RFA Engadine (K08)

Engadine, somewhere between 1969 and 1973, Falmouth, on the south coast of Cornwall (Falmouth Submarine pier in foreground).
History
United Kingdom
Name	RFA Engadine
Ordered	18 August 1964
Builder	Henry Robb Ltd, Leith
Laid down	9 August 1965
Launched	16 September 1966
Commissioned	15 December 1967
Decommissioned	March 1989. Laid up at Devonport.
Identification	IMO number: 6800684 Pennant number: K08
Fate	Scrapped 23 September 1996
Badge	Two crossed alphorns surrounded by 12 edelweiss flowers on a dark blue background.
General characteristics
Type	Helicopter Support Ship
Displacement	8,950 tons (full load)
Length	129.31 metres (424 ft 3 in)
Beam	17.86 metres (58.6 feet)
Draught	7 metres (22 ft 6 in)
Installed power	5,500 bhp
Propulsion	1 × 5 cylinder Sulzer marine diesel. One shaft.
Speed	16 knots (30 km/h)
Complement	63 RFA + 32 RN + 131 under training
Aircraft carried	4 × Westland Wessex Or 2 × Westland Sea King and 2 × Westland Wasp helicopters

RFA Engadine (K08) was a helicopter support ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.[1][2][3]

The need for Engadine was seen in the mid-1960s as more and more helicopters were deployed from Royal Navy aircraft carriers and surface combatants. The ship was ordered in August 1964, from Henry Robb of Leith, and commissioned in December 1967, replacing HMS Lofoten. She was the third British ship named HMS Engadine the previous two being a seaplane carrier and an aircraft transport ship. Engadine comes from the Engadin valley in south-east Switzerland, which is represented by the alphorns and edelweiss on her badge.[4]

In 1968 she was designated as one of the PYTHON locations for the dispersal and continuity of government in the event of nuclear war.[5]

Engadine's homeport throughout her career was Portland, Dorset. During the 1976 crisis in Lebanon she was deployed as part of contingency planning to evacuate British citizens.

At the Silver Jubilee fleet review in 1977 she followed the royal yacht HMY Britannia.

In the Falklands War she was a helicopter support and refuelling ship in San Carlos Water.

By the mid-1980s Engadine was becoming obsolescent so the container ship MV Contender Bezant was bought for conversion, becoming RFA Argus. Engadine was decommissioned in 1989 and sold to new owners in Greece. She arrived at Piraeus on 18 February 1990 after being bought by Greek owners for a new service which never materialised and the ship was laid up, name unchanged. She was sold for scrap and arrived at Alang for demolition on 7 May 1996 which commenced on 23 September 1996.[4]

References

1. Marriott, Leo (1985). Royal Navy Aircraft Carriers 1945–1990. Surrey, UK: Ian Allan Ltd. pp. 113–115. ISBN 0-7110-1561-9.
2. Adams, T.A., Smith, J.R., 'The Royal Fleet Auxiliary – A Century of Service', page 118, ISBN 1-86176-259-3, Jointly Published by Chatham Publishing (London, UK) & Stackpole Books (PA, USA) in association with the RFA Association, 2005
3. James, Tony (1985). The Royal Fleet Auxiliary 1905–85. Cornwall, UK: Maritime Books. p. 127. ISBN 0-907771-21-1.
4. "RFA Engadine". historicalrfa.org. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
5. "If nuclear war had broken out between Russia and the west, HMS Osprey on Portland would have been a remote hideaway for the government". Dorset Echo. 28 January 2017.

Bibliography

• Adams, Thomas A. (August 2021). Osborne, Richard (ed.). "RFA Engadine (1967-1989) Helicopter Support Ship". Warships: Marine News Supplement. 75 (8): 392–398. ISSN 0966-6958.

External links