 Launching of Aldersdale
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | RFA Aldersdale |
| Ordered | 1936 |
| Builder | Cammell Laird and Co., Birkenhead |
| Laid down | September 1936 |
| Launched | 7 July 1937 |
| Commissioned | 17 September 1937 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Dale-class fleet tanker |
| Displacement | 17,231 long tons (17,508 t) full load |
| Length | 482 ft 6 in (147.07 m) |
| Beam | 61 ft 10 in (18.85 m) |
| Draught | 27 ft 6.5 in (8.39 m) |
| Propulsion | 1 x 4 cyl Doxford diesel engine with a single shaft. 687 nhp |
| Speed | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h) |
| Complement | 44 |
RFA Aldersdale (X34) was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
She was originally one of six ships ordered by the British Tanker Co., which were purchased on the stocks by the Admiralty prior to the Second World War. Aldersdale was part of convoy PQ 17 in 1942, and was damaged by bombs from three Junkers aircraft on 5 July 1942 after Convoy PQ 17 had been ordered to scatter. Aldersdale was abandoned and the drifting wreck was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U-457 on 7 July 1942.