RFA Bayleaf 1982 - 2011 Plymouth 2008. DMG.
Laid down as Hudson Sound, was registered in the name of owner Lombard Leasing Services Ltd and was completed as Bayleaf. She was commissioned into RFA service on 26 March 1982, having effectively been purchased by the MoD, but the leasing arrangement continued. She returned to Devonport on 31 August 1982 after her maiden voyage to the Falklands. On 16 September 2002, when supporting Royal Navy and Allied warships in the Persian Gulf, rescued six sailors from the Guinea-registered cargo ship Falcon. Normally deployed in the Gulf. From October 2008 to June 2009, major refit at Birkenhead.
Over a career spanning 29 years RFA Bayleaf has sailed 1.4 million miles supporting ships worldwide, conducting over 5,000 replenishment serials.
She has supported UK and Coalition warships through the Falklands conflict, bothGulf wars, humanitarian operations and an unprecedented 12 years as the Arabian Gulf Ready Tanker. Victim of the SDSR, taken out of service April 2011.