First night replenishment at sea for British Navy HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier

The new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth of British Navy has performed first assessed night replenishment at sea with RFA Tideforce, a Tide-class replenishment tanker of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). This information was released on June 3, 2020, on the official Twitter account of HMS Queen Elizabeth.


The new aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth of British Navy has performed first assessed night replenishment at sea with RFA Tideforce, a Tide-class replenishment tanker of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). This information was released on June 3, 2020, on the official Twitter account of HMS Queen Elizabeth.
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First night replenishment at sea for British Navy HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier 925 001 HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier of British Navy has conducted our first assessed night Replenishment At Sea with RFA Tideforce tanker-ship. (Picture source Twitter account HMS Quen Elizabeth)


Replenishment at sea is a method of transferring fuel, munitions, and stores from one ship to another while underway. The main technical problem was ensuring a constant distance between the two ships throughout the process.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth is the lead ship of the Queen Elizabeth class of aircraft carriers, the largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom. The ship began sea trials in June 2017, was commissioned on 7 December 2017 and is scheduled to be fully operational in 2020.

The Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier is expected to be capable of carrying forty aircraft, a maximum of thirty-six F-35s, and four helicopters. The 2010 SDSR anticipated the routine peacetime deployment of twelve F-35Bs, but a typical aircraft unit will be 24 F-35Bs and some helicopters. These could be a Maritime Force Protection package of nine anti-submarine Merlin HM2 and five Merlin Crowsnest for airborne early warning; alternatively, a Littoral Manoeuvre package could include a mix of Royal Navy Commando Helicopter Force Merlin HC4, Wildcat AH1, RAF Chinooks, and Army Air Corps Apaches.

The propulsion system of HMS Queen Elizabeth consists of two Rolls-Royce Marine 36MW MT30 gas turbine alternators, providing over 70MW and four diesel engines providing approximately 40MW, with the total installed power approaching 110MW.

The gas turbines and diesel are the largest supplied to the Royal Navy, their combined power feeds the low-voltage system and supplies two tandem electric propulsion motors that drive a conventional twin shaft arrangement, fitted with fixed-pitch propellers.

The RFA Tideforce is a Tide-class replenishment tanker of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA). Ordered from DSME in 2012, she was officially named on 24 January 2018. The 37,000 t ships provide fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition, and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.