Fort Rosalie-class replenishment ship

The Fort Rosalie or Fort class is a class of fleet replenishment vessel of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary. These ships are designed to replenish Royal Navy taskgroups with all kinds of armaments and victualling stores while under way; unlike the bigger Fort Victoria class they supply dry stores but not fuel. RFA Fort Rosalie was originally known as Fort Grange, but was renamed in 2000 to avoid confusion with the new Fort Victoria class replenishment oiler RFA Fort George.

Design
They have the capacity to store 3,500 tons of stores, including refrigerated items, in four holds. They are capable of replenishment at sea (RAS), using three 10-ton and three 5-ton cranes and vertical replenishment (VERTREP). For the latter role there are generous flight facilities; a single spot flight deck, an emergency landing platform atop the hangar and a complement of up to four (but usually one) Fleet Air Arm Westland Sea King helicopters and the requisite maintenance facilities. As such, they are often used for aviation training.

History
Two ships were ordered in 1971, with the first entering service in 1978. Both ships saw service in the Falklands War, the then Fort Grange being shadowed by Argentine Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft while still 1,000 nm from the combat area and Fort Austin being attacked while sitting in San Carlos Water. Fort Austin supported the British intervention in Sierra Leone in 2000.

Fort Austin was mothballed in 2009 but was reactivated following the 2010 SDSR at the expense of RFA Fort George. Both Fort Rosalie and Fort Austin have had major refits at Camell Laird to enable another decade of service. In 2011 it was announced that the service lives of Fort Austin and Fort Rosalie would be extended by another two years to 2023 and 2024 respectively; they will ultimately be replaced by the Fleet Solid Support element of the Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability programme.