A proud British maritime tradition is taking another step into the future, as the keel is laid for the first of three new Royal Fleet Auxiliary support ships, while the names of her two sister vessels are revealed.
Three powerful names for three ships which will help keep the Royal Navy supplied and sustained across the world’s oceans.
RFA Resurgent, RFA Reliant and RFA Resourceful will form Britain’s new generation of Fleet Solid Support ships, providing the munitions, food, stores, spares and other essential supplies needed to sustain Royal Navy warships at sea.
This week, the programme reached an important milestone on British soil.
The keel of the first vessel, RFA Resurgent, was laid at Navantia UK’s historic Appledore shipyard in North Devon on September 3, marking the formal start of the ship’s assembly.
During the ceremony, Commodore Sam Shattock, Head of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, revealed for the first time that the second and third vessels will be named RFA Reliant and RFA Resourceful.
The occasion fell, appropriately, on Merchant Navy Day and included a maritime tradition stretching back generations, with a coin welded to the keel by a Navantia UK apprentice.
Commodore Shattock described the significance of the occasion, saying:
“Today represents the moment when vision becomes reality, when plans and drawings come to life, effectively becoming the ship’s birthday.”
He added:
“RFA Resurgent’s name speaks of renewal, resilience and the ability recover stronger from challenge. Those qualities are reflected not only in the ship itself, but also in the people who will design, build, support and ultimately sail her.”
The Royal Navy’s published quotation appears to omit the word “to” before “recover”, so that grammatical omission is in the original official release, rather than an error introduced here.
There is something particularly fitting about the name Resurgent.
It has appeared in Britain’s maritime story before. The previous RFA Resurgent was a merchant ship converted into a fleet replenishment vessel in 1957 and remained in service until she was decommissioned in 1979.
Her history even left a mark on the map. An islet in the Three Brothers group of coral islands in the Indian Ocean was named after the ship following her support for a Joint Services scientific expedition in 1975.
The name Reliant also carries a distinguished history.
Three previous RFA vessels have carried the name, serving as a stores carrier, an air stores support ship and a helicopter support ship.
The most recent RFA Reliant was a converted merchant vessel taken into naval service in 1983. She supported a multinational force during the 1984 crisis in Lebanon and played a significant role in evacuation operations. She was sold in 1986, by which point RFA Argus had replaced her in the helicopter support role.
RFA Resourceful, meanwhile, will be a new name for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, chosen to fit alongside Resurgent and Reliant, with all three names denoting qualities associated with the role of the new ships.
There is, however, a connection with an earlier RFA Resource, an armament stores ship which served between 1966 and 1997 and earned battle honours for the Falklands and Kuwait.
Behind those proud names are three hugely important vessels.
The Fleet Solid Support ships are intended to become the logistical backbone of Britain’s carrier operations, allowing the Royal Navy to remain at sea, and at range, for longer.
Britain’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, and the destroyers and frigates accompanying them, require a constant supply of ammunition, food, equipment, spares and other provisions when deployed.
The new RFA ships are being built to deliver those supplies at sea, helping British naval task groups remain operational without having to return continually to port. They will also provide wider logistical and operational support, including during counter-piracy and counter-terrorism missions and operations alongside Britain’s allies.
Each ship will have a core Royal Fleet Auxiliary crew of 101, with accommodation for a further 80 personnel who may be required to operate helicopters and boats, or carry out other specialist roles.
The vessels are also being designed with their entire working lives in mind.
Energy-efficient technologies will help reduce power consumption, while the ships are intended to be adaptable to low-carbon, non-fossil fuels and future sustainable energy sources. The Royal Navy says they are designed to be adaptable from the outset to achieve carbon-zero status by the end of their planned 30-year operational lives.
But this is about more than three ships. It is also an important chapter in the future of British shipbuilding.
Modules are being constructed at Appledore and the Harland & Wolff yard in Belfast, alongside work at Navantia’s yards in Spain. Final assembly, integration and trials of the vessels will take place in Belfast.
The programme will see around £100 million invested in the Appledore and Belfast shipyards and is expected to create around 1,200 UK shipyard jobs, alongside hundreds of apprenticeships.
For Appledore, there is particular significance.
Shipbuilding has returned to a yard with more than 170 years of history, linking generations of British maritime craftsmanship with a new generation of naval construction.
Donato Martínez, CEO of Navantia UK, said the programme was rebuilding sovereign industrial capability in Britain, creating skilled employment, developing apprentices and strengthening the supply chain for future naval programmes.
That matters.
Britain is an island nation. Our prosperity, security and ability to operate around the world have been bound to the sea for centuries, and maintaining a powerful Royal Navy requires far more than aircraft carriers, submarines, destroyers and frigates.
Those ships must be sustained once they leave harbour.
The men and women of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary perform that vital role, often away from the headlines, providing the logistical support that enables the Royal Navy to remain at sea and operate thousands of miles from home.
RFA Resurgent is expected to enter service in the early 2030s, with her sister ships following as Britain introduces its new Fleet Solid Support capability.
There was something wonderfully symbolic about this week’s ceremony.
At a British shipyard with more than 170 years of history, apprentices stood alongside experienced shipbuilders as the keel was laid for a vessel intended to serve Britain’s fleet for decades to come.
Old skills, new technology, proud naval traditions, skilled British jobs and another generation learning the craft required to build and sustain a maritime nation.
Resurgent. Reliant. Resourceful.
Three very British names, for three ships with a hugely important job, keeping the Royal Navy supplied, sustained and ready to operate wherever Britain needs it.
