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 Herakles.[1]

History
Sweden
NameHerakles
NamesakeHerakles
BuilderCochrane & Sons, Selby, North Yorkshire[2]
Launched1965 [1]
FateSold
NotesUsed as a tug
United Kingdom
NameDan
FateSold in 1974 for £6,000[1]
NotesUsed as a tug
United Kingdom
NameHMS Wakeful
CommissionedApril 1974
Decommissioned30 October 1987
IdentificationPennant number A236
FateSold to Hellenic Salvage Tugboats
NotesUsed as a submarine target ship in the Clyde
Greece
NameAegean Pelagos
OwnerHellenic Salvage Tugboats
AcquiredJune 1988
Identification
General characteristics
Displacement
Length38.9 m (127 ft 7 in)[1]
Beam10.7 m (35 ft 1 in)[1]
Draught4.7 m (15 ft 5 in)[1]
Propulsion2 x 9-cylinder Ruston diesels, producing 4,750 hp (3,540 kW)[2]
SpeedApproximately 14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)[1]
Complement18[2]

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.[1] After a £1.6 million refit at Chatham in 1976, she was assigned to HMS Neptune as a submarine tender, target ship and tug.[2][1]

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.[1]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Moore, John Evelyn (1983). Jane's Fighting Ships 1983-84. p. 602. ISBN 0-7106-0774-1.