RFA Retainer

RFA Retainer (A329) was an armament support ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

History
United Kingdom
Laid down	11 October 1948
Launched	19 January 1950
Commissioned	July 1954
Decommissioned	April 1978
Identification	IMO number: 5293470
Fate	Demolished at Barcelona on 29 October 1979
General characteristics
Displacement	14,400 tons full load
Length	477 ft 2 in (145 m)
Beam	62 ft 2 in (19 m)
Draught	25 ft .75 in (8 m)
Propulsion	6-cylinder Scott-Doxford diesel engine
Speed	15 knots
Aircraft carried	Fitted with a small landing platform

Built by Scotts of Greenock as Chungking, a cargo/passenger liner for the China Navigation Co. Both Chungking and her sister vessel Changchow (later RFA Resurgent lost their initial purpose due to the Communist revolution. Chartered for a year and a half to the French Messageries Maritimes, they were purchased by the British Admiralty in 1952.^[1]

In 1959, Retainer was used with the missile trials ship HMS Girdle Ness for trials of replenishment at sea with the new Seaslug missile.^[2]