Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service
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Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It 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. RFA personnel are civilian employees of the Ministry of Defence and members of the Royal Naval Reserve and Sponsored Reserves. Although RFA personnel wear Merchant Navy rank insignia with naval uniforms, they are part of the Royal Navy. RFA vessels ar ...
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United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and many smaller islands within the British Isles. Northern Ireland shares a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the United Kingdom is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. The total area of the United Kingdom is , with an estimated 2020 population of more than 67 million people. The United Kingdom has evolved from a series of annexations, unions and separations of constituent countries over several hundred years. The Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of England (which included Wales, annexed in 1542) and the Kingdom of Scotland in 170 ...
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British Merchant Navy
The Merchant Navy is the maritime register of the United Kingdom and comprises the seagoing commercial interests of UK-registered ships and their crews. Merchant Navy vessels fly the Red Ensign and are regulated by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). King George V bestowed the title of "Merchant Navy" on the British merchant shipping fleets following their service in the First World War; a number of other nations have since adopted the title. Previously it had been known as the Mercantile Marine or Merchant Service, although the term "Merchant Navy" was already informally used from the 19th century. History The Merchant Navy has been in existence for a significant period in English and British history, owing its growth to trade and imperial expansion. It can be dated back to the 17th century, when an attempt was made to register all seafarers as a source of labour for the Royal Navy in times of conflict. That registration of merchant seafarers failed, and it was not s ...
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RFA Sir Galahad (1966)
RFA ''Sir Galahad'' (L3005) was a Round Table class landing ship logistics ship, Round Table class landing ship logistics (LSL) vessel belonging to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom. The ship saw service in the Falklands War of 1982, where she was bombed and set afire at Fitzroy on 8 June. Background She was first managed for the British Army by the British-India Steam Navigation Company, before being transferred in 1970 to the RFA, and was manned by Hong Kong Chinese civilian crew. Design and construction The ''Sir Galahad'' was a 3,322-tonne LSL built by Alexander Stephen and Sons, Stephens and launched in 1966. She was built to merchant standards, which aided her destruction. She could carry 340 troops or, when necessary, 534 for short periods. Cargo capacity could include 16 Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked), light tanks, 34 mixed vehicles, 122 tonnes of fuel and 31 tonnes of ammunition. Landing craft could be carried in place of lifeboats, but unload ...
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Falklands War
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial dependency, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. The conflict began on 2 April, when Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders were killed during the hostilities. The conflict was a major episode in the protracted dispute over the territories' sovereignt ...
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Far East Fleet
The Far East Fleet (also called the Far East Station) was a fleet of the Royal Navy which existed between 1952 and 1971. During the Second World War, the Eastern Fleet included many ships and personnel from other navies, including those of the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States. On 22 November 1944 the Eastern Fleet was re-designated East Indies fleet and continued to be based in Trincomalee. Following its re-designation its remaining ships formed the British Pacific Fleet. In December 1945 the British Pacific Fleet was disbanded and its forces were absorbed into the East Indies Fleet. In 1952 The East Indies Fleet was renamed the Far East Fleet. After the Second World War the East Indies Station continued as a separate command to the Far East until 1958. In 1971 the Far East Fleet was abolished and its remaining forces returned home, coming under the command of the new, unified, Commander-in-Chief Fleet. Post-war After the war, the East Indies Fleet wa ...
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Underway Replenishment
Replenishment at sea (RAS) (North Atlantic Treaty Organization/Commonwealth of Nations) or underway replenishment (UNREP) (U.S. Navy) is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way. First developed in the early 20th century it was used extensively by the United States Navy as a logistics support technique in the Pacific theatre of World War II, permitting U.S. carrier task forces to remain at sea indefinitely. History Concept Prior to underway replenishment, coaling stations were the only way to refuel ships far from home. The Royal Navy had an unparalleled global logistics network of coaling stations and the world's largest collier fleet. This capability allowed the Navy to project naval power around the world and far from home ports. This had two disadvantages: the infrastructure was vulnerable to disruption or attack, and its use introduced a predictable pattern to naval operations that an enemy could exploit. Early attempts ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ...
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Coaling (ships)
The era of the steam warship powered exclusively by coal was relatively brief, lasting from 1871 until 1914. Although the French ironclad ''Gloire'' and the iron hulled in 1860 both had coal-fired boilers and funnels, their purpose was to provide additional speed in battle. Sails provided their main propulsion most of the time so, unlike , the first ship built without sails, these were not true steamships. Although much faster than sail, the lengthy refueling or coaling required by steam ships brought considerable additional risk to the ship and hardship to the crew. These drawbacks led to the replacement of coal by oil. Coal itself also required maintenance. Coal cannot be pumped and, once loaded, it had to be continuously moved to ensure bunkers nearest the boilers were always full should full power be suddenly needed. These problems were sufficiently serious for the Royal Navy to build as an oil-fired ship despite an abundance of coal and a shortage of oil in the United Kingd ...
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RFA Wave Ruler (A-390) Refueling USS Donald Cook (DDG 75)
Two ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by ... have borne the name RFA ''Wave Ruler'': * was a oiler launched in 1946, and scrapped in 1977. * is a tanker launched in 2001 and in service as of 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wave Knight, Rfa Royal Fleet Auxiliary ship names ...
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Landing Ship Dock
A dock landing ship (also called landing ship, dock or LSD) is an amphibious warfare ship with a well dock to transport and launch landing craft and amphibious vehicles. Some ships with well decks, such as the Soviet Ivan Rogov class, also have bow doors to enable them to deliver vehicles directly onto a beach (like a tank landing ship). Modern dock landing ships also operate helicopters. A ship with a well deck (docking well) can transfer cargo to landing craft in rougher seas far more easily than a ship which has to use cranes or a stern ramp. The US Navy hull classification symbol for a ship with a well deck depends on its facilities for aircraft – a (modern) LSD has a helicopter deck, an LPD also has a hangar, and an LHD or LHA has a full-length flight deck. History The LSD ( US Navy hull classification for landing ship, dock) came as a result of a British requirement during the Second World War for a vessel that could carry large landing craft across the seas at spee ...
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30mm DS30M Mark 2 Automated Small Calibre Gun
The 30mm DS30M Mark 2 is a ship-protection system made by MSI-Defence Systems consisting of a 30mm Mark 44 Bushmaster II cannon on an automated mount. It was designed to defend Royal Navy frigates from fast inshore attack craft armed with short-range missiles, rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns, or explosives. Description The DS30M Mark 2 system consists of a 30mm Mark 44 Bushmaster II on a fully automated mount or via manual control with an off-mount electro-optical director (EOD). The gun and the EOD can be controlled from a remote operator console elsewhere on the ship. The weapon is a gyro-stabilized, electrically operated, self-contained, single cannon mount featuring a choice of weapon, control mode and sights. It has low magnetic, radar and infrared signatures with good availability, reliability and maintainability (ARM).
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