Previous name:                     THAMES CONSERVANCY Hopper No 5,   PLA Hopper No 5                                                                                    
Subsequent name:                 STONEWELL

Official Number:                     123780 

Class:                                   ex-PLA HOPPER

Pennant No:                          X-08

Laid down:
Builder:                                 Fleming & Ferguson, Paisley
Launched:                             20 October 1906
Into Service:                           9 September 1916
Out of service:                       1920
Fate:                                     Scuttled off South Africa 1951

Items of historic interest involving this ship: –

Background Data:  As WW1 progressed, the demand for fuelling ships became more acute and the six vessels in this Class were all formerly PLA Hoppers, used for working with the dredgers in London. They lent themselves to rapid conversion into tankers by plating over the bottom sludge door joints and by installing a pipeline and a pump. They were all coal burners that had been built on the River Clyde and after acquisition by the Admiralty, they were renamed after salient features of the River Thames and their new names used the leading parts of the names of London boroughs. Between 1919 and 1920, they were all returned to the PLA and they resumed their previous names. They are all recorded in official records as Royal Fleet Auxiliaries

20 October 1906 launched by Fleming & Ferguson Ltd., Paisley as Yard Nr: 354 named THAMES CONSERVANCY HOPPER No: 5 for the Conservators of the River Thames,  London

12 November 1906 the Lloyds List newspaper reported …

November 1906 completed

4 February 1907 registered in London as number 21/1907 in the Registry Book

1909 renamed PORT OF LONDON AUTHORITY HOPPER No 5 by the Port of London Authority, London

1915 the Crew List held by the National Maritime Museum lists Captain Eric F C Best as the ships Master and the 1st Engineer as John C McDougall

Captain Eric F C Best

9 September 1916 chartered by the Admiralty, converted into a tanker and renamed RFA BLACKOL, The Admiralty paid for hire of this ship at £235 per month

23 November 1916 Engineer Lieutenant David H Roberts RNR appointed as Chief Engineer Officer. To RFA Sunhill  24 October 1919

24 July 1917 Lieutenant George G Gibbons RNR appointed in Command – demobilised 4 September 1919

27 September 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

29 September 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

1 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

6 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

8 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 124 tons of FFO

9 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 264 tons of FFO

12 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

13 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

16 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

20 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

24 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

25 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 102 tons of FFO

28 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 575 tons of FFO

29 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 169 tons of FFO

31 October 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 74 tons of FFO

1 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 147 tons of cargo

3 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 115 tons of FFO

7 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 183 tons of FFO

9 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading from her 150 tons of FFP

10 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 620 tons of FFO

1 December 1918 Fireman E Roche logged as deserting. He had signed on on the 26 December 1917

10 December 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 152 tons FFO

13 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 130 tons FFO

20 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 203 tons FFO

24 November 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with 360 tons FFO

27 December 1918 at Devonport alongside RFA Palmol loading her with cargo

22 January 1919 entered No: 3 Dock at Devonport

31 January 1919 in Plymouth Sound alongside HMS CONSTANCE (light cruiser) which transferred 302 tons of FFO into her tanks

HMS CONSTANCE

3 March 1919 in Plymouth Sound alongside HMS TORCH and refuelled her with 5 tons of FFO

12 May 1919 Fireman Thomas J Kendall MMR 248080 logged as deserting. He had signed on on the 14 December 1918

28 August 1919 Captain Grahame G A Deuchar DSC RFA appointed as Master

13 September 1919 entered the shallow dock, South Yard, Devonport

21 October 1919 entered No: 3 Dock at Devonport

24 October 1919 paid off at Devonport

28 June 1920 returned to her owners and resumed her previous name

1927 purchased by C.H. Campbell Ltd, London and renamed STONEWELL

1928 purchased by James Dredging, Towage & Transport Co Ltd, London name unchanged

October 1930 re-engined with a T. 3 cyl 13” 21½“& 35” x 27” by A. Hall & Co Ltd, Aberdeen. 100  nhp

1936 purchased by the Union Government of South Africa (Railways and Harbours Administration) for service at Durban, name unchanged

10 May 1951 dismantled locally and then scuttled  off Durban.