In the RFA supplement in the September issue there is a photo taken in 1945 of HMS Scylla refuelling from a tanker by the abeam method, and the inference is that this was an innovation in the RN and was copied from the Americans.

Enclosed is a photo which I took on 13 June 1937 from the cruiser HMS London just off Gibraltar. It shows the destroyer HMS Hereward coming alongside to refuel abeam.

Who copied from whom?

(Editor’s Notes: HMS Scylla was a Dido class cruiser completed in 1942. She was 6,850 tons displacement and armed with 10 x 5.25 inch guns, anti-aircraft guns and torpedo launchers. She was broken up in 1950. HMS London was the lead ship of the London group of County class cruisers, completed in 1929. She was 13,220 tons displacement and armed with 8 x 8 inch guns. She was broken up in 1950. HMS Hereward was a destroyer of the “G”, “H” and “I” classes, launched in 1936. She was 1,890 tons displacement and was armed with 4 x 4.7 inch guns and 8 torpedo tubes. She was sunk on 29 May 1941 by an airborne torpedo.)