RFA Fort Grange

DESCRIPTION

Accession NumberP386Title (extended title only)RFA Fort GrangeDescriptionUK Royal Fleet Auxiliary plaque – RFA Fort Grange (A385)
This plaque has a wooden base with a painted clay piece depicting the badge used by the RFA Fort Grange. The badge features a single piece of wheat coloured gold and outlined in a maroon colour. It is in front of a black circle and on top of the circle is a gold-coloured crown also outlined in a maroon colour. This is inside a pentagonal shape with a cream-coloured background. This is surrounded by a gold-coloured knot outlined in black and “FORTGRANGE” is written in black inside a gold-coloured rectangle. At the top of the plaque is the naval crown which features a ship with sails flanking it. At the bottom of the plaque is a gold-coloured ribbon which has “R. F. A. Fort Grange” written on it in black. There is a small blue paint mark at the top of the plaque.DateBetween 25th October 1986 and 30th October 1986ProvenanceThe RFA Fort Grange (A385) was a replenishment ship used by the UK Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The ship was ordered November 1971 and laid down 9 November 1973 by Scott Lithgow in Scotland. Scott Lithgow was a shipbuilding company founded in 1967 before being merged into British Shipbuilders in 1977. It was then acquired by Trafalgar House in 1984 and ceased trading in 1993. The namesake of the ship was Fort Grange, a Palmerston Fort in Gosport, England. The ship was launched 9 December 1976 and commissioned 6 April 1978. In May 200 it was renamed to RFA Fort Rosalie. The ship was withdrawn from service 31 March 2021 and was purchased by Egypt on October 2021 and renamed for a third time to ENS Abu Simbel. As of 2024 the ship is still in active service for the Egyptian Navy.
The only time RFA Fort Grange appears to have visited Fremantle, at least under its original name, was from 25-30 October 1986 as verified by a list of warship visits in 1986 provided by former Minister for Defence Senator Gareth Evans. It is unclear who the Commanding Officer of the ship was at this time. The mayor of the City of Fremantle at this time was John Cattalini, who held office from 1984-1994.
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS Warship Visits – Parliament of Australia Media – System Id – chamber/hansards/1987-04-28/0094 – Source: Senate – https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/chamber/hansards/1987-04-28/toc_pdf/S%201987-04-28.pdf
Relevance to the CityHelps show Fremantle's long association with the Royal Navy.

CollectionCivic Collection

INTERNAL

LocationCivic Collection

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