Wave Class Oilers

Originally built for the Ministry of Transport (MoT) with the "Empire" prefix. At the end of the Second World War they transferred to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) and adopted "Wave" names. Five were built by Laing at Sutherland, three by Harland & Wolff at Glasgow and twelve by Furness Shipbuilding Co.at Teeside. Wave Baron, Wave Chief and Wave Ruler were used as replenishment tankers, while the others were employed as freighters.

The Wave Class had a standard displacement of 8,200 tons and a full displacement of 16,650 tons. They measured 465.25ft in length, 64ft in breadth and 68ft in draught and had a speed of 15 knots. Wave Liberator had a slightly different bridge. Wave Baron, Wave Chief, Wave Commander, Wave Conqueror, Wave Duke and Wave Laird were fitted with Metrovick type geared turbines while the others had Parson type geared turbines.

Ship	Previous Name	Pennant	Builder	Launched
Wave Baron	Empire Flodden	A242	Furness S.B. (Tees)	February 19th 1946
Wave Emperor			Furness S.B. (Tees)	October 16th 1944
Wave Governor			Furness S.B. (Tees)	November 30th 1944
Wave Liberator	Empire Milner		Furness S.B. (Tees)	February 9th 1944
Wave Premier			Furness S.B. (Tees)	June 27th 1946
Wave Protector	Empire Protector		Furness S.B. (Tees)	July 20th 1944
Wave Regent			Furness S.B. (Tees)	March 29th 1945
Wave Ruler	Empire Evesham	A212	Furness S.B. (Tees)	January 17th 1946
Wave Sovereign		A211	Furness S.B. (Tees)	November 20th 1945
Wave Victor	Empire Bounty		Furness S.B. (Tees)	September 30th 1943
Wave King		A264	Harland & Wolff (Govan)	April 6th 1944
Wave Monarch			Harland & Wolff (Govan)	July 6th 1944
Wave Chief	Empire Edgehill	A265	Harland & Wolff (Govan)	April 4th 1946
Wave Duke	Empire Mars	A246	Laing	November 16th 1944
Wave Knight	Empire Naseby	A249	Laing	October 22nd 1945
Wave Laird	Empire Dunbar	A119	Laing	April 3rd 1946
Wave Prince	Empire Herald	A207	Laing	July 27th 1945
Wave Master	Empire Salisbury	A193	Laing	May 20th 1944
Wave Commander	Empire Paladin		Furness S.B. (Tees)	April 21st 1944
Wave Conqueror	Empire Law		Furness S.B. (Tees)	November 27th 1943

Above: A fine view of RFA Wave Prince (A207) off the West Australian Coast, taken from the Royal Yatcht Britannia (see Wave Prince history below). Photograph courtesy of Ted Dynes.

Above: A Wave Class tanker (left) refuels the aircraft carrier HMS Hermes (right). Photograph courtesy of Ted Dynes.

Ship	History
Wave Chief	Launched at Govan in 1946 as the Empire Edgehill, but entered RFA service as Wave Chief. Ran aground in Jahore Straits and suffered damage to bottom of her hull. Served in the Korean War and the First Cod War (1958-61). Decommissioned in 1974, the last of her class, and scrapped at Inverkeithing..
Wave Ruler	Launched 17th January 1946 and completed within a year. Participated in the Christmas Island nuclear tests and the Fisheries Dispute. In 1953 she ran aground at Swansea. She became a oil depot ship at Gan Island in 1971 (replacing Wave Victor) and was sold in 1975.
Wave Protector	Broken up in Italy in 1963.
Wave Knight	Served in the Korean War and the First Cod War. Broken up in Antwerp in 1964.
Wave Duke	Sold for scrap in 1964 . Chris White informs "The Wave Duke had been laid up 'on the trot' off Rosyth at least in 1961/2 (when I was in Rosyth on the Wave Ruler and Tideflow and also when I went up to Grangemouth on the Fort Beauharnois). She remained laid up (but it is assumed capable of being brought back into full service) until she was placed on the disposal list and then scrapped."
Wave Baron	Refitted and modernised 1961-2. Sold for scrap in 1972.
Wave Prince	Refitted and modernised 1961-2. Sold for scrap in 1971.Ted Dynes recalls "I joined her in Southampton as a Boy Rating in April '62 after she had a short refit. I learned that she had spent most of the previous 6 months with a flotilla on goodwill visits to South American countries and participating in RAS and Exercising between visits. During this cruise there had been some civil disturbance in British Guianna and some of the flotilla crews were sent ashore armed with batons to quell rioters. From refit we embarked with a flotilla on a Baltic Goodwill cruise then a West Africa Goodwill Cruise and then RAS'ed and Exercised with the home fleet around the British coastline till November 62 when we went into North Shields for a good spruce up. Early December 62 we sailed out of Portsmouth with a flotilla which included Royal Yatch Britannia, spent Christmas in Jamica and New Year in Panama and the next 4 months RAS'ing and exercising in the South Pacific. The Queen and Prince Phillip joined us in Fiji and commenced their 1963 tour of New Zealand and Australia,they departed from the flotilla towards end of May 63 at Perth West Australia. We continued on working through South and East Africa areas the Far East and Mid East Areas and returned to UK in October 63. In all a wonderful adventure and a rewarding introduction to the work ethic for a young lad. I enjoy and relive many memories through the RFA site. Thanks a million Ted."
Wave Victor	Loaned to the Air Ministry for use as a fuelling hulk at Gan Island. Later replaced in this role by Wave Ruler and scrapped in 1971.
Wave Commander	Involved in a collision in the Straits of Gibraltar in 1954. Scrapped in 1959.
Wave Liberator	Scrapped in 1959.
Wave Conqueror	Sold 1960.
Wave King	Scrapped in 1966.
Wave Protector	Served as an oil hulk at Malta before being scrapped.
Wave Regent	Broken up.
Wave Master	Disposed 1963.
Wave Sovereign	Scrapped 1966.
Wave Emperor	Scrapped in 1966.

______________________________________________________________________________________________