The Fort Victoria or Fort II class is a class of replenishment oiler of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, a role that combines the missions of a tanker and stores supply ship. As such they are designated auxiliary oiler replenisher (AOR). They are tasked with providing ammunition, fuel, food and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world. There were two ships in the class, Fort Victoria and Fort George; the latter being taken out of service and despatched for scrapping at a Turkish breakers as a consequence of budgetary cutbacks.
History
Six ships were initially planned to supply the Type 23 frigates in their North Atlantic anti-submarine role. The Type 23 was at the time planned to be a low cost, lightly armed vessel and the Fort-class ships were therefore expected to defend themselves with the Sea Wolf vertical launch surface-to-air missile (SAM). The lessons of the Falklands War meant the Type 23 developed as a much more potent, multi-role vessel carrying the Sea Wolf missile. The requirement for the Fort class was reduced from six to two. Fort Victoria was built by Harland & Wolff and Fort George by Swan Hunter and the ships entered service in 1994 and 1993 respectively. Fort Victoria was delayed when she was bombed by the IRA on 6 September 1990 and nearly sunk. Fort George was retired in 2011 while Fort Victoria was relegated to "extended readiness" (uncrewed reserve) status in 2024. She was taken in hand for reactivation in 2026 in order to serve as a "bridge" capability in advance of the entry into service of new solid stores support ships in the 2030s. Fort Victoria will be succeeded by a new class of three solid support ships, under the Fleet Solid Support Ship Programme.
Class details
== See also == List of replenishment ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary Fort Rosalie or Fort I class RFA replenishment ships
Notes
== Bibliography == Beaver, Paul, Britain's Modern Royal Navy, Patrick Stephens Limited, 1996, ISBN 1-85260-442-5
== External links == Fort class replenshipment ships at the Royal Navy website