RFA ''Plumleaf'' (A78) was a Leaf-class support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval

auxiliary fleet An auxiliary ship is a naval ship designed to support combatant ships and other naval operations. Auxiliary ships are not primary combatant vessels, though they may have some limited combat capacity, usually for purposes of self-defense. Auxil ...

of the United Kingdom. Launched on 29 March 1960, she measured 12,692 gross register tonnage, with a length of 562 feet, a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of 72 feet 1 inch and a draught of 30 feet inch. She was powered by a 6- cylinder diesel engine giving the ship a top speed of 14 knots. ''Plumleaf'' was built for Wm Cory & Son Ltd, London, as ''Corheath'', by

Blyth Shipbuilding Company The Blyth Shipbuilding & Dry Docks Company Ltd. was a British shipyard located in Blyth, Northumberland, England. Company history Early history Shipbuilding began on the site on the south bank of the River Blyth in 1811. In the 1840s the ya ...

, however, her charter was agreed early and she ran trials as ''Plumleaf'' before entering RFA service in 1960. She saw service during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

. ''Plumleaf'' was decommissioned in 1986, arriving at

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

for demolition on 17 December 1986.

Battle honours

On 23 November 1984 ''Plumleaf'' received her Falklands Islands 1982 Battle honour, presented by Admiral Sir Nicolas Hunt, – FOSNI.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* Plumleaf (A78) Plumleaf (A78) Plumleaf 1960 ships Ships built on the River Blyth {{UK-aux-ship-stub