The Duke of Edinburgh has thanked the sailors, engineers and shipwrights helping to keep Britain’s Royal Navy supplied and ready for action, during a visit to one of the nation’s largest military vessels on Merseyside.
His Royal Highness visited RFA Tidesurge in Birkenhead this week, where the enormous Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker is undergoing a major refit following extensive operations around the United Kingdom and North Atlantic.
Prince Edward, who serves as Commodore-in-Chief of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, toured the 201-metre vessel and met members of her ship’s company alongside the skilled workers carrying out the overhaul.
The work is a formidable undertaking.
Around 1,200 individual maintenance tasks are being carried out on Tidesurge, alongside 38 capability enhancements intended to ensure the vessel is ready for the demands of modern naval operations.
The ship will spend 42 days in dry dock at the Balaena Mersey yard, the historic Birkenhead shipyard better known to generations as Cammell Laird.
There, her vast hull is being cleaned and repainted, while engineers are working on her propulsion system and bow thruster.
Around 40 members of Tidesurge’s crew remain assigned to the vessel during the refit, working alongside shipyard employees and contractors.
The Duke was shown around the bridge, hangar and flight deck before descending into the dry dock, providing the unusual sight of a senior member of the Royal Family standing beneath one of Britain’s biggest military ships.
It was also an opportunity to recognise the men and women whose work behind the scenes allows the Royal Navy to maintain a global presence.
Chief Officer Christopher Lowe RFA, Executive Officer of RFA Tidesurge, said: “It was a pleasure to host His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh in refit.
“It was a great opportunity for the ship’s company to meet and speak with the Duke, who is the RFA’s Commodore-in-Chief, and he thoroughly enjoyed his tour of our ship and spending time with the ship’s company.”
Second Officer George Wrightson, who works in Communication and Information Systems, said the Duke had shown a genuine interest in the installation of the ship’s new communications equipment and the work of the team during the refit.
For Leading Hand Albert Haynes, the occasion came remarkably early in his RFA career.
After 26 years serving in the Royal Navy, he met the Duke during his very first week with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
The ships which keep the Royal Navy fighting
RFA Tidesurge is no ordinary tanker.
She is the third of four Tide-class vessels and, at around 39,000 tonnes, the class represents the largest ships currently serving with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
The vessels perform a crucial role, supplying fuel and water to Royal Navy, NATO and Allied warships while they are at sea.
That capability means warships do not have to continually return to port for supplies, helping Britain’s naval forces remain deployed further from home and for longer periods.
The Tide class was also designed specifically to support Britain’s Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers and their carrier strike groups.
Tidesurge can conduct replenishment at sea and possesses a large flight deck capable of operating Merlin, Wildcat and even Chinook helicopters.
Her ability to support Merlin helicopters is particularly valuable during anti-submarine operations in the North Atlantic, an area which has once again become strategically important to Britain and its NATO allies.
It is a reminder that behind Britain’s aircraft carriers, destroyers, frigates and submarines stands an enormous logistical operation, and the civilian mariners of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary are a vital part of it.
British maritime skills at work
There is also something fitting about such work taking place on Merseyside.
The Birkenhead yard has a shipbuilding history stretching back nearly two centuries and remains synonymous with some of the greatest vessels produced on British shores.
Today, British shipwrights, engineers and technicians are once again working alongside the men and women who take these vessels to sea.
Tidesurge is not the only RFA vessel receiving attention in Birkenhead.
RFA Fort Victoria, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s ammunition and stores support ship, is also at the yard and is due to undergo an extensive refit intended to return her to operational service.
Once work on Tidesurge is completed, her crew will take the vessel through trials and training before she resumes her place in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s order of battle.
The refit is due to be completed before Christmas.
The Duke’s visit offered recognition not only to the ship’s company, but to the engineers, technicians and shipwrights whose work rarely attracts the attention received by the warships they support.
For two decades, Prince Edward has held his honorary position with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, maintaining a Royal connection with a service whose contribution to Britain’s defence can sometimes pass unnoticed.
Yet without the RFA, Britain’s warships could not operate around the world with anything like their present endurance.
From replenishing carrier strike groups to supporting NATO vessels in the North Atlantic, its sailors provide the fuel, supplies and logistical backbone that keep the Fleet at sea.
And in a historic British shipyard on the banks of the Mersey, another great naval vessel is being prepared to return to that task.
It is British maritime expertise doing what it has done for generations, keeping the nation’s ships ready for sea and ready to serve.
Images: MOD Crown Copyright News / Editorial Licence.
