RFA ''Retainer'' (A329) was an armament support ship 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 ...

. Built by Scotts of Greenock as Chungking, a cargo/passenger liner for the China Navigation Co. Both ''Chungking'' and her sister vessel ''Changchow'' (later lost their initial purpose due to the Communist revolution. Chartered for a year and a half to the French

Messageries Maritimes ''Messageries Maritimes'' was a French merchant shipping company. It was originally created in 1851 as ''Messageries nationales'', later called ''Messageries impériales'', and from 1871, ''Compagnie des messageries maritimes'', casually known as ...

, they were purchased by the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

in 1952. In 1959, ''Retainer'' was used with the missile trials ship for trials of

replenishment at sea Replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) or underway replenishment (UNREP) (U.S. Navy) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First develope ...

with the new Seaslug missile.

References

Ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Stores ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary 1950 ships {{UK-aux-ship-stub