HMS Wakeful (A236)
HMS Wakeful was a support vessel of the Royal Navy from 1974 to 1987. She was built as an ocean-going tug by Cochrane & Sons, in Selby in 1965, and first served as a Swedish civilian tug under the name Heracles, or a variant thereof.[2]
| History | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Heracles |
| Namesake: | Heracles |
| Builder: | Cochrane & Sons, Selby, North Yorkshire[1] |
| Launched: | 1965 [2] |
| Fate: | Sold |
| Notes: | Used as a tug |
 | |
| Name: | Dan |
| Fate: | Sold in 1974 for £6,000[2] |
| Notes: | Used as a tug |
 | |
| Name: | HMS Wakeful |
| Commissioned: | April 1974 |
| Decommissioned: | 30 October 1987 |
| Identification: | pennant number A236 |
| Fate: | Sold to Hellenic Salvage Tugboats |
| Notes: | Used as a submarine target ship in the Clyde |
 | |
| Name: | Aegean Pelago |
| Owner: | Hellenic Salvage Tugboats |
| Acquired: | June 1988 |
| Identification: |
|
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | |
| Length: | 38.9 m (127 ft 7 in)[2] |
| Beam: | 10.7 m (35 ft 1 in)[2] |
| Draught: | 4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)[2] |
| Propulsion: | 2 x 9-cylinder Ruston diesels, producing 4,750 hp (3,540 kW)[1] |
| Speed: | Approximately 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)[2] |
| Complement: | 18[1] |
The ship acted as part of the Fishery Protection Squadron in the North Sea for several years, but was eventually replaced when enough Island-class patrol vessels were available.[2] After a £1.6 million refit at Chatham in 1976, she was assigned to HMS Neptune as a submarine tender, target ship and tug.[1][2]
She was replaced by HMS Sentinel, and decommissioned on 30 October 1987. She was sold to the Greek firm Hellenic Salvage Tugboats in June 1988, having sailed from Portsmouth for Greece the previous month, on 6 May 1988.[2]
References
- Jane's Fighting Ships 1983-84. p. 602. ISBN 0-7106-0774-1.
- Olver, Jeremy (17 February 2001). "HMS Wakeful - Submarine Support Vessel". Royal Navy Postwar. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2011.