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RFA Bacchus (A404)

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RFA Bacchus
History
RFA EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameRFA Bacchus
NamesakeBacchus
BuilderHenry Robb, Leith
Laid down18 April 1961
Launched4 June 1962
In service8 November 1962
Out of service8 September 1981
Identification
FateScrapped 1985
General characteristics
Tonnage4,823 gross register tons (GRT)[1]
Displacement2,740 long tons (2,780 t) (light), 7,958 long tons (8,086 t) (full load)[1]
Length350 feet (110 m) pp, 350 feet (110 m) overall[1]
Beam55 feet (17 m)[1]
Draught22 feet (6.7 m) max[1]
PropulsionSwan Hunter-Sulzer SRD68 5-cylinder diesel engine on one shaft, 5,500 bhp (4,101 kW)[1]
Speed15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)[1]
Range720 tons fuel oil[1]
Complement57[1]

RFA Bacchus (A404) was a stores ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was the third ship to bear this name.

Built by Henry Robb of Leith for the British-India Steam Navigation Company (later P & O) and operated by the RFA on a long-term bareboat charter. She was designed to carry naval stores from UK to overseas Naval bases, she pioneered containerisation with "Chacons", small wooden containers developed at Chatham Dockyard.[2]

Bacchus was returned to her owners on 1 October 1981, and renamed Cherry Lanka on 6 November 1981. She scrapped at Gadani Beach on 31 December 1985.[3]

Her sister-ship, RFA Hebe (A406) caught fire and was a constructive total loss in 1978 in Gibraltar.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Moore, John E, ed. (1974). Jane's Fighting Ships. London: Jane's Yearbooks. p. 364. ISBN 0354005065.
  2. ^ "RFA Bacchus - Historical RFA". historicalrfa.org. 24 October 2008. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
  3. ^ "Bacchus (5033454)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 18 December 2020.