"Significant moment": First steel cut for "innovative" RFA Resurgent to support HMS Prince of Wales on ops
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Construction of support ships to aid Royal Navy aircraft carrier operations has begun.
The steel has been cut for the “innovative” RFA Resurgent, the first of the next-generation Fleet Solid Support Ships (FSS). Commanded by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA), the ships will provide munitions, stores, and provisions to Royal Navy task groups.
RFA Tidespring and RFA Tideforce played a vital role during Operation Highmast, where they allowed for HMS Prince of Wales and her escorts in the UK Carrier Strike Group to conduct their exercises with less stops for replenishment.
Commodore Sam Shattock, Commodore RFA, said: “The ship is innovative, to meet the latest environmental protection standards and designed from the bottom up to deliver maritime sustainment as efficiently as possible. The construction will provide impetus to the UK shipbuilding industry, supporting jobs and local economies at the various construction and assembly locations in the UK. I’m excited to watch this ship join the RFA flotilla and demonstrate its capabilities in due course. A true warfighting enabler for the Royal Navy of tomorrow.”
The push to support an ailing force
The state of the RFA has been an ongoing concern. Several of its ships have been left alongside in Birkenhead, Merseyside, and else due to a lack of personnel. Staffing levels have been declining slowly for several years. The government issued a long-awaited pay rise for personnel in a bid to boost morale, but other problems persist.
Many of the vessels are ageing and are in need of replacing. RFA Argus remains alongside Portsmouth after her safety certification was taken away, making her unsafe to go to sea. The decision on whether to scrap her is being considered.
King Charles III has approved the names of the new vessels, which are being built by Navantia UK in collaboration with Harland & Wolff, BMT and A&P Appledore. Only RFA Resurgent’s name has been revealed so far.
Keith Bethell, director of maritime environment for Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), said: “This is a significant moment for everyone involved in the delivery of this programme. The Fleet Solid Support ships represent a major investment in the RFA's ability to support frontline naval forces globally. Each vessel will serve as a crucial supply link for carrier-led operations, proudly built by skilled workers brought together for this shared mission.”
The £1.6bn Fleet Solid Support programme – which creates 1,200 shipyard jobs – will be undertaken across three sites. At Appledore the bow sections of all three ships will be made – the forward 50 metres of each vessel containing crew accommodation and ship systems. In Cadiz in Spain, Navantia will manufacture the central section of the ships, a 120-metre section with the main machinery, stores and operational systems.
This will be brought together with the stern section at the Harland & Wolff yard in Belfast for final assembly, creating the 216-metre vessels. RFA Resurgent is the first in class and is a name that has been held by one ship previously, a merchant ship converted to a fleet replenishment ship in 1957 and decommissioned in 1979.