RFA Bacchus (A404)

For other ships with the same name, see RFA Bacchus.

RFA Bacchus (A404) was a stores ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was the third ship to bear this name.

RFA Bacchus
History
United Kingdom
Name	RFA Bacchus
Namesake	Bacchus
Builder	Henry Robb, Leith
Laid down	18 April 1961
Launched	4 June 1962
In service	8 November 1962
Out of service	8 September 1981
Identification	IMO number: 5033454 Pennant number: A404
Fate	Scrapped 1985
General characteristics
Tonnage	4,823 gross register tons (GRT)[1]
Displacement	2,740 long tons (2,780 t) (light), 7,958 long tons (8,086 t) (full load)[1]
Length	350 feet (110 m) pp, 350 feet (110 m) overall[1]
Beam	55 feet (17 m)[1]
Draught	22 feet (6.7 m) max[1]
Propulsion	Swan Hunter-Sulzer SRD68 5-cylinder diesel engine on one shaft, 5,500 bhp (4,101 kW)[1]
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)[1]
Range	720 tons fuel oil[1]
Complement	57[1]

Built by Henry Robb of Leith for the British-India Steam Navigation Company and operated by the RFA on a long-term bareboat charter. She was designed to carry naval stores from UK to overseas naval bases, she pioneered containerisation with "Chacons", small wooden containers developed at Chatham Dockyard.^[2]

Bacchus was returned to her owners on 1 October 1981, and renamed Cherry Lanka on 6 November 1981. She scrapped at Gadani Beach on 31 December 1985.^[3]

Her sister-ship, RFA Hebe (A406) caught fire and was a constructive total loss in 1978 in Gibraltar.