RFA Bayleaf (A109) was a Leaf-class support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom, which served with the fleet for 30 years, tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.
She was involved in the Falklands War in 1982, the Gulf War in 1991, and from January 2003 to April 2003 she was deployed for Operation Telic (Op TELIC), the codename for the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq. Bayleaf had three Leaf-class sisters , and and all four were originally designed as commercial tankers and underwent major conversions to bring them up to RFA standards and equip them for naval support.
She was the third Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel to bear the name.
Construction
Bayleaf was one of four ships ordered from Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in 1973, and laid down in 1975 as the Hudson Sound. When the ordering company ran into financial difficulties, the ships were laid up, and later were offered for sale or charter. The ship was finally launched on 27 October 1981, the Lady Sponsor was Mrs Angela Pritchard, the wife of Mr K Pritchard, Director General of the Naval Stores and Transport, Ministry of Defence (MoD). In January 1982 Captain A.E. Hunter, RFA, was appointed as Master and between 20 and 23 March she ran trials and when completed on 25 March she was then bareboat chartered to the MoD and renamed Bayleaf.
Operational history
1980s
She was almost immediately put into active service, and sailed to Gibraltar and Ascension Island en route for service in "Operation Corporate" – the Falklands War – in company with the Royal Navy's amphibious warfare ship . She arrived at the Total Exclusion Zone on 9 June 1982, finally returning to HMMB Devonport on 31 August.
thumb|left|Bayleaf underway during exercise "Distant Drum", in 1983.
In December 1982 she sailed from Plymouth to Liverpool and entered refit, exiting in March 1983, then sailed back to Plymouth to re equip. Bayleaf spent two weeks in April undergoing Basic Operational Sea Training (BOST) at Portland and then spent May in the Mediterranean taking part in Exercise “Distant Drum”. Between June and August, Bayleaf sailed from HMNB Portsmouth to Singapore and back, via Port Said and Bahrain. By the end of 1983 she was back in Gibraltar.
On 5 September 2002 she provided humanitarian aid, rescuing five crew from the Guinean cargo ship MV Falcon which sank in the Indian Ocean, and landed them at Dubai.
From January to April 2003 she was deployed on Operation Telic – the Second Gulf War. On 7 April 2009, Captain Charles F. Simmons, RFA, was appointed as commanding officer and on 5 June she sailed from Birkenhead, on completion of the refit, to HMNB Devonport. Later in June Bayleaf sailed to Loch Striven, a sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, to undertake various trials there. On 17 July, Captain (X) Nigel Budd, RFA, was appointed as commanding officer.
On 20 October 2010, Captain Charles F. Simmons, RFA, was appointed as commanding officer and Bayleaf continued with various duties until 13 February 2011 when she sailed from Dubai eventually arriving at HMNB Portsmouth on 15 April 2011.
LEYAL Ship Recycling Ltd, a Turkish company, were awarded preferred bidder status for the disposal of the vessel in 2012. Following this, the ex-RFA Bayleaf was towed out of Portsmouth on 2 August 2012. She arrived in Aliağa, Turkey, on 22 August where the ship was broken up. On 10 December it was reported she had been dismantled and recycled, taking four months to complete.
Battle honours
On 12 April 1985 RFA Bayleaf was awarded her Falkland Islands 1982 Battle honour by Mrs Angela Pritchard, wife of Director General Stores and Transport (Navy) (DGST (N)).
See also
- Bristol Group
- List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary