Wave-class oiler

The expanding needs of the Royal Navy to carry out long range operations away from friendly fueling and replenishment stations led to the ordering of a number of tankers of around {{convert|16500|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} displacement, able to carry {{convert|11900|LT|t|0|abbr=on}} of fuel oil.{{cite book |title=Jane's Fighting Ships|page=81}} These would allow the Royal Navy and its allies increased flexibility, particularly in the Pacific theatre, where there were large expanses of water and few friendly fuel stations. A total of twenty ships were eventually built by three British yards; 12 by the Furness Shipbuilding Company, Haverton Hill-on-Tees, three by Harland & Wolff at their yard in Govan, and the remaining five by Sir J. Laing & Sons Ltd, at Sunderland.{{cite book |last=Colledge |title=Ships of the Royal Navy, Vol. 2 |pages=383–4}}

Thirteen of the 20 of the ships were initially built for the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT), which assigned them to be operated by various merchant shipping lines. Consequently, most were named with the standard MoWT prefix "Empire". The remaining MoWT owned oilers were transferred to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1946 and all were given "Wave" names. Several of the RFA ships served in the Far East during the Second World War, while the class was heavily involved in the Korean War. RFAs {{ship|RFA|Wave Sovereign|A211|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Wave Baron|A242|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Wave Premier|A129|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Wave Prince|A207|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Wave Chief|A265|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Wave Knight|A2492|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Wave Regent|A210|2}}, {{ship|RFA|Wave Laird|A119|2}} and {{ship|RFA|Wave Conqueror|A245|2}} all served there in support of allied fleet units and task forces.{{cite book |last=Rottman |title=Korean War Order of Battle |pages=143–4}}

The class began to be retired from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in the late 1950s, with {{ship|RFA|Wave Commander|A244|2}} and {{ship|RFA|Wave Liberator|A248|2}} the first to be sold for scrapping in 1959. Most of the remaining vessels had been scrapped by the mid-1960s, but refits and modifications allowed several to continue in service until the mid-1970s, with Wave Chief the last to be retired, in 1974.

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• List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book |first=J.J.|last=Colledge |authorlink=J. J. Colledge|title=Ships of the Royal Navy: An Historical Index Volume 2: Navy-built Trawlers, Drifters, Tugs and Requisitioned Ships|publisher=David & Charles|location=Newton Abbot}}
• {{cite book |first=Gordon L|last=Rottman |title=Korean War Order of Battle: United States, United Nations, and Communist Ground, Naval, and Air Forces, 1950–1953|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2002|isbn=0-275-97835-4}}
• {{cite book |title=Jane's Fighting Ships of World War II|year=1989|publisher=Crescent Books|location=New York}}

{{Commons category|Wave class oilers}}

{{Wave class oiler}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wave Class Oiler}}

Category:Auxiliary replenishment ship classes

Wave