The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service and provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. It forms one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy.
The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported by providing fuel and stores through replenishment at sea, transporting Royal Marines and British Army personnel, providing medical care and transporting equipment and essentials around the world. In addition the RFA acts independently providing humanitarian aid, counter piracy and counter narcotic patrols together with assisting the Royal Navy in preventing conflict and securing international trade. They are a uniformed civilian branch of the Royal Navy staffed by British merchant sailors.
RFA personnel are civilian employees of the Ministry of Defence and members of the Royal Naval Reserve and Sponsored Reserves. Although RFA personnel wear Merchant Navy rank insignia with naval uniforms, RFA vessels are commanded and crewed by these sailors, augmented with regular and reserve Royal Navy personnel who perform specialised functions such as operating and maintaining helicopters or providing hospital facilities. Royal Navy personnel are also needed to operate certain weapons, such as the Phalanx; however, other weapons (such as the DS30B 30 mm cannon) are operated by RFA personnel. The RFA counts three dock landing ships amongst its assets.
As of late 2024, the RFA was suffering from severe manpower shortages resulting in only 6 of (then) 11 vessels being able to be crewed on a regular basis.
History
The RFA was established in 1905 to provide logistical support for the Navy. Since the Royal Navy of that era possessed the largest network of bases around the world of any fleet, the RFA at first took a relatively minor role.
The RFA first became heavily relied upon by the Royal Navy during World War II, when the British fleet was often far from available bases, either due to the enemy capturing such bases, or, in the Pacific, because of the sheer distances involved. World War II also saw naval ships staying at sea for much longer periods than had been the case since the days of sail. Techniques of replenishment at sea (RAS) were developed. The auxiliary fleet comprised a diverse collection, with not only RFA ships, but also commissioned warships and merchantmen as well. The need for the fleet to be maintained was unambiguously demonstrated by World War II.
After 1945, the RFA became the Royal Navy's main source of support in the many conflicts that the Navy was involved in. The RFA performed important service to the Far East Fleet off Korea from 1950 until 1953, when sustained carrier operations were again mounted in Pacific waters. During the extended operations of the Konfrontasi in the 1960s, the RFA was also heavily involved. As the network of British bases overseas shrank during the end of the Empire, the Navy increasingly relied on the RFA to supply its ships during routine deployments.
The RFA played an important role in the largest naval war since 1945, the Falklands War in 1982 (where one vessel was lost and another badly damaged), and also the Gulf War, Kosovo War, Afghanistan Campaign and the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
In July 2008, the RFA was presented with a Queen's Colour, an honour unique to a civilian organisation.Journal of the Flag Institute, Issue 128, p. 20 Gunline, April 2008, p. 7 Gunline, Sept 2008, p. 1
Fleet
Ships in RFA service carry the ship prefix RFA, standing for Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and fly the Blue Ensign defaced with an upright gold killick anchor. All Royal Fleet Auxiliaries are built and maintained to Lloyd's Register and Department for Transport standards.
As of early-2026, there are 9 ships in service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary with a total displacement of approximately 244,000 tonnes. These figures exclude the merchant navy vessels under charter to the Ministry of Defence performing sealift and fuel provisioning roles.
Underway replenishment
The most important role provided by the RFA is replenishment at sea (RAS), therefore the mainstay of the current RFA fleet are the replenishment ships.Britain's Modern Royal Navy, Paul Beaver, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1996, Two classes of vessel are in service as of 2024: and the .
The Tide class are designated 'Fast Fleet Tankers' that were ordered in February 2012. The four tankers were ordered from DSME, South Korea with design support from Britain's BMT Defence Services, the first of which entered service in 2017. From 2022, only the Tide class remained active with both of the former vessels placed in extended readiness (uncrewed reserve) and then, in 2024/25, retired from service completely. As of April 2024, RFA Tiderace was also reported to be in extended readiness, primarily owing to serious personnel shortages in the RFA. However, as of late 2025 it was reported that she was being reactivated primarily as a result of sailors becoming available due to the retirement of RFA Argus.
RFA Fort Victoria is a 'one-stop' replenishment ship, capable of providing under way refuelling and dry cargo (i.e. rearming, victualling and spares). Until 2011, she had a sister ship in until she was decommissioned as a result of defence cuts. Two ships of the also provided dry stores replenishment but were placed into extended readiness in 2020. The two ships were later decommissioned, leaving Fort Victoria the only fleet solid support ship in service. In 2024, she was relegated to "extended readiness" (uncrewed reserve) but she entered refit in September 2026 in order to be reactivated and provide a "bridge" capability prior to the delivery of a new class of solid stores support ships. This new class of three fleet solid support ships are expected to arrive starting in 2031 under the Fleet Solid Support Ship Programme. The manufacturing contract for this acquisition, valued at £1.6 billion, was signed in January 2023.
The Tide class and Fort Victoria incorporate aviation facilities, providing aviation support and training facilities as well as vertical replenishment (VERTREP) capabilities. They are capable of operating and supporting AgustaWestland Merlin and AgustaWestland Wildcat helicopters, both of which are significant weapons platforms. The presence of aviation facilities on RFA ships allows for them to be used as 'force multipliers' for the task groups they support in line with Royal Navy doctrine.
Replenishment ships ClassShipPennant No.Entered serviceDisplacementTypeNote RFA Tidespring A136 2017 39,000 tonnes Replenishment tanker RFA Tiderace A137 2018 RFA Tidesurge A138 2019 RFA Tideforce A139 2019 RFA Fort Victoria A387 1994 33,675 tonnes Multi-role replenishment ship
Amphibious warfare
From 2025 the RFA has been tasked with playing the lead role in providing amphibious shipping within the naval service, through its three dock landing ships (LSD). Typically one Bay-class vessel has also been assigned as a permanent 'mothership' for Royal Navy mine countermeasures vessels in the Persian Gulf. However, crewing problems in the RFA have meant that the capacity to do this has eroded. Nevertheless, in early 2026 it was indicated that RFA Lyme Bay would again undertake that role.
The 2021 defence white paper proposed the acquisition of a new class of up to six Multi-Role Support Ships (MRSS) to support littoral strike operations. However, these vessels were cancelled as part of the 2026 Defence Investment Plan (DIP). The DIP returned to the idea of U.K. participation in the procurement of a joint-British-Dutch future ATS-class amphibious warfare ship, stating that "The Multi-Role Strike Ship (MRSS) programme was too complex and did not reflect the UK Commando Force we are now pursuing". The timing for any future delivery of a new capability is likely in the 2030s.
Dock landing ships ClassShipPennant No.Entered serviceDisplacementTypeNote RFA Lyme Bay L3007 2007 16,160 tonnes Dock landing ship auxiliary RFA Mounts Bay L3008 2006 RFA Cardigan Bay L3009 2006
Ocean surveillance/survey
The RFA has acquired a Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship to protect undersea critical national infrastructure, such as gas pipelines and undersea cables. In February 2023, the vessel identified for this role - MV Topaz Tangaroa - was acquired and in October 2023 entered service as RFA Proteus. She was purchased for some £70 million and was converted to act as a mothership for autonomous systems and have military communications and light defensive armament added.
It had been reported that a second MROS ship would be procured, likely in the early 2030s. However, the 2026 DIP made no mention of such a vessel and instead simply referred to the investment of £330m over four years on "critical underwater infrastructure protection, including through enhanced capabilities for RFA PROTEUS". The DIP also indicated that the Government would "explore where we can partner with industry to bring more funding into underwater cable protection".
Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance (MROS) Ship ClassShipPennant No.Entered serviceDisplacementTypeNote — RFA Proteus K60 2023 6,000 tonnes Critical seabed infrastructure protection/underwater surveillance/seabed warfare
Sealift and fuel provisioning
The s were acquired in 2002 under a £1.25bn private finance initiative with Foreland Shipping known as the Strategic Sealift Service. These ships are Merchant Navy vessels leased to the Ministry of Defence (MoD) as and when needed and as such are not part of the RFA. However, they are listed here due to their role in expeditionary military operations and in provisioning U.K. military bases and facilities. Originally six ships were part of the deal, allowing the MoD use of four of the ships with two being made available for commercial charter, these latter two were released from the contract in 2012.Strategic Sealift Service , publications.parliament.uk, 2 Sep 2013
The MoD also contracts to secure fuel supplies for facilities overseas. For sometime this requirement was maintained through charter of the vessel , then with the vessel Raleigh Fisher and most recently with the ship Leander Fisher. As of 2025, Leander Fisher is tasked with supplying fuel to the United Kingdom's various naval establishments at home and overseas, as well as providing aviation fuel to RAF stations at Cyprus, Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands. A further vessel was chartered from Furetank in 2025 also for the delivery of petroleum products to UK & overseas bases and to assist the Joint Expeditionary Force Maritime. The MoD has chartered vessels to commercial companies during periods when not in use for defence purposes.Hired Tankers Hansard Written Answers – House of Commons , publications.parliament.uk, 27 October 2003
Ministry of Defence sealift/supply vessels Not part of the RFA, under charter to the MoD ClassShipOwnerEntered serviceDisplacementTypeNote MV Hurst Point Foreland Shipping 2002 23,000 tonnes Ro-Ro Sealift The Royal Navy Handbook, 2003, Ministry of Defence, page 104 MV Eddystone 2002 MV Hartland Point 2002 MV Anvil Point 2003 — MV Leander Fisher James Fisher and Sons 2022 24,500 gross tonnes Tanker — MV Fure Vanguard Furetank 2024 18,000 DWT
Rank insignia
Officers Rank insignia of RFA officers differ from the Royal Navy as the RFA makes use of the diamond used by some British merchant shipping companies, rather than the executive curl used by the RN. The rank of commodore is the most senior rank in the RFA. +RFA Officer Ranks and InsigniaRankCommodoreCaptainChief OfficerFirst OfficerSecond OfficerThird OfficerOfficer CadetInsigniaAbbreviationCdreCaptC/O1/O2/O3/OCDTAnalogous RN Rank*CommodoreCaptainCommanderLieutenant CommanderLieutenantSub LieutenantMidshipman/Officer Cadet Department Colours