The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet, owned by the MOD, which supports Royal Navy ships around the world, supplying warships with fuel, ammunition and supplies. The RFA fleet is fully integrated into the RN’s command and control system and forms a vital part of maritime operations.
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Atlantic, Caribbean & USA
09:14 GMT - 19 June 2013
Atlantic, Caribbean & USA
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Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Vessels in Action
RFA Fort Victoria
Fort Victoria was ordered from Harland and Wolff in 1986, and was launched in 1990 and is designated as an Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ship. She was dedicated by HRH the Duchess of York on the 24th June 1994. Fort Victoria regularly deploys on exercises to such places as America, The Middle East and The Mediterranean.
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RFA Fort Victoria
Fort Victoria was ordered from Harland and Wolff in 1986, and was launched in 1990 and is designated as an Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment (AOR) ship. She was dedicated by HRH the Duchess of York on the 24th June 1994. Fort Victoria regularly deploys on exercises to such places as America, The Middle East and The Mediterranean.
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RFA Wave Knight
RFA Wave Knight (A389) is a Wave Knight-class fast fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She was launched in 2000 and accepted into service in 2003. She is the second ship to bear this name in RFA service. Wave Knight and her sister, Wave Ruler, replaced the elderly Olna and Olwen, 36, 000 ton fast fleet tankers built at Swan Hunter and Hawthorn Leslie respectively in the 1960s.
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RFA Orangeleaf
The ship began life as a merchant vessel, MV Balder, London, before joining the RFA Fleet. She had a major refit in 1985 which fitted her with gantries and other equipment, enabling her to carry out replenishment at sea (RAS). She is a single-hull tanker with a cargo capacity of 22,000 cubic metres of diesel, 3,800 cubic metres of Avcat (aviation fuel) and a limited capacity for refrigerated and general naval stores.
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RFA Black Rover
RFA Black Rover is one of two Small Fleet Tankers owned and operated by the UK Ministry of Defence (sister ship is RFA Gold Rover). Built by Swan Hunters and launched in 1973, Black Rover has served all over the world in support of UK and Allied Maritime Forces. Her primary role is to replenish other Naval units at sea with diesel and aviation fuel.
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RFA Cardigan Bay
Cardigan Bay is a Bay class ship, an adaptation of the Dutch Rotterdam class, and replaced the ageing ‘Sir’ class of RFA ships. These highly agile and useful ships are integral to the delivery of a responsive Royal Navy which can deploy anywhere in the world. They can also work in support of the Royal Marines and can assist in disaster and humanitarian relief, for example supporting the UN effort in Haiti following the earthquake.
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RFA Argus
The principal role of RFA Argus is to serve as a Primary Casualty Receiving Facility (PCRF). She has a fully equipped 100-bed hospital onboard offering full services. This includes a four-bay Operating Theatre coupled with a 10-bed Critical Care Unit, a 20-bed High Dependency Unit and a CT scanner.
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RFA Diligence
Forward Support is that element of Naval Operational Logistics by which the military capability of Fleet Force Elements can be sustained away from UK base ports in war fighting or non war fighting environments. RFA Diligence is a sophisticated, multi-purpose ship, fitted with a wide range of workshops for hull and machinery repairs, as well as the facilities for supplying electricity, water, fuel, air, steam, cranes and stores to other ships and submarines.
Latest News from the RFA
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Royal Navy recipients in Queen’s birthday honours list17/06/2013
A cross section of naval personnel have been recognised for their public service in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List 2013.
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Black Rover remembers her wartime forebears in Atlantic tribute10/06/2013
Sailors from tanker RFA Black Rover paid tribute to their forebears when their ship paid a brief visit to a remote Atlantic island. The crew smartened the war memorial on Jamestown, St Helena, where the names of 41 crew of the tanker RFA Darkdale, killed when she was torpedoed by a U-boat, are commemorated.
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RFA Gold Rover returns home31/05/2013
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Gold Rover, a Small Fleet Tanker, has returned to Plymouth today after nearly two years on deployment keeping warships on station at sea.
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Trials begin on state-of-the-art demonstrator for next generation ships31/05/2013
Trials have started on a new facility at HMS Raleigh which will be used to prove equipment for the Queen Elizabeth Class Aircraft Carriers and future Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) vessels. The Heavy Replenishment-at-Sea (HRAS) demonstrator is being used to simulate the transfers of bulk stores and munitions to the new Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Carrier from a RFA ship while underway at sea.
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Mine forces show of strength as they unite in Gulf22/05/2013
More than a dozen warships and auxiliaries – four of them British – joined forces in the Gulf haze at the half-way stage of the biggest mine warfare exercise ever held in the Middle East. The force mustered – including command ship RFA Cardigan Bay and minehunters HMS Shoreham, Ramsey – comprises nearly the half the participants in the exercise which ends on Friday.
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