1979 Fort Rosalie-class replenishment ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary
RFA
Fort Austin
at
West Float
, Birkenhead, in July 2015
|
History
|
United Kingdom
|
Name
| RFA
Fort Austin
|
Operator
| Royal Fleet Auxiliary
|
Ordered
| November 1971
|
Builder
| Scott Lithgow
|
Laid down
| 9 December 1975
|
Launched
| 9 March 1978
|
Commissioned
| 11 May 1979
|
Out of service
| 31 March 2021
[2]
|
Homeport
| Marchwood Military Port
,
Southampton
[1]
|
Identification
| |
Fate
| Sold to Egypt October 2021
|
General characteristics
|
Class and type
| Fort Rosalie
-class
replenishment ship
|
Displacement
| 23,482 tonnes
|
Length
| 185.1 m (607 ft 3 in)
|
Beam
| 24 m (78 ft 9 in)
|
Draught
| 9 m (29 ft 6 in)
|
Propulsion
| Sulzer 8-cylinder RND90 22,300 shp
|
Speed
| 21 knots (38.9 km/h)
|
Complement
|
- 114 RFA
- 36
RNSTS
(historically)
- 45 RN Air Squadron personnel
|
Armament
| |
Service record
|
Operations:
|
|
RFA
Fort Austin
is a retired British
Fort Rosalie
-class
dry stores ship of the
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
.
Fort Austin
was laid down at Scott Lithgow in 1975, launched in 1978 and commissioned in 1979. These ships were designed to carry a wide range of dry stores to support fleet task forces; ammunition, food, explosives. They have extensive aviation facilities, with two flight decks, one to the stern and one spot on top of the hangar, up to four Sea Kings can be stored in the large hangar. These ships also have the capability to
replenish ships at sea
, via six RAS points.
Operational history
[
edit
]
Falklands War 1982
[
edit
]
When the
Falklands War
began, the ship was deployed in the western Mediterranean for the annual
Spring Train exercise
, and received orders to head south, taking part in the landings at
San Carlos Water
as a stores and ammunition ship. When the order to head south was given, several warships had the
WE.177
A nuclear weapon deployed aboard. Amongst these were the
Type 22
frigates
HMS
Broadsword
and
HMS
Brilliant
and the aircraft carriers
HMS
Hermes
and
HMS
Invincible
. Some newspaper reports also named RFA
Fort Austin
. The
Ministry of Defence
explored various options to transfer these nuclear weapons from the frigates to the safety of the deep magazines aboard
Fort Austin
,
Hermes
and
Invincible
. An MoD publication describes a complex series of manoeuvres to avoid the presence of these nuclear warheads in areas that would break the UK obligation to the
Treaty of Tlatelolco
, often referred to as the
Latin-America Nuclear Free Zone
. In no circumstances could ships carrying nuclear weapons enter territorial waters around the Falkland Islands. After the conflict ended, weapons were transferred at sea to the two RFAs
Fort Austin
and
Resource
for transport back to the UK.
[3]
2000s
[
edit
]
In 2000, the ship supported the
British military intervention in the Sierra Leone Civil War
.
Beginning in September 2007, the ship underwent a major refit and modernization at the
A&P Tyne
shipyard in
Hebburn
,
Tyne and Wear
.
In July 2009, RFA
Fort Austin
was decommissioned and placed in reserve at
Portsmouth Naval Base
. Following the
Strategic Defence and Security Review
of October 2010 it was decided to reactivate her at the expense of the larger
RFA
Fort George
, which would be decommissioned.
2010s
[
edit
]
On 27 May 2011
Fort Austin
left Portsmouth under tow by the Belgian tug
Union Wrestler
and tug
Svitzer Pembroke
[4]
for a £40m
[5]
refit at
Cammell Laird
in
Birkenhead
. This refit was intended to keep her in service until 2021. Later that year it was announced that her service life would be extended until 2023;
[6]
the Fort class will ultimately be replaced by the Fleet Solid Support element of the
Military Afloat Reach and Sustainability programme
.
She left Birkenhead on 5 September 2012, arriving three days later at
DM
Crombie in the Firth of Forth. She arrived back in Plymouth at the end of 2012 and spent early 2013 exercising in home waters.
Fort Austin
formed part of the COUGAR 13 task group, providing stores, fuel, water, and ammunition
[7]
Fort Austin is also participating in the 2014 IMCMEX.
[8]
In 2015,
Fort Austin
was again laid up, this time in Birkenhead. Despite concerns she would be decommissioned she entered Cammell Laird for refit in 2017 and it was confirmed her planned out of service date had been revised to 2024.
[9]
During the course of the refit, on 15 August 2017,
Fort Austin
suffered a fire on the upper deck. Her 60 crew were evacuated. The damage was not considered to be serious.
[10]
[11]
2020s
[
edit
]
In June 2020,
Fort Austin
was reported to be in extended readiness (reserve) with replenishment rigs not compatible with the
Queen Elizabeth
-class
aircraft carriers
.
[12]
The defence white paper of 2021 announced that
Fort Austin
, along with
Fort Rosalie
, was to be decommissioned, with successors from the Fleet Solid Support plan set to replace the ships.
[13]
On 31 March 2021, the ship was withdrawn from service, and placed up for sale (recycling) on 21 May 2021,
[14]
however, the notice for recycling was then withdrawn and the ship was sold to Egypt together with her sister ship,
Fort Rosalie
.
[15]
While awaiting refit, it was reported that
Fort Austin
would be renamed ENS
Luxor
.
[16]
Notes and references
[
edit
]
External links
[
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]
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 2017
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Shipwrecks
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Other incidents
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