RFA Grey Rover (A269)

The RFA Grey Rover around the coast of South Georgia Falkland Islands, October 2005.
History
United Kingdom
Ordered:	January 1968
Builder:	Swan Hunter
Yard number:	7
Laid down:	28 February 1968
Launched:	17 April 1969
Commissioned:	10 March 1970
Decommissioned:	24 February 2006
Fate:	Sold for scrap
Status:	Scrapped
General characteristics
Class and type:	Rover class
Displacement:	16,160 tonnes 6,822 tonnes deadweight (DWT)
Length:	461 ft (140.5 m)
Beam:	63 ft (19.2 m)
Draught:	24 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsion:	2 × SEMT-Pielstick 16 PA 4 diesls 1 × shaft Bow thruster 15,360 hp (11.5 MW)
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h)
Range:	15,000 miles (24,000 km) at 15 knots (28 km/h)
Capacity:	3,000 m³ of fuel
Complement:	16 officers 31 ratings
Sensors and processing systems:	Sperry Marine Visionmaster radars and ECDIS. 1690 I band navigation radars
Electronic warfare & decoys:	2 × Corvus and 2 × Plessey Shield decoy launchers Graseby Type 182 towed torpedo decoy
Armament:	2 × Oerlikon 20 mm guns 2 × 7.62 mm machine guns
Aircraft carried:	Helicopter deck but no hangar

RFA Grey Rover (A269) was a Rover class small fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She was decommissioned in 2006.

Grey Rover was launched at the Swan Hunter yard, Hebburn on Tyne, on 17 April 1969. The Lady Sponsor was Lady Parker, the wife of Vice Admiral Sir John Parker KBE, CB, DSC who was Flag Officer Medway. She was completed on 10 April 1970 and accepted into service 3-months later than planned.

In September 1970, Grey Rover took over from Black Ranger as FOST tanker.

In July 1973, she was involved in a collision with the Canadian Submarine HMCS Okanagan resulting in the need to dry dock in Govan for repairs.

Between 17 June 1976 and 22 June 1976 she stood off the Lebanon to evacuate British nationals along with RFA Stromness and the frigates HMS Exmouth and HMS Mermaid.

During Operation Corporate (the Falklands War), Grey Rover was the only operational RFA tanker which remained in UK waters. She carried out RAS trials with STUFT ships en route to the Falkland Islands in the SW Approaches to the English Channel whilst herself based at Portland. The smallest vessel worked with was the trawler F/V Farnella and the largest was the liner RMS Queen Elizabeth 2.