''Cantabria'' (A15) is a Combat Supply Ship operated by the

Spanish Navy The Spanish Navy or officially, the Armada, is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces and one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Spanish Navy was responsible for a number of major historic achievements in navigation, ...

. Acquired to provide

logistical support Logistics is generally the detailed organization and implementation of a complex operation. In a general business sense, logistics manages the flow of goods between the point of origin and the point of consumption to meet the requirements of ...

for the Spanish fleet, ''Cantabria'' was commissioned in 2010. ''Cantabria'' is the second-largest naval ship currently operated by the Spanish, behind .

Design and construction

''Cantabria'' is a replenishment oiler, referred to in Spanish as a ''Buque de Aprovisionamiento en Combate'' (''BAC''; Supply Ship in Combat). She was acquired to provide

to the Spanish Navy during day-to-day operations, expeditionary forces or strategic projection deployments, and for humanitarian and disaster relief operations. The vessel has a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics * Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 19,500 tons, is in length, has a beam of , and a draught of . Propulsion is provided by two diesel engines, supplying to a single propeller shaft, which is fitted with a controllable-pitch propeller. ''Cantabria'' has a maximum sustained speed of , and a range of . The ship's

complement A complement is something that completes something else. Complement may refer specifically to: The arts * Complement (music), an interval that, when added to another, spans an octave ** Aggregate complementation, the separation of pitch-clas ...

is 122. The ship's capacity includes of ship fuel, of

JP-5 Jet fuel or aviation turbine fuel (ATF, also abbreviated avtur) is a type of aviation fuel designed for use in aircraft powered by gas-turbine engines. It is colorless to straw-colored in appearance. The most commonly used fuels for commercial av ...

jet fuel, of fresh water, 280 tons of ammunition, and 470 tons of general cargo. The fuel storage areas are double-hulled. ''Cantabria'' can replenish three ships simultaneously; one on each side, plus a third via a stern refueling station. She can carry three Agusta-Bell AB.212, two

Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King The Sikorsky SH-3 Sea King (company designation S-61) is an American twin-engined anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopter designed and built by Sikorsky Aircraft. A landmark design, it was one of the first ASW rotorcraft to use turboshaft en ...

, or two NHIndustries NH90 helicopters to perform

vertical replenishment Vertical replenishment, or VERTREP, is a method of supply of seaborne vessels by helicopter. The United States Department of Defense defines VERTREP as: ...the transfer of cargo between ships using helicopters. VERTREP is often used to supplement ...

. ''Cantabria'' was laid down in the dry dock of shipyard of

Puerto Real Puerto Real () is a seaport in Andalusia, in the province of Cádiz. , it had a population of 40,667. The town is located on the northern shore of the inner lobe of the Bay of Cádiz, on the site of the ancient Roman settlement of Portus Gad ...

, Cadiz, on 18 July 2007; the first ship to be built there in 30 years. The ship was launched by floating on 21 July 2008, and was sponsored by Aurora Diaz Abella, the wife of Miguel Ángel Revilla, the President of the Autonomous Community of Cantabria. The ship underwent

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s in the Bay of Cadiz from October to December 2009. She was commissioned into the Spanish Navy on 29 September 2010. The original budget was €213m but the final cost was €238m.

Export

The design has been evaluated by foreign buyers. Canada approached Navantia to provide a design for the

Joint Support Ship Project The ''Protecteur'' class (formerly known as the ''Queenston'' class) of naval auxiliaries for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) began as the Joint Support Ship Project, a Government of Canada procurement project for the RCN that is part of the Nat ...

based on ''Cantabria'', but Navantia's proposal was not successful, with Canada eventually selecting an alternative German design based on the . The Norwegian Navy has also expressed interest, but they have announced an order for a replenishment ship from South Korean shipbuilder DSME. Australia considered the design for their replacement tankers, with Navantia competing against the Aegir variant of the built by South Korea's

DSME Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd ( ko, 대우조선해양; abbreviated DSME) is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk Group (M ...

in a restricted tender competition. Navantia's proposal based on ''Cantabria'' was announced as the successful design in the Australian tender in March 2016, with an expected in service date for the first of two vessels to be known as HMA Ships ''Supply'' and ''Stalwart'' of late 2019. The two vessels will be known within the Royal Australian Navy as the ''Supply'' class.

Operational history

Between 2 and 5 July 2012, ''Cantabria'' participated alongside the frigates , , and , the submarine , and

AV-8B The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) AV-8B Harrier II is a single-engine ground-attack aircraft that constitutes the second generation of the Harrier family, capable of vertical or short takeoff and landing (V/STOL). The aircraft is primaril ...

s of the 9th naval air squadron during exercise MAR-22 on the Atlantic coast of Galicia. RAN-IFR 2013 D2 02

On 3 July 2012, the Australian and Spanish governments signed an agreement to deploy ''Cantabria'' in support of the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...

during 2013. The ship operated in Australian waters from February to November 2013, was used to provide replenishment support to the Australians while the oiler underwent maintenance. While in Australian waters, ''Cantabria'' performed 63 replenishments, including of fuel, was involved in the first

of an by an MRH-90 helicopter, and participated in the

International Fleet Review 2013 The International Fleet Review 2013 was a review that took place on the week 3 to 11 October 2013, as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the entry of the first Royal Australian Navy fleet in Sydney Harbour, on 4 Octob ...

. The deployment also allowed over 300 Australian personnel to train on systems similar to those in the Spanish-designed and -class ships being acquired, and allowed the Royal Australian Navy to evaluate the design as a possible replacement for its replenishment vessels. In 2015 the Canadian and Spanish governments concluded a deal where and ''Cantabria'' would deploy with Canadian naval forces as their replenishment vessel in 2016. This would be done primarily for training missions. ''Cantabria'' would be made available to the

Royal Canadian Navy The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...

from mid-September to November 2016.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantabria (A-15) Ships of the Spanish Navy Ships built in Spain 2008 ships Auxiliary replenishment ship classes