RFA Wave Ruler (A390)
Encyclopedia
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, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy
vessels around the world.
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 2nd ship to bear this name in RFA service. Wave Ruler and her sister Wave Knight
, were designed to replace Olna
and Olwen
, two Ol-class 36,000 ton fast fleet tankers which were built at Swan Hunter
and Hawthorn Leslie in the 1960s.
personnel with provision for a further 22 Royal Navy personnel to conduct helicopter and weapons systems operations. She carries a full medical team and sick bay and is capable of distributing 2,000 emergency relief packages in times of crisis.
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.
to provide hurricance relief operations.
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 November 2 the ship and its accompanying Royal Marines
captured 3 tonnes of cocaine worth £300m. On November 29 it seized a further 2.9 tonnes, again from a fishing boat. All the raids took place in the Caribbean.
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.
On October 3, 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 of cocaine in total.
On November 8, 2008 the ship was sent to the Cayman Islands
to provide humanitarian relief assistance in the wake of Hurricane Paloma.
and HMS Somerset
off the Malay Peninsula
.
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. 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.
November 2010 saw the vessel back in the Caribbean, where she distributed 160 tonnes 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
.
Wave Ruler is due to spend summer and autumn 2011 again in the Caribbean deployed as Britain’s Atlantic Patrol Ship (North). She will embark a Mk 8 Lynx
helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron for the duration.
Royal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world. Its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment...
(RFA) of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
tasked with providing fuel, food, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
vessels around the world.
Wave Ruler was built by Kvaerner Govan
Kvaerner Govan
Kvaerner Govan Ltd, located at Govan in Glasgow on the River Clyde, was a shipyard subsidiary formed in 1988 when the Norwegian group Kvaerner Industrier purchased the Govan Shipbuilders division of the nationalised British Shipbuilders corporation...
(after 1999, BAE Systems Marine
BAE Systems Marine
BAE Systems Marine Ltd. was the shipbuilding subsidiary of BAE Systems, formed in 1999, which manufactured the full range of naval ships; nuclear submarines, frigates, destroyers, amphibious ships....
) and launched in 2001. She was accepted into service in 2003 and is the 2nd ship to bear this name in RFA service. Wave Ruler and her sister Wave Knight
RFA Wave Knight (A389)
RFA Wave Knight is a Wave-class fast fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary of the United Kingdom tasked with providing fuel, food, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world....
, were designed to replace Olna
RFA Olna (A123)
RFA Olna was an Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Her design was a development of the Tide-class ships of the late 1950s.-Service history:...
and Olwen
RFA Olwen (A122)
RFA Olwen was an Ol-class "fast fleet tanker" of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.The lead ship of her class, and launched in 1964 as RFA Olynthus, the second ship to bear this name, she was renamed Olwen in 1967 to avoid confusion with HMS Olympus...
, two Ol-class 36,000 ton fast fleet tankers which were built at Swan Hunter
Swan Hunter
Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...
and Hawthorn Leslie in the 1960s.
Design
Wave Ruler has a standard crew of 80 Royal Fleet AuxiliaryRoyal Fleet Auxiliary
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world. Its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment...
personnel with provision for a further 22 Royal Navy personnel to conduct helicopter and weapons systems operations. She carries a full medical team and sick bay and is capable of distributing 2,000 emergency relief packages in times of crisis.
The ship has the capability to supply fuel and other liquid cargo to vessels using replenishment
Underway replenishment
Underway replenishment or replenishment at sea is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while under way.-History:...
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
Dracone Barge
A Dracone Barge is a large flexible watertight tube intended to carry a liquid cargo while towed mostly-submerged behind a ship. One large current example of the type has a capacity of 935 cubic metres while weighing only 6.5 tonnes empty.The Dracone Barge was invented in 1956 by Professor William...
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
AgustaWestland EH101
The AgustaWestland AW101 is a medium-lift helicopter for military applications but also marketed for civil use. The helicopter was developed as a joint venture between Westland Helicopters in the UK and Agusta in Italy...
helicopter, or other helicopters of similar size, from a hangar and flight deck at the stern.
2003-2007
September 2004 saw Wave Ruler deployed to the CaribbeanCaribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
to provide hurricance relief operations.
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 November 2 the ship and its accompanying Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
captured 3 tonnes of cocaine worth £300m. On November 29 it seized a further 2.9 tonnes, again from a fishing boat. All the raids took place in the Caribbean.
2008
On August 31, 2008 Wave Ruler was dispatched with HMS Iron DukeHMS Iron Duke (F234)
HMS Iron Duke is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy, and the third ship to bear the name. Iron Duke was launched on 2 March 1991 by Lady Jane King in the presence of the Duke and Duchess of Wellington. Her affiliated town is Kingston upon Hull, and she is named after Arthur Wellesley, the first...
to assist relief efforts in the Caribbean for the Atlantic Hurricane Gustav
Hurricane Gustav
The name Gustav has been used for five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean:* 1984's Tropical Storm Gustav - Spent most of its existence as a tropical depression hovering over Bermuda, no major damage was reported....
. The vessels distributed food, water and first aid supplies to victims of the disaster as well as providing support restoring local infrastructure.
On October 3, 2008 the ship docked in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. 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
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, which saw the ship spend much of 2005-2008 in the region, confiscating over 13 tonnes of cocaine in total.
On November 8, 2008 the ship was sent to the Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands
The Cayman Islands is a British Overseas Territory and overseas territory of the European Union located in the western Caribbean Sea. The territory comprises the three islands of Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman, located south of Cuba and northwest of Jamaica...
to provide humanitarian relief assistance in the wake of Hurricane Paloma.
2009-2011
In June 2009, she took part in exercise Bersama Shield with HMS OceanHMS Ocean (L12)
HMS Ocean of the Royal Navy is an amphibious assault ship , the sole member of her class. She is designed to support amphibious landing operations and to support the staff of Commander UK Amphibious Force and Commander UK Landing Force...
and HMS Somerset
HMS Somerset (F82)
HMS Somerset is a Type 23 frigate of the Royal Navy.Somerset is the eleventh of the class to join the fleet since 1989. She was built by Yarrow Shipbuilders Ltd on the River Clyde, in Scotland and was launched in June 1994 by Lady Elspeth Layard, wife of then 2nd Sea Lord Admiral and...
off the Malay Peninsula
Malay Peninsula
The Malay Peninsula or Thai-Malay Peninsula is a peninsula in Southeast Asia. The land mass runs approximately north-south and, at its terminus, is the southern-most point of the Asian mainland...
.
During February 2010, Wave Ruler and the destroyer HMS York
HMS York (D98)
HMS York is a Batch III Type 42 destroyer of the Royal Navy. Launched on 20 June 1982 at Wallsend, Tyne and Wear and sponsored by Lady Gosling, HMS York was the last Type 42 built. The ship's crest is the White Rose of York, and the "red cross with lions passant" funnel badge is derived from the...
were deployed to the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
during a period of increased tension between the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
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
Kiribati
Kiribati , officially the Republic of Kiribati, is an island nation located in the central tropical Pacific Ocean. The permanent population exceeds just over 100,000 , and is composed of 32 atolls and one raised coral island, dispersed over 3.5 million square kilometres, straddling the...
sailor who was taken seriously ill, refuelling an RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
1564 Search and Rescue Flight
No. 1564 Flight RAF
-1564 Flight in World War II:No. 1564 Flight was first formed at RAF Mellaha, near Tripoli, Libya, on 1 February 1943, flying Hawker Hurricanes and Supermarine Spitfires, and was disbanded at Istres, France on 15 June 1946....
Sea King
Westland Sea King
The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...
helicopter while in flight. The deployment also saw the ships visit Southern Thule
Southern Thule
Southern Thule is a collection of the three southernmost islands in the South Sandwich Islands: Bellingshausen, Cook, and Thule . Southern Thule is British territory, though claimed by Argentina. The island group is barren, windswept, bitterly cold, and uninhabited. It has an extenzive EEZ rich...
in the Southern Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands is a British overseas territory and overseas territory of the European Union in the southern Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote and inhospitable collection of islands, consisting of South Georgia and a chain of smaller islands, known as the South Sandwich...
, the first British warships to visit the islands for nearly 10 years.
November 2010 saw the vessel back in the Caribbean, where she distributed 160 tonnes of fresh water and 32,000 water purification tablets in St. Lucia after the effects of Hurricane Tomas
Hurricane Tomas
Hurricane Tomas was the nineteenth named storm and twelfth hurricane of the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season. Tomas developed from a tropical wave east of the Windward Islands on October 29. Quickly intensifying into a hurricane, it moved through the Windward Islands and passed very near Saint...
. The deployment also saw the vessel visit Antigua
Antigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
and the British Overseas Territory of Grand Cayman
Grand Cayman
Grand Cayman is the largest of the three Cayman Islands and the location of the nation's capital, George Town. In relation to the other two Cayman Islands, it is approximately 75 miles southwest of Little Cayman and 90 miles southwest of Cayman Brac.-Geography:Grand Cayman encompasses 76% of...
.
Wave Ruler is due to spend summer and autumn 2011 again in the Caribbean deployed as Britain’s Atlantic Patrol Ship (North). She will embark a Mk 8 Lynx
Westland Lynx
The Westland Lynx is a British multi-purpose military helicopter designed and built by Westland Helicopters at its factory in Yeovil. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civil and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants...
helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron for the duration.