Rover-class tanker

RFA Black Rover in Plymouth 2005
Class overview
Builders	Swan Hunter
Operators	Royal Fleet Auxiliary  Indonesian Navy  Portuguese Navy
Succeeded by	Tide class
Built	1968–1974
In commission	1970–2017 (RFA)
Completed	5
Active	2
Retired	3
General characteristics
Type	Tanker
Tonnage	6,692 t DWT
Displacement	16,160 t (15,900 long tons)[1]
Length	461 ft (141 m)
Beam	63 ft (19 m)
Draught	24 ft (7.3 m)
Propulsion	2 × SEMT-Pielstick 16 PA 4 diesel engines 1 × shaft Bow thruster 15,360 hp (11,450 kW)
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Range	15,000 nmi (28,000 km; 17,000 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity	3,000 m3 (19,000 bbl) of fuel
Complement	16 officers 31 ratings
Sensors and processing systems	Sperry Marine Visionmaster radars and ECDIS. 1690 I band navigation radars
Electronic warfare & decoys	2 × Corvus and 2 × Plessey Shield decoy launchers Graseby Type 182 towed torpedo decoy
Armament	2 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 2 × 7.62 mm machine guns
Aircraft carried	Helicopter deck but no hangar

The Rover class is a British ship class of small fleet tankers, active from 1970 to 2017 with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. Two remain in service, one having been sold to Portugal and one to Indonesia; the rest have been scrapped or are awaiting disposal. They are tasked with the replenishment at sea of naval warships with fuel oils and with limited supplies of other naval stores. For RAS tasking, they can refuel a vessel on either beam and a third trailing astern and have a large flight deck to allow vertical replenishment with helicopters.

History

Tenders for what became five ships were invited in 1967. Problems with the original propulsion led to the first three of the class being re-engined in 1974. The final two had minor changes including improved accommodation and different stern anchor arrangements. Blue Rover suffered a fire during construction in 1970 which killed two shipyard workers. Costs ranged from £3m for Green Rover to £7.7m for Gold Rover, last of the class.^[2][3]

Ships

Gallery

• 
  RFA Gold Rover (A271) leaving Plymouth Sound in March 2010
• 
  NRP Bérrio, 2007 (ex RFA Blue Rover)

Notes

Bibliography

• Warships of the Royal Navy, Captain John E. Moore RN, Jane's Publishing, 1979, ISBN 0-531-03730-4
• Britain's Modern Royal Navy, Paul Beaver, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1996, ISBN 1-85260-442-5

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