The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by providing fuel and stores through replenishment at sea, transporting Royal Marines and British Army personnel, providing medical care and transporting equipment and essentials around the world. In addition the RFA acts independently providing humanitarian aid, counter piracy and counter narcotic patrols together with assisting the Royal Navy in preventing conflict and securing international trade. They are a uniformed civilian branch of the Royal Navy staffed by British merchant sailors. The RFA is one of five RN fighting arms.
RFA Tidereach (A96) was a Tide-class replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She entered service in August 1955 and served until March 1978.
RFA Eddybeach (A132) was an Eddy class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom. The ship mainly saw service in the Mediterranean, quite often at Gibraltar where it functioned as a water carrier. In 1964 Eddybeach was disposed of by sale to Greece.
RFA Eddycliff (A190) was an Eddy-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Eddycreek (A258) was an Eddy-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Eddyrock (A198) was an Eddy-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Eddyreef (A202) was an Eddy-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Eddyfirth (A261) was an Eddy-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom.
RFA Spapool (A222) was a Spa-class coastal water carrier of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Rowanol (A284) was an Ol-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Eddyness (A295) was an Eddy-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom, built by the Blyth Shipbuilding Company, in Blyth, Northumberland, England and launched in 1953. She was taken out of service at the beginning of 1963 and was eventually broken up at Valencia, Spain, in 1970.
Two ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have borne the name RFA Oakol:
The Eddy-class coastal tankers were a series of eight replenishment oilers used by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. They were built from 1951–1953 tasked with transporting and providing fuel and other liquids to Royal Navy vessels and stations around the world.
The Tide-class tanker (formerly the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability (MARS) project) is a class of four fast fleet tankers that entered service with the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary from 2017. The 37,000 t ships provide fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world. Norway ordered a similar 26,000 t version with a 48-bed hospital and greater solid stores capacity, but reduced liquid capacity; it was delivered in November 2018 as HNoMS Maud two years after originally planned. The two classes are very similar but are not directly comparable due to large variance in capabilities delivered.
RFA Darkdale was a Dale-class fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), launched on 23 July 1940 as Empire Oil, completed in November 1940 and transferred to the RFA as Darkdale. She was sunk during the Second World War on 22 October 1941 by the German submarine U-68. Her wreck in James Bay off Jamestown, Saint Helena continued to leak oil, posing a potential environmental threat to the coastal waters of Saint Helena, until Ministry of Defence divers drained the ship's tanks in 2015.
The T1 tanker or T1 are a class of sea worthy small tanker ships used to transport fuel oil before and during World War II, Korean War and Vietnam War. The T1 tanker classification is still in use today. T1 tankers are about 200 to 250 feet in length and are able to sustain a top speed of about 12 knots. The hull designation AO is used by the US Navy to denote the ship is a T1 oil tanker and AOG that the T1 is a gasoline tanker. The small size allows the T1 to enter just about any sea port or to anchor around a small island, this was very useful during the Pacific War. The T1 tanker can carry about 48,000 to 280,000 bbls. Some T1 tankers were used to transport goods other than oil, a few were used for black oil-crude oil, diesel, chemicals and rarely bulk cargo like grain. T1 tankers are also called liquid cargo carriers. The T1 tanker has about a 6,000 to 35,000 deadweight tonnage (DWT) of cargo. The small size also gives the ships short turn around time for repair, cleaning, loading and unloading. A T1 tanker carrying dirty cargo, like crude oil needs a few weeks of labor to clean before carrying clean cargo. Most T1 ships during World War II were named after major oil fields.
RFA Birchol (A127) was an Ol-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was built by the Lobnitz & Co Ltd shipbuilding company and launched on 19 February 1946. She served until being decommissioned in February 1965 and was scrapped at Antwerp from September 1969 onwards.
RFA Teakol (A167) was an Ol-class coastal tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. She was built by the Lobnitz & Co Ltd shipbuilding company and launched on 14 November 1946. She served until being decommissioned in February 1965 and was scrapped at Antwerp from September 1969 onwards.
The Ol-class coastal tankers were a class of harbour or port oilers used by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the naval auxiliary fleet of the United Kingdom. They were built between 1945–46 and served for just over twenty years.
United Kingdom 