Wave Ruler underway with a United States Coast Guard Eurocopter HH-65 Dolphin helicopter embarked
History
United Kingdom
Name	RFA Wave Ruler
Operator	Royal Fleet Auxiliary
Ordered	12 March 1997
Builder	Kvaerner Govan BAE Systems Marine
Launched	9 February 2001
Commissioned	27 April 2003
Homeport	HMNB Devonport[1]
Identification	IMO number: 9168609 MMSI number: 235519000 Callsign: GCVR Pennant number A390
Status	Extended readiness (uncrewed reserve)[2][3]
Badge
General characteristics [4][5][6]
Class and type	Wave-class tanker
Displacement	31,500 tonnes approx
Length	196.5 m (644 ft 8 in)
Beam	28.25 m (92 ft 8 in)
Draught	9.97 m (32 ft 9 in)
Propulsion	Diesel-electric: 4 × Wartsila 12V 32E/GECLM diesel generators 25,514 metric horsepower (18.76 MW) 2 × GEC Alstom motors with Cegelec variable speed converters 19,040 metric horsepower (14 MW) 1 × shaft 18t thrust electric Kamewa bow thruster and 12t thrust electric stern thruster, both powered by Cegelec variable speed drives and motors
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	10,000 nmi (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity	16,000 m3 of liquids (of which 3,000 m3 aviation fuel & 380 m3 fresh water) 125 tonnes of lubricating oil 500 m3 of solids 150 tonnes of fresh food in eight 20 ft refrigerated container units.
Complement	80 Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel with provision for 22 Royal Navy personnel for helicopter and weapons systems operations
Sensors and processing systems	Surface search: E/F band Navigation: KH 1077, I-band IFF: Type 1017
Armament	2 × DS30B 30 mm cannon; 2 × 7.62 mm Mk.44 miniguns; 5 × 7.62 mm L7 machine guns; 2 × Vulcan Phalanx CIWS (all weapons removed given uncrewed reserve status)
Aircraft carried	1 × Merlin helicopter with full hangar facilities

RFA Wave Ruler is a Wave-class fast fleet tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) of the United Kingdom tasked with providing fuel, food, fresh water, ammunition and other supplies to Royal Navy vessels around the world.

Wave Ruler was built by Kvaerner Govan (after 1999, BAE Systems Marine) and launched in 2001. She was accepted into service in 2003 and is the second ship to bear this name in RFA service. Wave Ruler and her sister Wave Knight, were designed to replace Olna and Olwen, two 36,000-ton Ol-class fast fleet tankers which were built at Swan Hunter and Hawthorn Leslie in the 1960s.^[7]

Wave Ruler was the last tanker commissioned into the RFA until RFA Tidespring became operational in late 2017.

Design and description

Wave Ruler has a standard crew of 80 Royal Fleet Auxiliary personnel with provision for a further 22 Royal Navy personnel to conduct helicopter and weapons systems operations.^[6] She carries a full medical team and sick bay and is capable of distributing 2,000 emergency relief packages in times of crisis.^[8]

The ship has the capability to supply fuel and other liquid cargo to vessels using replenishment rigs on port and starboard beams and through a Hudson reel-type stern rig. When providing support for amphibious operations, Wave Ruler is also able to deliver fuel to dracones positioned alongside. In addition to fuel, the ship carries ammunition and other stores which can be transferred while underway. She can operate a Merlin HM1 helicopter, or other helicopters of similar size, from a hangar and flight deck at the stern.^[6]

Operational history

2003–2010

September 2004 saw Wave Ruler deployed to the Caribbean to provide hurricane relief operations.^[6]

In 2006 the ship carried out three major cocaine seizures at sea. In September it recovered £64m of cocaine from an estimated cargo of £500m, after the crew of the fishing boat carrying the drugs set it on fire. On 2 November the ship and its accompanying Royal Marines captured 3 tonnes (3.0 long tons; 3.3 short tons) of cocaine worth £300m. On 29 November it seized a further 2.9 tonnes (2.9 long tons; 3.2 short tons), again from a fishing boat. All the raids took place in the Caribbean.^[9][10]

On 31 August 2008 Wave Ruler was dispatched with HMS Iron Duke to assist relief efforts in the Caribbean for the Atlantic Hurricane Gustav. The vessels distributed food, water and first aid supplies to victims of the disaster as well as providing support restoring local infrastructure.^[11] On 3 October 2008 the ship docked in Havana, Cuba. This was only the second time since the country's revolution 50 years earlier that a Royal Navy ship had visited the country. The five-day stay was part of an ongoing anti-drugs operation in the Caribbean, which saw the ship spend much of 2005–2008 in the region, confiscating over 13 tonnes (13 long tons; 14 short tons) of cocaine in total.^[12] On 8 November 2008 the ship was sent to the Cayman Islands to provide humanitarian relief assistance in the wake of Hurricane Paloma.^[13]

In June 2009, she took part in exercise Bersama Shield with HMS Ocean and HMS Somerset off the Malay Peninsula.^[14]

During February 2010, Wave Ruler and the destroyer HMS York were deployed to the Falkland Islands during a period of increased tension between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the former's plans to begin drilling for oil in the seas surrounding the islands. While in the South Atlantic, Wave Ruler took part in the rescue of an I-Kiribati sailor who was taken seriously ill, refuelling an RAF 1564 Search and Rescue Flight Sea King helicopter while in flight.^[15] The deployment also saw the ships visit Southern Thule in the Southern Sandwich Islands, the first British warships to visit the islands for nearly 10 years.^[16][17] November 2010 saw the vessel back in the Caribbean, where she distributed 160 t (160 long tons; 180 short tons) of fresh water and 32,000 water purification tablets in St Lucia after the effects of Hurricane Tomas. The deployment also saw the vessel visit Antigua and the British Overseas Territory of Grand Cayman.^[18]

2011–present

Wave Ruler spent the summer and autumn of 2011 again in the Caribbean deployed as the United Kingdom's Atlantic Patrol Ship (North). She embarked a Mk 8 Lynx helicopter from 815 Naval Air Squadron for the duration.^[8]

In October 2012, Wave Ruler transited the Suez Canal and took over from RFA Fort Victoria as Gulf Readiness Tanker in the Persian Gulf. The Gulf Readiness Tanker operates in support of UKMCC Bahrain.^[19] In January 2013, Wave Ruler was relieved by RFA Fort Victoria.^[20]

In late 2014, Wave Ruler deployed as part of the Cougar 14 Task Group, along with HM Ships Bulwark and HMS Northumberland, RFA Lyme Bay and the French frigate Courbet for naval exercises in the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf.^[21] Wave Ruler remained east of Suez, operating with RFA Fort Austin until both ships were relieved by Fort Victoria in June 2015.^[22]

Wave Ruler spent the latter part of 2016 and early 2017 operating in Scottish waters and the English Channel in support of Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).^[23] As of June 2020, Wave Ruler was reported to be in "reduced readiness" (reserve - base maintenance period)^[24] but maintained in good condition and available for reactivation.^[25] In February 2022, it was reported that Wave Ruler and her sister ship Wave Knight would be placed in "extended readiness" (uncrewed reserve).^[26]

Future

In June 2018 it was reported by the Brazilian press that the UK MoD had offered to sell one or both of the Wave-class tankers to Brazil.^[27] As early as 2010, BAE Systems had proposed providing Brazil with a variant of the Wave class, tailored to meet the specific aviation, stores and personnel requirements of the Brazilian Navy.^[28] Nevertheless, the ship was still part of the RFA fleet (though maintained in reserve) as of late 2021, with the 2021 defence white paper apparently having had no overt impact on that status.