The Surf class were a class of

replenishment oiler A replenishment oiler or replenishment tanker is a naval auxiliary ship with fuel tanks and dry cargo holds which can supply both fuel and dry stores during underway replenishment (UNREP) at sea. Many countries have used replenishment oilers. The ...

s taken up for service with 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 ...

(RFA), supporting the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

during the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. Two were commercial tankers under construction in British yards as the war began. A third ship was captured from in the Far East and brought into the RFA as ''Surf Pilot''. She was never utilised however, and was laid up until being scrapped in 1960. The remaining two tankers were laid up at about this time, and were either sold or scrapped by 1970.

Overview

Two tankers, ''Tatri'' and ''Beskidy'' were ordered by a Polish shipping company from the British shipbuilding firm of

Bartram & Sons Bartram & Sons was a shipbuilder on Wearside, North East England, that specialised in building cargo ships. It was founded in 1837, taken over in 1968, nationalised in 1977 and closed in 1978. Early decades George Bartram and John Lister founded ...

. They had been launched in early 1951 but with the outbreak of the

the Royal Fleet Auxiliary purchased ''Tatri'' and ''Beskidy'' on 14 July 1951, renaming them and respectively. Meanwhile, in April 1951 allied forces had captured a Korean tanker, ''Yung Hao''. ''Yung Hao'' had originally been built for Japanese owners in 1938, but had come under Korean ownership in 1947. ''Yung Hao'' was taken into the Royal Fleet Auxiliary as , but was immediately laid up at

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

. She never saw active service with the RFA, though she remained on their lists until 1958, and was eventually scrapped at Singapore in 1960. Of the other two Surf-class tankers, ''Surf Pioneer'' was withdrawn from active service in 1960 and was scrapped in 1970. ''Surf Patrol'' was laid up from 1961, and was sold into commercial service in December 1969 as ''Marisurf''. She continued in civilian service until being decommissioned in 1980.

Ships

Notes

References

* {{Surf class tanker Auxiliary replenishment ship classes Surf