Official No:                              149977

Builder:                                    Palmers & Co Ltd., Jarrow

Launched:                                27 November 1927

Into Service:                             September 1939

Out of service:                          1945

Fate:                                         Scuttled 15 January 1946

Items of historic interest involving this ship: –

Background Data:   One of a group of additional ships requisitioned by the Admiralty during WW2 to augment the ships of the RFA

Career Data:

27 September 1927 launched by Palmers & Co Ltd., Jarrow as Yard Nr: 969 named British Loyalty for British Tanker Co Ltd., London

28 September 1927 the Shields Daily News newspaper reported …

12 January 1928 completed

13 January 1928 sailed the River Tyne on maiden voyage to Abadan to load

15 January 1928 passed Lands End

23 April 1928 sailed Trinidad for Swansea

20 June 1930 sailed Abadan for Swansea

23 July 1930 arrived at Grangemouth from Abadan

1 August 1930 sailed Grangemouth for Genoa

26 February 1933 when on passage to the River Tyne reported she was 70 miles east of Wick

1 July 1934 sailed from Port Said for Grangemouth

18 July 1934 arrived at Grangemouth from Abadan

30 December 1934 sailed from Abadan for Bizerta

3 September 1936 arrived at Grangemouth from Haifa

2 June 1938 sailed Grangemouth for the River Tyne in ballast

16 May 1939 sailed  from Abadan

31 May 1939 sailed from Port Said

September 1939 requisitioned by MoWT – name unchanged

2 September 1939 sailed in unescorted convoy AB1 from Gibraltar until dispersal on 13 September 1939

3 February 1940 was attacked by a German bomber 12 miles east of Arbroath but suffered only minor damage

14 April 1940 sailed Southend in escorted convoy OA129 until dispersal on 17 April 1940

19 December 1940 sailed from Suez in escorted convoy BS11 for Abadan

21 February 1942 at Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands with RFA PEARLEAF (1) berthed alongside – pump over full cargo from the RFA

19 May 1942 arrived Diego Suarez, Madagascar from Trincomalle to bunker HM ships there

29 May 1942 port overflown by a Japanese aircraft

30 May 1942 badly damaged by a torpedo from a midget submarine MB20b from the Japanese submarine I-20 while anchored in a position 5 cables from Antsivana Lighthouse, Diego Suarez and sank with the loss of five lives. A sixth injured person died the folklowing day

June 1942 a quantity of her cargo was salved and divers suggested that the ship could be raised

December 1942 raised and re-anchored at Diego Suarez for lengthy repairs

7 October 1943 sailed Diego Suarez for Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands

20 December 1943 became a storage hulk at Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands

13 January 1944 at Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands with HMS PALADIN alongside while the destroyer awaited undergoing emergency repairs after she had been torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I27

24 January 1944 at Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands with HMS CEYLON alongside being refuelled

HMS CEYLON

9 March 1944 torpedoed at anchor at Addu Atoll, Maldive Islands by the German Submarine U-183 and further damaged with 6,417 tons of FFO, 105 tons of MT spirit and 433,250 gallons of 100 octane fuel onboard

15 January 1946 scuttled in position 00.38.12S 73.07.24E clear of the main shipping channels and has become a popular diving attraction to this day