Heavy Repair Ship ordered from Vickers Armstrong at Barrow
on 16th February 1927 under the 1926/27 Estimates and launched on 27th November
1928. She was intended for use as an Accommodation Ship as well as to provide
repair services for warships if dockyard facilities could not be used. The 2nd RN warship to bear this name, introduced for a 6th
Rate in 1778. The designed complement of 581 included repair staff but this
increased during WW2. The ship displaced
12,300 tons and had an overall length of 530 feet with a beam of 83 ft and a
draught of 22 feet 4 inches at full load.. Her steam
turbines drove two shafts with Shaft Horsepower of 7,500 and gave a speed of 15
knots. Four 4in Low Angle gun mountings were fitted on build.
B a t t l e H o n o u r
s
EGYPT
1801- FALKLAND
ISLANDS
1982*
(* See Post War
Notes.)
H e r a l d
i c D a t
a
Badge:
On a Field
Blue, a Sea-Unicorn Silver horned Gold.
M o t t o
Passim Ut Orim: 'Everywhere as of yore'
S u m m
a r y o f W a r S e r v i c
e
(for more ship information,
go
to
Naval History Homepage
and type name in Site Search
1 9 3 9
September Deployed at Malta for support of
ships of Mediterranean Fleet
to
December
1 9 4 0
January
Malta deployment in continuation.
to Transferred to Freetown for temporary duty pending
arrival
of permanent facility.
December Returned to Mediterranean after
arrival of HMS EDINBURGH CASTLE.
1 9 4 1 t o 1 9 4 3
Mediterranean support in
continuation. based at Alexandria
1 9 4 4
Mediterranean support duties in continuation.
Transferred
to Trincomalee for service with Eastern Fleet
Nominated for service in Pacific.
1 9 4 5
January Eastern Fleet support in
continuation
to
March
April Passage to Join British Pacific Fleet.
May Deployed at US Navy
Forward Base, Leyte with HM Depot Snips ARTIFEX and TYNE.
Provided
repair facilities for British Pacific Fleet after completion of first phase of
attacks
on Sakishima-Gunto airfields
(Operation ICEBERG ONE. See THE FORGOTTEN FLEET by J
Winton.) and WAR
WITH
JAPAN
(HMSO)
June Passage to British
base at Manus, Admiralty Islands.
Deployed at Manus with Feet Train for support and accommodation
service.
July Manus service in
continuation.
to
August
P o s
t W a r N o t e s
HMS RESOURCE returned to UK after VJ Day and was deployed
as Senior Officer's ship in the Reserve Fleet at Portsmouth until 1951 when she
was Paid-Off. The ship was placed on the Disposal List in 1953 and was sold to BISCO the next year for demolition by TW Ward.. She arrived in tow at the breaker’s yard in Inverkeithing
near Rosyth during February 1954. This name was carried forward
in 1966 when used for a Fleet Replenishment Ship
of
the Royal Fleet Auxiliary which served during the Falklands conflict and was
awarded the Battle Honour FALKLAND ISLANDS 1982.