Lesser-Known Ships of the Pacific War - RFA Belgol Class

[Kohler]

Another thread dealing with Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels. This time the Bergol Class tankers.
There were ten tankers in this class, which could each hold about 2000 tons of fuel. Five of the ships were named after Allied countries, while the others were given names indicating power or speed, and all names ended with -ol. Three of the ships (Francol, Montenol, Serbol) had upright funnels with a single tall mast close by, while the others had a raking funnel and two raking masts. During World War II, the main masts of the ships were removed. Four of the ships were sunk.
2000 Ton Class. Built 1917 -1918. 2226dwt. 342 x 41 x 25 feet. Steam triple expansion with 3 boilers. Capable of 15 - 16 knots.
Another source states Belgol-class, X.58 (1.18). Launched 23.4.17 Gray. 4900 tons, 355(oa), 320(pp)x41x20ft. TE 3375ihp, 14kts
15 - 16 knots seems quite fast for what are essentially yard oilers, but I cant find any additional sources that mention speed.

RFA Belgol https://historicalrfa.uk/rfa-belgol/
RFA Celerol
RFA Fortol
RFA Francol https://historicalrfa.uk/rfa-francol-ship-information/
RFA Montenol
RFA Prestol
RFA Rapidol https://historicalrfa.uk/rfa-rapidol/
RFA Serbol https://historicalrfa.uk/rfa-serbol/
RFA Slavol
RFA Vitol

The Ranger class were designed by Rowland Baker and were intended to replace the “Belgol” class of 2,000 ton tankers, however as their was a distinct lack of tanker capacity during the war, the “Belgol” class remained in service throughout the war. Several Belgol Class tankers saw service in the Pacific, and the links after each ship name provide a record of their activities.

In Game - Francol is represented in the base game, but as a ETC Type M tanker. Some mods may have these ships included.

Sources;
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary Historical Society https://historicalrfa.uk/
RFA Nostalgia https://ships.rfanostalgia.org/RFA-TANKERS/WW1/2000-Ton
Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgol-class_tanker

[Cavalry Corp]

Kohler

Nice work.

From the pictures, I would say these are about the 2000 mt mark, but a shade bigger than YO.
See what you think.

I corrected Francol to this class (seems wrong in game), and added Belgol and Serbol to my mod - very much in keeping with the start of the war .

Added Vitol as an early arrival in April 42.

Any comments, please advise as to release the new massive Art and general update, but these caught the bus !

belgScreenshot 2025-09-02 131824.png (733.69 KiB) Viewed 439 times

[LargeSlowTarget]

Added Vitol as an early arrival in April 42.

Why? That ship was mined and sunk on 7 March 1918.

[Cavalry Corp]

Its a Mod But just for you, should I make it one of the others? Slavol was sunk after the mod starts. How about that?

I also have Titanic in my Mod lol.

Cav

[wernerpruckner]

You can ad RFA Celerol as in a Mod arriving end of 45

4 December 1945 arrived at Port Said

6 December 1945 at Suez

10 December 1945 arrived at Aden sailing the next day

17 December 1945 arrived at Abadan from Devonport

18 December 1945 sailed Abadan

1 January 1946 arrived at Singapore

4 January 1946 sailed Singapore

[wernerpruckner]

there is a huge number of RFA tanker/oiler that where in the Pacific one time or another (from the book: Ready for Anything: the Royal Fleet Auxilliary from 1905 to the Korean War: The Royal Fleet Auxiliary from 1905 to the Korean War)

Nucula
Ruthenia
Olna
Northmark
Appleleaf
Cherryleaf
Orangeleaf
Pearlleaf
Belgol
Celerol
Francol
Rapidol
Serbol
Distol
Ebonol
Kimmerol
Scotol
War Afridi
War Hindoo
War Krishna
War Sidar
Olcades
Olynthus
Olwen
Arndale
Broomdale
Bishopdale
Cedardale
Derwentdale
Dingledale
Echodale
Eaglesdale
Easedale
Ennerdale
Brown Ranger
Gold Ranger
Green Ranger
Wave Sovereign
Wave Conquerer
Wave Duke
Wave Emperor
Wave Governor
Wave King
Wave Monarch
Wave Protector
Wave Regent
Birchol
Oakol
Rowanol

[wernerpruckner]

I also like the amount of Norwegian tanker that were involved in the Pacific (10of them were sunk and one was laid up)

Alcides
Anders Jahre
Athos
Basilea
Beau
Belita
Brajara
Bramora
Brazil
Britannia
Buccinum
Chr.Th.Boe
Dalfonn
Drafn
Egda
Egero
Elise
Elsa
Erling Brovig
Europa
Evita
Falkefjell
Fenris
Ferncastle
Finnmark
Fosna
G.C.Brovig
Gard
Garonne
Gefion
Grena
Gylfe
Hammerfest
Havfru
Havkong
Havprins
Havsten
Herborg
Hilda Knudsen
Hoegh Hood
Hoegh Merchant
Hoegh Scout
Ima
India
Jotunfjell
Kaia Knudsen
Kaptein Worsoe
Kirkenes
Kongsdal
Kong Sverre
Liss
Madrono
Maridal
Marina
Marit
Marit II
Minister Wedel
Mosli
New Zealand
Noravind
Nordanger
Norden
Norfjell
Norfold
Norholm
Norsol
Nyholm
O.B.Sorensen
Ohio
Ora
Pan Aruba
Pan Europe
Pan Scandia
Peik
Polarsol
President de Vogue
Scotia
Seirstad
Skandinavia
Skotaas
Soli
Solor
South America
Stiklestad
Storaas
Storanger
Strix
Suderholm
Thelma
Thordis
Thorshavn
Torborg
Vardefjell
Vera
Vivi
William Strachan
Osthav

[Cavalry Corp]

That's a lot of ships... Yes, it would be fun to add a few other nations I have Portuguese and Polish in my mod - some of these names I think I recognise from the game, so we have to be mindful about duplication - wish you had just 3 or 4

can you provide details on any interesting ones we know are missing from the game or not simulated by other ships which is trickier.

Plus, in the end, we have to consider the volume going onto the map???

Cav

[Kohler]

Poking around in the vast reaches of the forum, I found a couple threads that help explain the capacities and tonnages in the game or at least clarify it for me.
For tankers/oilers specifically;
https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopic.php?t=162658
So using JWE's approx. 85% of Dead weight tons makes the capacity of the Belgol class 1900 (2226 dwt x 0.85)
and tonnage in general;
https://forums.matrixgames.com/viewtopi ... 5#p2075535
This one is tougher because the stats for many ships are nearly impossible to come by. I looked for a similar ship and found the British Sovereign
https://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/B-Ship ... n1917.html
Built the same year, close to the same dimensions and has a game tonnage of 4610. I then found an online calculator for displacement
https://www.calculatorultra.com/en/tool ... lator.html
and compared the two ships on that figure. That puts the game tonnage of the Belgol at approx. 3200.
Seems like a lot of ship just to carry 2000ish tons of bunker fuel. But these aren't actually small ships, my previous comment about them being not much more than yard oilers was not accurate. Gladly welcome any comment's and/or corrections.

[Cavalry Corp]

Kohler

Thanks for this - I am going to mediate and put their tonnage up a bit . But in line with other ships, perhaps 2500 as a medium, cargo as 1900 that looks about right, and again in line with a lot of other stuff in game . That said, much of the stuff in game logic eludes me . But it works for the system, so I will follow more of what the designers have put out there.

Cav

[Kohler]

Thats all reasonable. After beating my head against the wall with ship tonnage, I may add my own ship to the RFA Bergol class, the Dammitol

[Kohler]

One last bit of information on the Belgol Class, I came across a couple of accounts of the sinking of the Francol in February 1942 while trying to make passage from Java to Australia;

https://historicalrfa.uk/the-loss-of-rfa-francol/

https://muntokpeacemuseum.org/?page_id= ... ere%20sunk.

[dani765]

Wow, this is a really detailed breakdown of the Belgol class tankers! I didn’t realize how much variation there was even within a single class of ships — like how Francol, Montenol, and Serbol had upright funnels and a different mast setup compared to the others. The speed part also caught my eye, because 15–16 knots does feel a little surprising for ships mainly designed as yard oilers. It almost feels like they had to strike that tricky balance between being able to keep up with fleets and still carrying enough fuel to make themselves useful.

It actually made me think of https://stickwarlegacymodes.com/ in a funny way. In that game, every unit has its own role and “stat spread.” Some are fast but fragile, others are strong but slow, and the best strategies come from mixing them in the right way depending on the situation. Reading about these tankers reminds me of that same kind of design trade-off. You wouldn’t want all your ships (or all your units) to be super fast but too lightly built, and you wouldn’t want them all to be heavy but too slow to react either. The Allies clearly needed both endurance and some level of mobility — just like when you balance Swordwrath for offense with Speartons for defense.

Also, the fact that these older Belgol tankers kept serving throughout WWII, even though newer designs like the Ranger class were supposed to replace them, feels very much like when you still use a “basic” unit in the late game because it fills a niche that nothing else quite covers. Sometimes the tried-and-true workhorses stick around much longer than expected, both in history and in games.

Really enjoyed reading this thread — it gave me both a bit of naval history insight and some unexpected strategy parallels!