The RFA Oakleaf (A111) is a Leaf-class

Leaf class tanker

The Leaf class is a class of support tanker of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary . The class is somewhat unusual as it is an amalgam of various civilian tankers chartered for naval auxiliary use and as such there have been many different designs of ship in this particular class...

 fleet support tanker, formerly of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary

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...

, and the second ship to bear the name.

Formerly the Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 vessel MV Oktania, built by A. B. Uddevalla, Sweden, and completed in 1981, Oakleaf was added to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1986, before being decommissioned in approximately 2009.

Role

As well as their role of replenishing warships at sea, support tankers perform the bulk movement of fuels between MOD(N) depots. The Oakleaf had three Leaf-class sisters - Brambleleaf

RFA Brambleleaf (A91)

RFA Brambleleaf was a Leaf-class small tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She should not be confused with RFA Brambleleaf of 1979, an active RFA tanker also of pennant number A81....

 (decommissioned), Bayleaf

RFA Bayleaf (A109)

RFA Bayleaf was a Leaf-class support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.-Construction:Bayleaf was one of four ships ordered from Cammell Laird at Birkenhead in 1973, and laid down in 1975 as the Hudson Sound. When the ordering company ran into financial difficulties, the ships were laid up, and...

 and Orangeleaf

RFA Orangeleaf (A110)

RFA Orangeleaf is a Leaf-class fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.RFA Orangeleaf saw action in the Gulf War in 1991 and was one of the first units to hear the code "Walkman" which was to signify the start of the offensive against Saddam Hussein's forces in Kuwait.During early to...

. All four were originally designed as commercial tankers and underwent major conversions to bring them up to RFA standards and equip them for naval support. These involved adding a considerable amount of electronics, both in communications and navigational aids, fitting two replenishment rigs and increasing the amount of accommodation.

While the ships can provide some food and stores support, their main cargoes are diesel and aviation fuel

JP-5

JP-5 or JP5 is a yellow, kerosene-based jet fuel developed in 1952 for use in aircraft stationed aboard aircraft carriers, where the risk from fire is particularly great. JP-5 is a complex mixture of hydrocarbons, containing alkanes, naphthenes, and aromatic hydrocarbons that weighs and has a...

. The Oakleaf is capable of replenishing ships with fuel using a standard jackstay or derrick

Derrick

A derrick is a lifting device composed of one tower, or guyed mast such as a pole which is hinged freely at the bottom. It is controlled by lines powered by some means such as man-hauling or motors, so that the pole can move in all four directions. A line runs up it and over its top with a hook on...

 rig abeam and towed rig for astern replenishment. She is fitted to take containers on her main deck for the provision of stores and to enhance ship's stores capabilities for long deployments.

Design

The normal complement is 36, in her current deployment is 15 officers and 22 senior and junior ratings. Among the departments, the PO (Supply) is responsible for 5,000 stores line items as well as for victualling, clothing and bedding . The RISC (RFA Interim Stores Computer) system is his only assistant on board. This system is to be replaced by Oasis 4 in due course.

Oakleaf is powered by a four-cylinder Burmeister and Wain long stroke oil engine capable of developing 12000 bhp driving a single controllable pitch propeller

Controllable pitch propeller

A controllable pitch propeller or variable pitch propeller is a type of propeller with blades that can be rotated around their long axis to change their pitch...

. She also has bow and stern variable pitch thrust propellers. Fitted with automatic power management, the vessel can be operated with her machinery spaces unmanned - as with her sister ships, her engines can be controlled from either the ship's bridge or the (air conditioned) machinery control room.

Service history

In September 1994, Oakleaf, participated in Operation Uphold Democracy

Operation Uphold Democracy

Operation Uphold Democracy was an intervention designed to remove the military regime installed by the 1991 Haitian coup d'état that overthrew the elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide...

 in Haiti, replenishing ships of the international task force.

In July 1995, the West Indies Guardship, and her support ship, RFA Oakleaf provided assistance following volcanic activity

Soufrière Hills

The Soufrière Hills volcano is an active complex stratovolcano with many lava domes forming its summit on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. After a long period of dormancy, it became active in 1995, and has continued to erupt ever since...

 on the island of Montserrat

Montserrat

Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...

.

Following a refit in December 2008 and BOST (Basic Operational Sea Training)in January, she recommenced her duties 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...

 as tanker to the West Indies Guard Ship.

She was decommissioned from the RFA in approximately 2009, and laid up awaiting disposal at Her Majesty's Naval Base in Portsmouth

HMNB Portsmouth

Her Majesty's Naval Base Portsmouth is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the British Royal Navy...

. Oakleaf sailed from Portsmouth on 29 September 2010 in the tow of tug Mega One for Aliağa

Aliaga

Aliaga can refer to:* Aliaga, Aragon, Spain* Aliağa, Turkey* the Filipino municipality of Aliaga, Nueva Ecija on Luzon* a family name, as in the case of the Peruvian writer Felipe Pardo y Aliaga...

, Turkey for breaking.

Oakleaf arrived at Aliağa under tow on 22 October 2010.

External links

• MOD Oakleaf page