RFA ''Spabeck'' (A227) was one of six coastal water carriers built for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary during the Second World War. During the 1950s she was modified to store

high-test peroxide High-test peroxide (HTP) is a highly concentrated (85 to 98%) solution of hydrogen peroxide, with the remainder consisting predominantly of water. In contact with a catalyst, it decomposes into a high-temperature mixture of steam and oxygen, with n ...

(HTP) for the experimental programme evaluating the feasibility of submarines using HTP operationally. The ship was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 1966.

Description

The ''Spa''-class ships were designed for harbour duties as water carriers.Wilson, p. 252 displaced at normal load and fully loaded. The ships had an overall length of , 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 and a draught of at deep load. They were powered by a three-cylinder vertical triple-expansion steam engine that drove a single propeller shaft, using steam provided by one cylindrical boiler. The engine developed and gave a maximum speed of . The ships were armed with a single 12-pounder () gun and two Oerlikon AA gunsLenton, p. 614

Construction and career

''Spabeck'' ordered in September 1941 from

Philip and Son Philip and Son (also Philip & Son) was a shipbuilder in Kingswear, near Dartmouth, Devon, England. Operating from 1858 until the late 1990s, the company provided employment opportunities for nearly 141 years for many people of Dartmouth. It was ...

and was laid down on 14 May 1943 at their

Dartmouth, Devon Dartmouth () is a town and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is a tourist destination set on the western bank of the estuary of the River Dart, which is a long narrow tidal ria that runs inland as far as Totnes. It lies within the ...

shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance a ...

as ''Rivulet''. The ship was launched on 21 June and commissioned on 3 September as ''Spabeck''. She was modified in 1948 as a HTP tanker to support the experimental submarines , ''Explorer'' and ''Excalibur''. The ship was fitted with ten high-grade aluminium tanks capable of carrying of HTP, of distilled water, and of

sulphur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

-free

AVCAT Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial av ...

jet fuel that was injected into the submarine's combustion chamber to increase its output.Thomas, p. S607 After the end of the programme in the early 1960s, ''Spabeck'' was

laid up A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; a ...

at Devonport. She was listed for disposal in January 1966 and put up for sale on 11 March. Purchased by a Belgian shipbreaking company for £10,875, she arrived at

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

en route to Willebroek, Belgium, for scrapping on 14 May.

References

Bibliography

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