The ''Fort Rosalie'' or Fort class of fleet replenishment vessel of the

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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 ...

were designed to replenish

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

taskgroups with various armaments and victualling stores while under way. Unlike the bigger , they supply dry stores and not fuel. RFA ''Fort Rosalie'' was originally known as ''Fort Grange'' but was renamed in 2000 to avoid confusion with the new ''Fort Victoria''-class replenishment oiler . Both ships were withdrawn from service and later sold in 2021.

Design

They have the capacity to store of stores, including refrigerated items, in four

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. They are capable of

replenishment at sea 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 develope ...

(RAS), using three 10-ton and three 5-ton cranes and vertical replenishment (VERTREP). For the latter role there are generous flight facilities; a single spot

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, an emergency landing platform atop the

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

and a complement of up to four (but usually one)

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helicopters and the requisite maintenance facilities. As such, they are often used for aviation training.

History

Two ships were ordered in 1971, with the first entering service in 1978. Both ships saw service in the

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 de ...

, the then ''Fort Grange'' being shadowed by

Argentine Air Force "Argentine Wings" , mascot = , anniversaries = 10 August (anniversary) 1 May (Baptism of fire during the Falklands War) , equipment = 139 aircraft , equipment_label = , battles = * Operation Independence * Operation Soberanía * Falklan ...

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aircraft while still from the combat area and ''Fort Austin'' being attacked while sitting in

San Carlos Water San Carlos Water is a bay/fjord on the west coast of East Falkland, facing onto the Falkland Sound. Name Despite its Spanish-sounding name, there is a wide discrepancy with the Spanish usage, for in Spanish "Estrecho de San Carlos" refers to ...

. ''Fort Austin'' supported the British intervention in Sierra Leone in 2000. ''Fort Austin'' was mothballed in 2009 but was reactivated following the 2010 SDSR at the expense of . Both ''Fort Rosalie'' and ''Fort Austin'' have had major refits at

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

to enable another decade of service. In 2011 it was announced that the service lives of ''Fort Austin'' and ''Fort Rosalie'' would be extended by another two years to 2023 and 2024 respectively. They will ultimately be replaced by the new Solid Support Ships. As of June 2020, both ships were reported to be in either reduced (base maintenance period) or extended readiness (unmanned reserve) with replenishment rigs not compatible with the s. The 2021 defence white paper announced that both ships of the class would be decommissioned and eventually replaced by new Fleet Solid Stores Support Vessels. In May 2021, both ships were put up for sale to be

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

. The notice for recycling was subsequently withdrawn, and in October 2021 it was announced by the Defence Equipment Sales Authority and

Defence Equipment and Support Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) is a trading entity and joint-defence organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence. It began operating on 2 April 2007, following the merger of the MoD's Defence Procurement Agency and the Defence Logistics ...

that both ships of the class had been sold to the

Egyptian Navy The Egyptian Navy ( ar, القوات البحرية المصرية, El-Quwwāt el-Bahareya el-Miṣriyya, Egyptian Navy Forces), also known as the Egyptian Naval Force, is the maritime branch of the Egyptian Armed Forces. It is the largest navy ...

, with refurbishment work expected to be undertaken by

prior to their export. While awaiting their refit, it was reported that ''Fort Austin'' would be renamed ENS ''Luxor'' and ''Fort Rosalie'' would be renamed ENS ''Abu Simbel''.

Design

History

Ships

References

Further reading