The Wave-class tankers are a class of fast fleet tankers in service with the

Royal Fleet Auxiliary 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 RF ...

. The class is tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

vessels around the world. There are two ships in the class, and . The ships were ordered to replace the aging s and . The two vessels have seen service in a number of locations, including anti-drug and hurricane relief operations in the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, anti-piracy activities around the

Horn of Africa The Horn of Africa (HoA), also known as the Somali Peninsula, is a large peninsula and geopolitical region in East Africa.Robert Stock, ''Africa South of the Sahara, Second Edition: A Geographical Interpretation'', (The Guilford Press; 2004), ...

, and deterrent patrols in the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

. As of early 2022, both ships were earmarked for "extended readiness" status (i.e. uncrewed reserve). In November 2024, the newly elected Labour government indicated that both ships would be removed from service by March 2025.

History

A contract was placed for the vessels in 1997 with

Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Limited (VSEL) was a shipbuilding company based at Barrow-in-Furness, England that built warships, civilian ships, submarines and armaments. The company was historically the Naval Construction Works of Vicke ...

(Marconi Marine VSEL). Construction of ''Wave Knight'' began in 1998 at VSEL's

Barrow-in-Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town and civil parish (as just "Barrow") in the Westmorland and Furness district of Cumbria, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the county of Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borou ...

yard and the ship was launched in 2000. With the acquisition of

Marconi Electronic Systems Marconi Electronic Systems Limited (MES), or GEC-Marconi as it was until 1998, was the defence arm of General Electric Company (GEC). It was split off from GEC and bought by British Aerospace (BAe) on 30 November 1999 to form BAE Systems. GEC ...

and its Marconi Marine subsidiary in 1999

British Aerospace British Aerospace plc (BAe) was a British aircraft manufacturer, aircraft, munitions and defence-systems manufacturer that was formed in 1977. Its head office was at Warwick House in the Farnborough Aerospace Centre in Farnborough, Hampshire. ...

became

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

. BAE now owns VSEL in Barrow and the

Yarrow ''Achillea millefolium'', commonly known as yarrow () or common yarrow, is a flowering plant in the family Asteraceae. Growing to tall, it is characterized by small whitish flowers, a tall stem of fernlike leaves, and a pungent odor. The plan ...

and

Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...

shipyards on the Clyde. BAE transferred the construction of ''Wave Ruler'' to Govan in 2000 and the vessel was launched in 2001. Both vessels were commissioned in 2003.

Design

The ships have the capability to supply fuel and other liquid cargo to vessels using replenishment rigs on port and starboard beams and through a Hudson reel-type stern rig. When providing support for amphibious operations, the ships are also able to deliver fuel to dracones positioned alongside. The equipment load includes cranes (for stores handling and abeam replenishment), steering and rudder gear, thyristor-controlled winch/windlasses and double drum mooring winches. Up to of liquids and of general solids can be carried. In addition, reverse-osmosis equipment is fitted enabling the production of of drinkable water per day. The vessels were designed with

double hull A double hull is a ship hull design and construction method where the bottom and sides of the ship have two complete layers of watertight hull surface: one outer layer forming the normal hull of the ship, and a second inner hull which is some di ...

s to prevent or reduce environmental pollution from oil spills if damage is sustained to the outer hull. The ships can operate a Merlin HM1 helicopter, or other helicopters of similar size, from a hangar and flight deck at the stern. On deployments to Atlantic Patrol Task (N) they have typically embarked a Royal Navy

Lynx A lynx ( ; : lynx or lynxes) is any of the four wikt:extant, extant species (the Canada lynx, Iberian lynx, Eurasian lynx and the bobcat) within the medium-sized wild Felidae, cat genus ''Lynx''. The name originated in Middle Engl ...

or a

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and Admiralty law, law enforcement military branch, service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight Uniformed services ...

helicopter. The vessels have a standard crew of 80 Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel with provision for a further 22 Royal Navy personnel to conduct helicopter and weapons systems operations. They carry a full medical team and sick bay and are capable of distributing 2,000 emergency relief packages in times of crisis.

Construction programme

Future

In June 2018 it was reported by the Brazilian press that the UK MoD had offered to sell one or both of the Wave-class tankers to

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. As early as 2010, BAE Systems had proposed providing Brazil with a variant of the Wave-class, tailored to meet the specific aviation, stores and personnel requirements of the

Brazilian Navy The Brazilian Navy () is the navy, naval service branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces, responsible for conducting naval warfare, naval operations. The navy was involved in War of Independence of Brazil#Naval action, Brazil's war of independence ...

. As of June 2020, ''Wave Ruler'' was reported to be in extended readiness (uncrewed reserve) but maintained in good condition and available for reactivation. In February 2022, it was reported that both tankers of the class would be kept in "extended readiness". In June 2023, one report suggested that due to manning shortages in the RFA, both ships would be decommissioned and potentially sold abroad. However, in the same month James Cartlidge, the Minister of State, Ministry of Defence, stated that both ships were to be retained in extended readiness until 2028 with the option of potentially reactivating them if required. On November 20th 2024 Secretary of State for Defence John Healey announced that both Wave class would be decommissioned to save costs.

Gallery

File:RFA Wave Knight (A-389).jpg, ''Wave Knight'' prepares to transfer fuel to the amphibious assault ship during a replenishment at sea. File:RFA Wave Ruler (A390).jpg, ''Wave Ruler'' underway with a

Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin helicopter embarked File:Wave Ruler refuels Robert G Bradley.jpg, ''Wave Ruler'' (background) refuels in the Pacific Ocean. File:US Navy 070409-N-5459S-082 From right to left, RFA Wave Ruler (A390), USS Mahan (DDG 72), CS Almirante Latorre (FFG 14), FGS Sachsen (F 219), and USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG 58) navigate together in formation during an exercise.jpg, ''Wave Ruler'' (foreground), , ''Almirante Latorre'', ''Sachsen'', and navigate in formation. File:RAF Wave Knight replenishing French frigate Germinal.jpg, ''Wave Knight'' resupplying French frigate ''Germinal''.

References

External links

Video of RFA ''Wave Ruler'' (A390) near Plymouth on 9 October 2009.
{{Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships Auxiliary replenishment ship classes Wave Knight Auxiliary ships of the United Kingdom