RFA ''Wave Laird'' (A119) was an Wave-class fleet support

tanker Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum ta ...

of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She was built in 1946 as ''Empire Dunbar'' by Sir J Laing & Sons Ltd,

Sunderland, Co Durham Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

for the Ministry of Transport and completed at ''Wave Laird''. She served until 1961 when she was laid up at

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roy ...

. ''Wave Laird'' was scrapped in 1970 in Spain.

Description

The ship was built in 1946 by Sir J Laing & Sons Ltd,

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

. She was yard number 767. The ship was long overall ( between perpendiculars), with a beam of . She had a draught of , and a depth of . She was assessed as , . Fully loaded, she displaced 16,650 tons. The ship was propelled by two Metrovick-type double reduction geared steam turbines, which were fed by three drum boilers. . The turbines were built by Richardsons Westgarth Ltd. They drove a single screw propeller, and could propel the ship at .

History

Empire Dunbar was built by Sir J Laing & Sons Ltd, Sunderland for the Ministry of Transport. She was launched on 3 April 1946 and completed on 30 September 1946 as RFA ''Wave Laird'' for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Her port of registry was London.As shown b
this photograph
She was allocated 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 ...

180967 and the

Pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

X129. This was later changed to A119. ''Wave Laird'' suffered a number of problems shortly after entering service. In October 1946, her steering gear failed on a voyage from Sunderland to the Tyne and she was towed into port. In December 1946, boiler problems delayed her departure from

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Dorset for Trinidad. On 17 March 1947, boiler problems left her adrift in gale-force winds off the Tasker Rock, Ireland. Assistance was requested as the ship suffered heavy damage, which had to be repaired before her cargo was able to be discharged at

Old Kilpatrick Old Kilpatrick ( sco, Auld Kilpaitrick, gd, Cille Phàdraig meaning "Patrick's church"), is a village in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. It has an estimated population of 4,820. It belonged to the parish of Old Kilpatrick which itself was only a f ...

. On 10 November 1949, ''Wave Laird'' was on a voyage from

Abadan Abadan ( fa, آبادان ''Ābādān'', ) is a city and capital of Abadan County, Khuzestan Province, which is located in the southwest of Iran. It lies on Abadan Island ( long, 3–19 km or 2–12 miles wide). The island is bounded ...

, Iran to Malta when she was caught in a storm. A deckhand sustained fatal injuries. He was buried at

Kalkara Naval Cemetery The Kalkara Naval Cemetery (or Capuccini Naval Cemetery) is a cemetery in Kalkara in the South Eastern Region of Malta. The main entrance to the cemetery is at the junction of Triq Santa Rokku and Triq San Leonardu. The cemetery is divided into ...

in Malta. The funeral was attended by officers and crew from , and ''Wave Laird'' and the Secretary of the Malta Branch of the National Union of Seamen. ''Wave Laird'' was on active service in Korea from 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953. She was awarded a battle honour. On 19 July 1951, she was involved in a collision with the Royal Interocean Line's

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). Ca ...

off Singapore. In January 1954, ''Wave Laird'' was one of the naval vessels supporting the

Royal Yacht A royal yacht is a ship used by a monarch or a royal family. If the monarch is an emperor the proper term is imperial yacht. Most of them are financed by the government of the country of which the monarch is head. The royal yacht is most often c ...

in Australia. On 31 October 1956, ''Wave Laird'' was one of 35 Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships deployed as part of Operation Musketeer. From 16–29 September 1960, she was deployed off Iceland in support of the Royal Navy, which was caught up in the Cod Wars. ''Wave Laird'' was featured on a postcard produced by Valentine's,

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

. The card showed ''Wave Laird'' refuelling at sea. ''Wave Laird'' was laid up in reserve at

in 1961. She was advertised for sale by tender in November 1969 "as lying at HMNB Devonport". She departed from Devonport under tow on 26 January 1970, bound for

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, from where she departed on 25 February under tow for Gandia, Spain. ''Wave Laird'' was scrapped in March 1970 by Hierros Ardes, Gandia.

References

External links

Colour photo of ''Wave Laird''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wave Laird 1946 ships Ships built on the River Wear Empire ships Steamships of the United Kingdom Wave-class oilers Tankers of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Maritime incidents in 1947 Maritime incidents in 1951