
historicalrfa.org, RFA Fort Duquesne
/ref>
In 1955 she starred in the film '' The Battle of the River Plate'', playing the German freighter ''Tacoma'', which took the crew off the cruiser ''Admiral Graf Spee'' before she was scuttled off Montevideo.
''Fort Duquesne'' was decommissioned in April 1967 and put in reserve at Chatham. She arrived at the Scheldt for demolition at Tamise on 29 June 1967.[
]
See also
* RFA ''Fort Charlotte'' (A236)
* RFA ''Fort Langley'' (A230)
* RFA ''Fort Rosalie'' (A186)
* ''Fort Cataraqui'' (ship)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fort Duquesne
Ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
1944 ships