Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

DaveH wrote: ↑Fri Oct 29, 2021 10:10 pm How times fly Dave .

I served on the old Fort Rosalie in 1962-4 as the Third Radio Officer when on the Far East Fleet Pool ... Her , The old Retainer and the old Fort Charlotte

Happy days .

Hymns ancient and modern come to mind!

UK sells Royal Navy ships to Egypt for first time in 30 years

The UK Defence Equipment Sales Authority (DESA) has sold the retired Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships Fort Austin and Fort Rosalie to Egypt.UK sells Royal Navy ships to Egypt for first time in 30 years.

The UK Government has hailed the landmark deal as part of its Global Britain vision.

DESA is part of Defence Equipment and Support, the Ministry of Defence’s (MOD) procurement arm, and is responsible for the disposal of the UK Armed Forces’ surplus military equipment and vehicles.

Both the Royal Navy Solid Support Ships were taken out of service earlier this year. The new lease of life could support UK jobs, with refurbishment works to be carried out before the vessels are exported.

A UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) source confirmed to Global Defence Technology that the company in negotiations with Egypt for the refurbishment work is Cammell Laird. The British shipbuilding company was formed in 1828.

Defence Procurement Minister Jeremy Quin said: “Fort Austin and Fort Rosalie played an important role in sustaining our naval fleet for decades and I thank all involved in their essential work.

“Both the UK and Egyptian navies continue to strengthen relations to maintain peace and security in the region. As we nod to the past service of these ships, we can also look forward to the exciting future of welcoming our new Fleet Solid Support Ships.”

The deal is part of the £24bn investment announced last year in efforts to develop defence exports and investments to advance the Global Britain agenda. The move also signs the UK’s commitment to counter evolving threats, as outlined in the MOD’s Integrated Review and Defence Command Paper.

Head of DESA Clive Walker said: “DESA is exceptionally happy to be working with the Egyptian Navy on the regeneration of two former Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships.

Attached - Three Royal Navy ships take part in a Replenishment at Sea or RAS. From left RFA Fort Austin, RFA Fort Victoria and HMS Illustrious are pictured transferring stores and fuel. Credit: UK MOD

Link from Tim.

RFA Fort Victoria out of Cammell Laird shipyard this morning on completion of 6-month refit.

See - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 6144646146

And - https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 3366949890

The Vic is back in business

Upgrades complete RFA Fort Victoria has returned to sea and is looking head to operations in 2023.

Read more at: https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... n85Q8EZHj4

Navy struggling to keep RFA Fort Victoria operational

RFA Fort Victoria, the UK’s only vessel capable of providing solid stores logistic support to the Carrier Strike Group has been non-operational since late 2021 with mechanical and crewing issues putting a question mark over her future.

Fort Vic returned to the UK from the CSG21 deployment in mid-December 2021. She had served as a key component of the group, conducting 44 replenishments at Sea, transferring 27,000 tonnes of fuel and 350 tonnes of ammunition, food and spares. She also hosted three Merlin Mk4 helicopters of 845 Naval Air Squadron and conducted 635 deck landings.

After de-storing at Crombie, she off-loaded oil at Loch Striven and returned to Plymouth in January 2022, spending 4 months alongside until heading to Birkenhead to begin refit in May 2022. On completion of refit at Cammell Laird, she left the Mersey in December and returned to Plymouth. At the time, the RN stated the ship was “looking forward to a jam-packed 2023” and her Captain said she would be “…supporting the Carrier Strike Group 23 deployment”. She remained in Devonport for another 4 months until April 2023 when she left South Yard and then swung around a buoy in Plymouth Sound until 15th May when she sailed for Portland.

The MoD now has to pay expensive fees to keep ships in Portland harbour (a facility it once owned) so long stays in the Dorset port are avoided when possible. Fort Vic will likely soon be on her way to Leith Docks where she will retain a skeleton crew and be used for training at least until the end of this year. The 2022 refit does not seem to have resolved the significant defects which are believed to include the compressors. (The pneumatic systems are an important aspect of a ship, providing high-pressure air for various functions which include starting the main and auxiliary engines, valve control and many other operations.)

See - https://www.navylookout.com/navy-strugg ... erational/ - Note last paragraph:

"Putting off the replacement of naval vessels for short-term savings, results in old ships staggering on with patchy availability while becoming a money pit that absorbs resources needed elsewhere. The result of decades of cuts and detrimental in-year budget cycles, this is a lesson that the MoD is continually unable to apply to its long-term planning."

RFA Fort Victoria arrived in Leith docks yesterday - likely to be laid up for the rest of this year at least.

https://twitter.com/NavyLookout/status/ ... 5288426498

Reminder - https://www.navylookout.com/navy-strugg ... erational/

RFA Fort Victoria - UPDATE

Now in Leith being maintained by small crew but is mechanically sound and in an emergency could support an unplanned CSG deployment, although this would require taking crews from other RFA vessels that currently have higher priority.

The planned work on her at Cammell Laird next year is primarily to bring firefighting & munitions handling safety equipment up to increasingly stringent modern standards.

Intended she will regenerate ready to deploy with HMS PWLS on CSG25 to Asia Pacific.

Combined Fleet stores, Ammunition and Fleet Oiler, Fort Class RFA Fort Victoria pictured at Leith on June 13th 2023, she is being maintained by a skeleton crew but is mechanically sound and in an emergency could support an unplanned CSG deployment.

RFA Fort Victoria sailed from Leith today to continue her lay up in Birkenhead, pending further work at Cammell Laird.