The Leaf class is a
class
Class or The Class may refer to:
Common uses not otherwise categorized
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of
support tanker of the
British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). The class is somewhat unusual as it is an amalgam of various civilian tankers chartered for naval auxiliary use and as such has included many different designs of ship. Leaf names are traditional tanker names in the RFA, and are recycled when charters end and new vessels are acquired. Thus, there have been multiple uses of the same names, sometimes also sharing a common
pennant number
In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...
.
The role of support tanker generally involves the
bulk transport of
fuel oil
Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil, marine fuel oil (MFO), bun ...
s between distribution centres, the replenishment of front-line fleet tankers such as the and classes and using their
replenishment at sea (RAS) abilities to allow them to directly support naval
warships. For RAS, Leaf-class ships have an amidships derrick allowing a single vessel on either beam and a single point for a vessel astern.
Ships
RFA ''Appleleaf''
* (1979–1989) (ex-''Hudson Cavalier'') – A79 – 40,200 tons, to
Royal Australian Navy as
* (1960–1970) – A83 – 22,980 tons
RFA ''Bayleaf''
* (1982–2011) (ex-''Hudson Progress'') – A109 – 37,700 tons, chartered originally for
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 ...
* (1959–1973) – A79 – 17,960 tons
RFA ''Brambleleaf''
* (1979–2009) (ex-''Hudson Deep'') – A81 – 40,200 tons
* (1959–1972) – A81 – 17,960 tons
RFA ''Cherryleaf''
* (1973–1980) – A82 – 18,560 tons
* (1960–1966) – A82
RFA ''Oakleaf''
* (1986–2009) (ex-''Oktania'') – A111 – 50,000 tons
RFA ''Orangeleaf''
* (1984–2015) (ex-''Balder London'') – A110 – 33,750 tons
* (1959–1978) – A80 – 17,470 tons
RFA ''Pearleaf''
* (1960–1985) – A77 – 25,790 tons
RFA ''Plumleaf''
* (1960–1985) – A78 – 26,480 tons
References
*
*
{{Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships
Auxiliary replenishment ship classes