The RFA flotilla
The mainstay of the current Royal Fleet Auxiliary
flotilla are the tankers. There are three classes of tankers
in service, the fast fleet tankers of the Wave class, the
small fleet tankers of the Rover class and the slower
support tankers of the Leaf class.
...The new Bay boats
are the replacements for the old
Sir boats....
The Stores vessels in the fleet are the four Fort class
ships RFA Austin, George, Rosalie, and Victoria.
Two of the most unique ships in the fleet are the repair
vessel RFA Diligence and the aviation training ship RFA
Argus.
RFA Argus also doubles as the Primary Casualty Receiving
Ship. Essentially the ship functions as a kind of hospital
ship.
The final ships in the fleet are the ones that are most
likely to expose themselves directly to enemy fire. The
Round Table class LSLs (Landing Ship Logistics) supplement
the amphibious assault ships that are commissioned warships
in the Royal Navy. One of the class, RFA Sir Galahad, was
sunk in the Falklands War, and the current ship of that name
is a replacement for the sunk vessel built after the war.
The RFA is a mixture of old and new vessels. The Wave class
tankers are new vessels, only coming into service in 2003.
However, the other tankers are a great deal older, and are
scheduled to be replaced with new double hulled vessels over
the next few years. The stores ships are relatively modern,
and so will not need replacing until the second decade of
the 21st century.
The Bay Class boats are the replacements for the old Sir
boats, the last of which was the RFA Sir Bedivere, and she was placed on the disposal list in April of 2008.
The current RFA fleet includes the following ships:
Fleet replenishment ships
RFA Fort George ,
RFA Fort Austin ,
RFA Fort Rosalie ,
RFA Fort Victoria
Aviation Training/Primary Casualty Receiving Ship.
RFA Argus
Repair Ship
RFA Diligence
Fast Fleet Tankers
RFA Wave Knight ,
RFA Wave Ruler
Small Fleet Tankers
RFA Gold Rover ,
RFA Black Rover ,
RFA Grey Rover awaiting disposal in Portsmouth.
Fleet Support Tankers
RFA Bayleaf ,
RFA Orangeleaf , both
RFA Oakleaf and
RFA Brambleleaf are awaiting disposal in Portsmouth.
LSDA’s
RFA Cardigan Bay ,
RFA Largs Bay,
RFA Lyme Bay,
RFA Mounts Bay A list of all rfa ships can be found here.
Current plans for the decommissioning of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessels are as
follows:
Orangeleaf 2009
Brambleleaf 2009 (went 2 years early in 2007)
Gold Rover 2009
Bayleaf 2010
Oakleaf 2010 (went 3 years early in 2007)
Black Rover 2010
Sir Bedivere 2011 (went 3 years early in 2008)
Fort Rosalie 2013
Fort Austin 2014
Diligence 2014
Fort Victoria 2019
Fort George 2019
Argus 2020
Wave Ruler 2028
Wave Knight 2028
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