Featured in Ships of the Royal Navy December
1980 - No. 301
| Facts and Figures |
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| Displacement: |
23,600 tons |
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| Length: |
603 ft |
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| Beam: |
79 ft |
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| Draught: |
29.5 ft |
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| Power: |
One eight-cylinder 8RND90 Sulzer diesel producing 23,200
bhp and driving a single shaft. |
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| Speed: |
22 knots |
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| Range: |
10,000 miles at 20 knots |
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| Complement: |
140 RFA personnel with accommodation for an aircraft
detachment of up to 63 RN personnel |
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| Aircraft: |
One Sea King helicopter with the capacity to carry up
to three more |
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Fort Austin Sails for the Gulf
Text from Ships Of The Royal Navy No. 301
One of the Royal Navy's newest support ships, RFA Fort
Austin, was this month joining British warships in the Gulf
of Oman. With the large fleet tanker RFA Olmeda she will supply
the destroyer HMS Brimingham and the frigate HMS Avenger which
were relieving HM ships Antrim and Naiad in the Gulf.
The Fort Austin left Plymouth on November 14 to make her contribution
to the Royal Navy presence, instituted as a precautionary
measure soon after the Iraq-Iran war began in September.
Like her sister-ship, RFA Fort Grange, the Fort Austin is
among the largest of the Navy's stores support ships, designed
to replenish warships with armament and supplies and to operate
in a nuclear environment.
The stores - including refrigerated goods - can be transferred
rapidly and in large quantities while underway. They are moved
to the transfer point by fork-lift trucks, pallet transporters
and electric lifts.
Electric deck cranes are fitted to assist in teh rapid loading
of the ship, while her ability to carry up to four Sea King
helicopters makes aerial replensihmnet possible.
Commisssioned in May last year, the Fort Austin is equipped
with the most advanced rigs to increase the control and speed
of transfer with greater safety and stability.
She is powered by a single Scott Sulzer diesel engine capble
of giving a speed of 22 knots with control from the centralised
machinery control room or direct from the bridge. A bow thruster
is fitted to give additional manoeuvrability in confined waters.
Her commanding officer is Capt J Logan.
READY FOR ANY TASK ...
Supplying the Fleet is a task as old as the Royal Navy itself.
It was not, however, until steam had replaced sail that the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary Service was formed.
It was officially constituted by Royal Charter in 1911 and
was at first a coal-bunkering and store-carrying service.
In the Second Worlk War RFAs served in every theatre of naval
operations, its officers and men distinguishing themselves
by their fortitude and loyalty.
Since then, off Suez, Cyprus, Iceland, Kuwait, Borneo and
in the Mozambique Channel the RFAS has added to its achievements
and, with the Royal Navy, has alwavys been ready for any task.
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