MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

RFA Black Rover back in UK after 17-month deployment in the Atlantic

Sixteen times British or foreign vessels have topped up their fuel tanks including HMS Iron Duke, plus RN’s permanent presence in the Falklands, HMS Clyde

The second-oldest vessel in the Naval Service, veteran tanker RFA Black Rover, a well known presence in the Falkland Islands, has completed her penultimate deployment, a marathon of 17 months in the Atlantic. No Royal Navy vessel can carry out a patrol in the Southern Hemisphere without the support of a Royal Fleet Auxiliary tanker – a duty performed in recent years by a Rover-class vessel.

 After 571 days away from the UK, the veteran tanker, which celebrated her 40th birthday in September, arrived at Glenmallan jetty in Loch Long, her mission re-fuelling ships done.

Black, the slightly younger of the Rovers still on active service, left Yonderberry Jetty in Plymouth in May last year, since when she’s clocked up 75,000 miles or three times around the earth.

Sixteen times British or foreign vessels have topped up their fuel tanks to support their ongoing operations: Her Majesty Ships Argyll, Richmond, Portland and Iron Duke, plus the RN’s permanent presence in the Falklands, HMS Clyde, a well as RFA Argus and Spanish ships Tornado and Rayo.

The ship has sailed as far west as the Pacific off the coast of Peru, as far south as Cumberland Bay in South Georgia and as far east as False Bay in South Africa. She passed through the Strait of Magellan – linking the Atlantic and Pacific at the foot of the Americas – three times, the Panama Canal once, crossed the Equator on six occasions.

The tanker spent all last Christmas and New Year at sea moving between the South Atlantic and Pacific.

The 17-month tour of duty had, said the tanker’s Commanding Officer Capt Ian Pilling RFA, been “full of the unexpected.”

He continued: “That’s another South Atlantic deployment completed, one filled with challenges new and old. We’ve finished a variety of operational tasks, enjoyed some great opportunities to explore countries and savor cultures you’d rarely visit.

“Throughout the ship’s company have been up for everything from re-fuelling in a Force 8 gale to shark diving off South Africa and raising over £1,000 for charity during our 40th birthday at sea. It has and will always be, a truly interesting, demanding tasking that is full of the unexpected!

“And we’ve spent a significant amount of time at sea sailing around the South Atlantic supporting both the Royal Navy and foreign warships, as well as carrying out maritime security operations ourselves”.