RFA Fort George
RFA Fort George (A388) is a combined fleet stores ship and tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
RFA Fort George was ordered from Swan Hunter on the 18th of December 1987. The ship was laid down on the 9th of March 1989, launched by the wife of the Commander-in-Chief Fleet Admiral Sir Jock Slater on the 1st of March 1991 and was commissioned in 1993. As with Fort Victoria, the ship received the Phalanx CIWS in a refit in 1999.
... Fort George was later awarded the Wilkinson Sword of Peace for her efforts....
In 2000 RFA Fort George was awarded the Wilkinson Sword of Peace for the outstanding level of commitment and ingenuity the Ship's Company, and embarked personnel from 820 Naval Air Squadron, displayed during the valuable and highly successful operation to provide aid to the people of Mozambique during the floods of March 2000.
Later in the year Fort George accompanied HMS Illustrious to the coast of Sierra Leone to support British operations to restore stability to that country. Late in the same year, during a deployment in the Mediterranean, the ship helped passengers of the Greek ferry Express Samina which had run aground during a storm. Fitted with four dual-purpose replenishment rigs fitted amidships enable RFA Fort George to replenish at sea (RAS) two warships with both fuel and stores simultaneously. Fuel transfers are accomplished by suspending a hose from a tensioned cable called the jackstay, which runs from RFA Fort George to the receiving warship where it is secured. The hose is fitted with a quick-coupling probe or NATO B connection to mate with the fuel receiving point on the warship. Once the hose has been connected, RFA Fort George is able to pump fuel across to the receiving ship as well as water, aviation fuel, and lubrication oil. During a stores RAS the jackstay supports a 'traveller block', to which the stores are slung from and transferred across by inhaul and outhaul winches. As well as the main replenishment rigs, RFA Fort George is also fitted with an additional refuelling rig, called a Hudson Reel, at the stern. Stern refuelling is not as efficient as beam replenishment, but it is safer in severe weather conditions.
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