Ordered in 1915, the 6 Admiralty-designed ships in this Class, also known as the TEXOL CLASS. were powerful twin screw ocean tankers which were very advanced for their day. Strangely enough, all of them were built by different shipyards. They were designed to act as Escorts on Atlantic Convoys during the First World War, whilst also bringing cargoes of oil fuel from the United States to Britain.
They were originally designed with names of oil-bearing countries with the OL suffix, but their military appearance and Naval names caused difficulties with the United States Neutrality Act. Various modifications were made and all 6 were then placed under the commercial management of Messrs Lane & MacAndrews Ltd with LEAF names in common with other converted ships running as Admiralty tankers under that firm’s management.
They were fitted with 6 Scotch boilers in two entirely separate boiler rooms without an inter-connecting door between them until eventually this was rectified which enabled them to then have a smaller complement of around 66 European or 90 Lascars. Unfortunately, they had a very heavy fuel consumption which exceeded 90 tons per day at full speed and they mostly ran on just 3 boilers at reduced speed thus cutting fuel consumption to around 33 tons per day.
With dimensions of around 425.0 (o.a.) x 54.5 x 28.5 ft, the ships were fitted with 4 very powerful cargo pumps with a pumping rate of 2000 tons per hour. They also had 4 cylindrical petrol tanks fitted in their summer tanks later in their careers, with a capacity of 47,000 gallons with a separate pumping system plus a considerable fresh water distilling plant too.
The Class consisted of
APPLELEAF (1) https://historicalrfa.uk/rfa-appleleaf-1/
BRAMBLELEAF (1)
CHERRYLEAF (1)
ORANGELEAF (1)
PEARLEAF (1) https://historicalrfa.uk/rfa-pearleaf/
and PLUMLEAF (1)
with BRAMBLELEAF (1) and PLUMLEAF (1) becoming WW2 casualties.
Appleleaf and Pearleaf saw extensive service in the Pacific, and the links after each ship name provide an excellent record of their activities.
In Game - Comments here are not intended to be a criticism of the developers work. Appleleaf is represented in the base game, but as a Dominion M Cargo class vessel. Pearleaf is not represented in the base game. Some mods may have these ships included.
Sources;
- The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society https://historicalrfa.uk/fast-leaf-class-oilers/
Appleleaf and Pearleaf are also mentioned in the Admiralty War Diaries https://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-3900Intro.htm
suits my mod and makes sure brave sailors are not forgotten.