Fort Victoria-class replenishment oiler

The Fort Victoria or Fort II class is a class of replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, a role that combines the missions of a tanker and stores supply ship.^[3] As such they are designated auxiliary oiler replenisher (AOR). They are tasked with providing ammunition, fuel, food and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world. There were two ships in the class, Fort Victoria and Fort George; the latter being taken out of service and despatched for scrapping at a Turkish breakers as a consequence of budgetary cutbacks.

Fort Victoria
Class overview
Name	Fort Victoria class
Builders	Harland & Wolff : Fort Victoria Swan Hunter : Fort George
Operators	Royal Navy
Preceded by	Fort Rosalie-class replenishment ship
Succeeded by	Fleet Solid Support Ship Programme
Built	1988–1991
In commission	1993–present
Planned	6
Completed	2
Cancelled	4
Active	1 (in extended readiness - uncrewed reserve)
Scrapped	1
General characteristics
Class and type	Replenishment oiler
Displacement	32,300 long tons (32,818 t) full load
Length	203 m (666 ft 0 in)
Beam	30 m (98 ft 5 in)
Draught	10 m (32 ft 10 in)
Propulsion	2 shafts, Crossley-Pielstick V-16 diesels, 23,904 bhp (17,825 kW)
Speed	20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	95 RFA / 15 RN / 154 FAA / 24 RNSTS civilians
Sensors and processing systems	Radar Type 993 3-D surveillance Kelvin Hughes Ltd SharpEye navigation radar[1]
Electronic warfare & decoys	NATO Seagnat countermeasures launchers Type 182 towed decoy
Armament	2 × 20 mm Phalanx CIWS 2 × 20 mm Oerlikon / BMARC KAA guns in GAM-B01 mounts (Sea Wolf SAM VLS; originally envisaged but never fit)[2]
Aircraft carried	Up to 5 × Sea King or Merlin helicopters (3 in hangar)

History

Fort Victoria in 2003

Six ships were initially planned to supply the Type 23 frigates in their North Atlantic anti-submarine role. The Type 23 was at the time planned to be a low cost, lightly armed vessel and the Fort-class ships were therefore expected to defend themselves with the Sea Wolf vertical launch surface-to-air missile (SAM).

The lessons of the Falklands War meant the Type 23 developed as a much more potent, multi-role vessel carrying the Sea Wolf missile.^[4][5][6] The requirement for the Fort class was reduced from six to two.

Fort Victoria was built by Harland & Wolff and Fort George by Swan Hunter and the ships entered service in 1994 and 1993 respectively.^[7] Fort Victoria was delayed when she was bombed by the IRA on 6 September 1990 and nearly sunk.^[8]

In the 2030s, the Fort Victoria-class will be succeeded by a new class of three solid support ships, under the Fleet Solid Support Ship Programme.

Class details

Name	Pennant	Builder	Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
Fort Victoria	A387	Harland & Wolff, Belfast/Cammell Laird[7]	23 April 1986[7]	4 April 1988[7]	12 June 1990[7]	24 June 1994, under "assisted maintenance" at Rosyth Dockyard[7]	Extended readiness (uncrewed reserve) as of 2025
Fort George	A388	Swan Hunter, Wallsend-on-Tyne[7]	18 December 1987[7]	9 March 1989[7]	1 March 1991[7]	16 July 1993[7]	Decommissioned April 2011 Scrapped 2013

See also

• List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
• Fort Rosalie or Fort I class RFA replenishment ships