RFA Brambleleaf at Portsmouth Harbour
History
United Kingdom
Name	RFA Brambleleaf
Ordered	30 April 1973
Builder	Cammell Laird, Birkenhead
Laid down	23 July 1974
Launched	22 January 1976
Commissioned	20 February 1980
Out of service	September 2007
Identification	IMO number: 7342029
Honours and awards	Falklands 1982, Al Faw 2003
Fate	Scrapped August 2009
General characteristics
Class and type	Leaf-class tanker
Displacement	40,870 t (40,225 long tons) full load
Length	170.7 m (560 ft 0 in)
Beam	25.9 m (85 ft 0 in)
Draught	11 m (36 ft 1 in)
Propulsion	2 Crossley-Pielsticks pc 2 v14 on one shaft
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement	56 RFA

RFA Brambleleaf (A81) was a Leaf-class support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Originally built as MV Hudson Deep she was chartered by the Ministry of Defence in 1980.

Operational history

In April 1982, Brambleleaf was diverted from Armilla patrol duties in the Persian Gulf for service during the Falklands Conflict. Due to damage sustained due to severe weather, Brambleleaf transferred her cargo to RFA Tidespring off South Georgia and returned to the UK for repairs during May prior to returning to the South Atlantic in June, and again in August.^[1]

On 18 November 1983, Brambleleaf sailed along with the assault ship HMS Fearless to support Operation Offcut, providing naval support for British troops in the multi-national force in Lebanon.^[1]

In 2003, Brambleleaf was one of 13 RFA ships deployed in support of the second Gulf War.^[1]

On 18 August 2009 she was towed to Ghent for scrapping.^[1]