RFA Olwen (A122)

For other ships with the same name, see RFA Olwen.

RFA Olwen (A122) was an Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was the lead ship of her class, and launched in 1964 as RFA Olynthus, the second ship to bear this name.

RFA Olwen in the 1980s
History
United Kingdom
Name	RFA Olwen
Ordered	4 February 1963 as AO 15
Builder	Hawthorn Leslie and Company
Yard number	755
Laid down	11 July 1963
Launched	10 July 1964, as Olynthus
In service	12 June 1965
Out of service	19 September 2000
Renamed	Olwen, 5 August 1967
Identification	IMO number: 6418572 Callsign: GQKA Pennant number: A122 Deck code: OW
Fate	Renamed Kea in May 2001. Arrived Alang for demolition 21 July 2001.
Badge
General characteristics
Class and type	Ol-class tanker
Tonnage	18,604 GRT 9,392 NRT 22,350 DWT
Displacement	33,773 long tons (34,315 t) (full load)
Length	648 ft (198 m)
Beam	84 ft 2 in (25.65 m)
Draught	34 ft (10 m)
Depth	44 ft (13 m)
Installed power	2x Babcock and Wilcox superheat boilers 26,500 shaft horsepower (19,800 kW)
Propulsion	2× Hawthorn Leslie/Pametrada steam turbines, double reduction geared Single shaft Bow thruster
Speed	21 knots (24 mph; 39 km/h)
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km) at 16 kn (18 mph; 30 km/h)
Complement	88 RFA 40 RN
Armament	2× 20 mm guns 2× Chaff launchers
Aircraft carried	3× Westland Wessex or Westland Sea King helicopters
Aviation facilities	Helicopter deck, hangar
Notes
Service record
Operations:	Operation Burlap Operation Journeyman Operation Grapple

She with her two sisters, were initially known as the Olynthus class. Her design was a development of the two later 1961 Tide-class replenishment oilers. She was renamed Olwen in 1967 to avoid confusion with the Oberon-class submarine, HMS Olympus. The class were then redesignated as the Olwen class and later the Ol class.

Design and description

Fast fleet tanker RFA Olynthus (later Olwen)

Olwen had a normal complement consisting 88 Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel with provision for 40 Royal Navy personnel and she was armed with two 20 mm guns and two Corvus chaff launchers. She was designed to achieve a speed of 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) with a fully loaded displacement of 36,000 tonnes (35,000 long tons; 40,000 short tons).

The ship had the capability to supply fuel and other liquid cargo to vessels using four pairs of replenishment rigs which were located between the forward and aft superstructures. She was able to carry four types of fuels: Furnace Fuel Oil, Diesel, Avcat and Mogas. Limited supplies of lubricating oils, fresh water and dry stores could also be carried. She could operate Westland Wessex or Westland Sea King helicopters, or other helicopters of similar size, from a hangar and flight deck at the stern.

Operational history

In August 1965 she took part in the Fleet Review in the Firth of Clyde along with RFA's Black Ranger, Resurgent, Rowanol and Wave Prince and she then deployed to HMNB Devonport and was present at Plymouth Navy Days 1965, as RFA Olynthus.

She received detached Westland Wessex HAS.1 helicopter of 814 Naval Air Squadron as Olynthus Flight, while in support of HMS Victorious’s 1966/67 Far East deployment. While flying the flag of the Commander-in-Chief, Far East Fleet, Vice Admiral Sir Frank Twiss KCB, DSC, she replenished the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN) River-class destroyer escort, HMAS Parramatta (DE 46), on 20 December 1966, and also participated in a CASEX A17 along with the Royal Navy’s Amphion-class submarine, HMS Andrew (P423/S23/S63) and from RAF Changi, Singapore, a 205 Squadron Avro Shackleton, a maritime patrol aircraft.

In November and December 1970 Olwen was involved in Operation Burlap giving humanitarian assistance to East Pakistan after a cyclone caused extensive damage and flooding.

In the Second Cod War, Olwen supported Royal Navy ships three times off Iceland in 1973: from 24 June until 10 July, between 14 July and 27 July and then from 30 July until 10 August.

Between July and September 1974 Olwen was part of the Task Force including the Centaur-class aircraft carrier HMS Hermes with No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando and RFA’s Gold Rover, Olna and Regent, she stood by off Cyprus following a Greek junta-sponsored Cypriot coup d'état attempt and the subsequent Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Between 25 November to 19 December 1977, Olwen was involved with Operation Journeyman. She was part of a task force, led by the nuclear-powered submarine HMS Dreadnought, and comprised the Type 21 frigate HMS Alacrity and the Leander-class frigate HMS Phoebe, along with the armament stores ship RFA Resource, dispatched to the South Atlantic as a deterrent. The operation was secretly ordered to prevent a possible Argentinian invasion of the Falkland Islands after 50 Argentine "scientists" landed on South Thule. She stood back from the Falkland Islands in support of the frigates with an 819 Naval Air Squadron Westland Sea King helicopter embarked.

Between January and July 1993, Olwen was deployed to the Adriatic Sea to support Task Force 612 led by the Invincible-class aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal off Bosnia, with RFA Fort Grange, under Operation Grapple, as part of the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR). She operated with 2 Westland Sea King HAS.6 anti-submarine warfare helicopters, of 820 Naval Air Squadron.

A view of RFA Olwen at HNMB Portsmouth

Decommissioning

In 1999 Olwen was wthdrawn from service and laid up at Portsmouth and on 19 September 2000 she was handed over for disposal; purchased by the Eckhardt Organisation, Germany, for scrap. Then in January 2001 she was renamed Kea for the move to the breakers. In May it came to light that she had been banned from Turkish yards due to a high asbestos content. She was diverted to Greece and later sailed via the Suez Canal to Alang Ship Breaking Yard in India, arriving on 21 July 2001.

References

Bibliography

• Puddefoot, Geoff (2009). The Fourth Force The Untold Story of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary since 1945. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 978-1-84832-046-8.