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RFA Wave Ruler (A390)

For other ships with the same name, see RFA Wave Ruler.

RFA Wave Ruler is a Wave-class fast fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) of the United Kingdom tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.

Wave Ruler underway with a United States Coast Guard Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin helicopter embarked
History
United Kingdom
NameRFA Wave Ruler
OperatorRoyal Fleet Auxiliary
Ordered12 March 1997
Builder
Launched9 February 2001
Commissioned27 April 2003
Out of servicePlanned by March 2025
HomeportHMNB Devonport[1]
Identification
StatusExtended readiness (uncrewed reserve)[2][3]
Badge
General characteristics [4][5][6]
Class and typeWave-class tanker
Displacement31,500 tonnes approx
Length196.5 m (644 ft 8 in)
Beam28.25 m (92 ft 8 in)
Draught9.97 m (32 ft 9 in)
Propulsion
  • Diesel-electric:
  • 4 × Wartsila 12V 32E/GECLM diesel generators 25,514 metric horsepower (18.76 MW)
  • 2 × GEC Alstom motors with Cegelec variable speed converters 19,040 metric horsepower (14 MW)
  • 1 × shaft
  • 18t thrust electric Kamewa bow thruster and 12t thrust electric stern thruster, both powered by Cegelec variable speed drives and motors
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity
  • 16,000 m3 of liquids (of which 3,000 m3 aviation fuel & 380 m3 fresh water)
  • 125 tonnes of lubricating oil
  • 500 m3 of solids
  • 150 tonnes of fresh food in eight 20 ft refrigerated container units.
Complement80 Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel with provision for 22 Royal Navy personnel for helicopter and weapons systems operations
Sensors and
processing systems
  • Surface search: E/F band
  • Navigation: KH 1077, I-band
  • IFF: Type 1017
Electronic warfare
& decoys		Sea Gnat decoy launcher system[7]
Armament
  • 2 × DS30B 30 mm cannon;
  • 2 × 7.62 mm Mk.44 miniguns (retired 2023);[8]
  • 5 × 7.62 mm L7 machine guns;
  • 2 × Vulcan Phalanx CIWS (all weapons removed given uncrewed reserve status)
Aircraft carried1 × Merlin helicopter with full hangar facilities

Wave Ruler was built by Kvaerner Govan (after 1999, BAE Systems Marine) and launched in 2001. She was accepted into service in 2003 and is the second ship to bear this name in RFA service. Wave Ruler and her sister Wave Knight, were designed to replace Olna and Olwen, two 36,000-ton Ol-class fast fleet tankers which were built at Swan Hunter and Hawthorn Leslie in the 1960s.[9]

Wave Ruler was the last tanker commissioned into the RFA until RFA Tidespring became operational in late 2017.

Design and description

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Wave Ruler refueling USS Donald Cook in the Atlantic, 2007

Wave Ruler has a standard crew of 80 Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel with provision for a further 22 Royal Navy personnel to conduct helicopter and weapons systems operations.[6] She carries a full medical team and sick bay and is capable of distributing 2,000 emergency relief packages in times of crisis.[10]

The ship has the capability to supply fuel and other liquid cargo to vessels using replenishment rigs on port and starboard beams and through a Hudson reel-type stern rig. When providing support for amphibious operations, Wave Ruler is also able to deliver fuel to dracones positioned alongside. In addition to fuel, the ship carries ammunition and other stores which can be transferred while underway. She can operate a Merlin HM1 helicopter, or other helicopters of similar size, from a hangar and flight deck at the stern.[6]

Operational history

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2003–2010

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September 2004 saw Wave Ruler deployed to the Caribbean to provide hurricane relief operations.[6]

In 2006 the ship carried out three major cocaine seizures at sea. In September it recovered £64m of cocaine from an estimated cargo of £500m, after the crew of the fishing boat carrying the drugs set it on fire. On 2 November the ship and its accompanying Royal Marines captured 3 tonnes (3.0 long tons; 3.3 short tons) of cocaine worth £300m. On 29 November it seized a further 2.9 tonnes (2.9 long tons; 3.2 short tons), again from a fishing boat. All the raids took place in the Caribbean.[11][12]

 
Wave Ruler (foreground), USS Mahan, Almirante Latorre, Sachsen, and USS Samuel B. Roberts navigate together in formation during an exercise.
 
Wave Ruler (background) refuels USS Robert G. Bradley in the Pacific Ocean

On 31 August 2008 Wave Ruler was dispatched with HMS Iron Duke to assist relief efforts in the Caribbean for the Atlantic Hurricane Gustav. The vessels distributed food, water and first aid supplies to victims of the disaster as well as providing support restoring local infrastructure.[13] On 3 October 2008 the ship docked in Havana, Cuba. This was only the second time since the country's revolution 50 years earlier that a Royal Navy ship had visited the country. The five-day stay was part of an ongoing anti-drugs operation in the Caribbean, which saw the ship spend much of 2005–2008 in the region, confiscating over 13 tonnes (13 long tons; 14 short tons) of cocaine in total.[14] On 8 November 2008 the ship was sent to the Cayman Islands to provide humanitarian relief assistance in the wake of Hurricane Paloma.[15]

In June 2009, she took part in exercise Bersama Shield with HMS Ocean and HMS Somerset off the Malay Peninsula.[16]

During February 2010, Wave Ruler and the destroyer HMS York were deployed to the Falkland Islands during a period of increased tension between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the former's plans to begin drilling for oil in the seas surrounding the islands. While in the South Atlantic, Wave Ruler took part in the rescue of an I-Kiribati sailor who was taken seriously ill, refuelling an RAF 1564 Search and Rescue Flight Sea King helicopter while in flight.[17] The deployment also saw the ships visit Southern Thule in the Southern Sandwich Islands, the first British warships to visit the islands for nearly 10 years.[18][19] November 2010 saw the vessel back in the Caribbean, where she distributed 160 t (160 long tons; 180 short tons) of fresh water and 32,000 water purification tablets in St Lucia after the effects of Hurricane Tomas. The deployment also saw the vessel visit Antigua and the British Overseas Territory of Grand Cayman.[20]

2011–present

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Wave Ruler spent the summer and autumn of 2011 again in the Caribbean deployed as the United Kingdom's Atlantic Patrol Ship (North). She embarked a Mk 8 Lynx helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron for the duration.[10]

In October 2012, Wave Ruler transited the Suez Canal and took over from RFA Fort Victoria as Gulf Readiness Tanker in the Persian Gulf. The Gulf Readiness Tanker operates in support of UKMCC Bahrain.[21] In January 2013, Wave Ruler was relieved by RFA Fort Victoria.[22]

 
Wave Ruler in Liverpool (2019)

In late 2014, Wave Ruler deployed as part of the Cougar 14 Task Group, along with HM Ships Bulwark and HMS Northumberland, RFA Lyme Bay and the French frigate Courbet for naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf.[23] Wave Ruler remained east of Suez, operating with RFA Fort Austin until both ships were relieved by Fort Victoria in June 2015.[24]

Wave Ruler spent the latter part of 2016 and early 2017 operating in Scottish waters and the English Channel in support of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).[25] As of June 2020, Wave Ruler was reported to be in "reduced readiness" (reserve - base maintenance period)[26] but maintained in good condition and available for reactivation.[27] In February 2022, it was reported that Wave Ruler and her sister ship Wave Knight would be placed in "extended readiness" (uncrewed reserve).[28]

Future

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In June 2018 it was reported by the Brazilian press that the UK MoD had offered to sell one or both of the Wave-class tankers to Brazil.[29] As early as 2010, BAE Systems had proposed providing Brazil with a variant of the Wave class, tailored to meet the specific aviation, stores and personnel requirements of the Brazilian Navy.[30] Nevertheless, the ship was still part of the RFA fleet (though maintained in reserve) as of late 2021, with the 2021 defence white paper apparently having had no overt impact on that status.

In November 2024, the newly elected Labour government indicated that both Wave Ruler and her sister ship, would, in fact, be removed from service by March 2025.[31]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "FOI(A) regarding the Royal Navy" (PDF). What do they know?. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Why has the Royal Navy decommissioned 6 ships in a year?". Navy Lookout. 23 March 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
  3. ^ Allison, George (17 June 2023). "Wave class tankers to remain in extended readiness to 2028". UK Defence Journal.
  4. ^ Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004–2005. Jane's Information Group Limited. p. 817. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.
  5. ^ Wave Class Fast Fleet Tankers at the Royal Navy homepage
  6. ^ a b c d "Wave Class Royal Fleet Auxiliary". naval-technology.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  7. ^ "Royal Navy to equip 19 ships with trainable decoy launchers". Navy Lookout. 29 April 2024. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
  8. ^ "In focus: the 50 cal heavy machine gun in Royal Navy service". Navy Lookout. 5 May 2023. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  9. ^ "Olynthus Class". rfaaplymouth.org. Archived from the original on 27 July 2011. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  10. ^ a b http://www.navynews.co.uk/news/1251-lynx-flies-the-atlantic.aspx [permanent dead link‍]
  11. ^ "Royal Navy in cocaine drug bust". BBC News. 29 November 2006. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  12. ^ Hughes, Chris (2 November 2006). "Navy Grabs £300M Coke". The Mirror. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Navy ships help after hurricane". BBC News. 31 August 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Cuba welcomes RN anti-drug ship". BBC News. 5 October 2008. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  15. ^ "5am update: Storm causes damage, slams Sister Islands". Caymanian Compass. 8 November 2008. Archived from the original on 12 November 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  16. ^ http://www.navynews.co.uk/news/445-task-force-raises-its-shield.aspx [permanent dead link‍]
  17. ^ "Naval Rescue in the South Atlantic". Royal Navy. Archived from the original on 1 October 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  18. ^ "Gordon Brown says UK is prepared in Falkland Islands". BBC News. 18 February 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  19. ^ "Zend Framework Default Application". Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 31 March 2011.
  20. ^ http://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/operations-and-support/royal-fleet-auxiliary/rfa-flotilla/fast-fleet-tankers/rfa-wave-ruler/news/rfa_wave_ruler_visit.htm [dead link‍]
  21. ^ "RFA Wave Ruler takes over as Gulf Readiness Tanker". Archived from the original on 12 October 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2012.
  22. ^ "Different ship, Different Year as RFA Fort Victoria Takes Over Support Mission in the Middle East". Royal Navy. 11 January 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Royal Navy Task Group Rendezvous with French Allies". Royal Navy. 1 October 2014. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  24. ^ "RFA Wave Ruler Hands Over to RFA Fort Victoria in the Gulf". 2 July 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Wave Ruler Continues to Provide Support for FOST". Royal Navy. 14 February 2017. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  26. ^ Thomas, Richard (2 June 2020). "RFA trio remain in extended readiness as reduced fleet continues to support RN deployments". shephardmedia.com. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  27. ^ "The Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 2021 | Navy Lookout". 29 January 2021.
  28. ^ @NavyLookout (21 February 2022). "NAO report on EP says MoD has decided to place both Wave Class RFA tankers in "extended readiness" saving £79M over 10 years" (Tweet). Retrieved 9 May 2022 – via Twitter.
  29. ^ "Ingleses sondam interesse da MB em um navio-tanque classe 'Wave'". Poder Naval (in Portuguese). 1 June 2018. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  30. ^ "Technology Transfer Key to BAE Systems' Proposal to the Brazilian Navy". defense-aerospace.com. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  31. ^ Vock, Ido (20 November 2024). "UK to decommission ships, drones and helicopters to save £500m". BBC.
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