The UK has laid the keel of RFA Resurgent, the first of three Fleet Solid Support ships for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and named its sister vessels RFA Reliant and RFA Resourceful, according to the UK Ministry of Defence.
The 3 September ceremony at Navantia UK’s Appledore shipyard in North Devon marked the formal start of assembly of RFA Resurgent.
Commodore Sam Shattock, head of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, announced the two sister-ship names.
“Today represents the moment when vision becomes reality, when plans and drawings come to life, effectively becoming the ship’s birthday,” Shattock said.
A bow section was lowered onto the Seahorse barge in Appledore’s dry dock after Navantia UK apprentice Tyler Lister placed a commemorative coin. Seahorse was built at the Methil yard and will transport completed blocks from Appledore to Belfast.
The three ships are being built under a £1.634bn ($2.21bn) manufacturing contract awarded in January 2023. Modules will be produced at Appledore, Belfast and Navantia facilities in Cádiz, with final assembly, integration and trials in Belfast.
Each ship will be 216 metres long and displace about 39,000 tonnes, with a core Royal Fleet Auxiliary crew of 101 and accommodation for another 80 personnel.
The vessels will replenish Royal Navy ships at sea with munitions, stores, food, spares and other supplies, including support for Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carrier operations. RFA Resurgent is expected to enter service in the early 2030s.
The programme is expected to support about 1,200 shipyard jobs and hundreds of apprenticeships, with around £100m ($135.3m) being invested in Belfast and Appledore.
RFA Resurgent revives a name carried by a merchant ship converted into a fleet replenishment vessel in 1957 and retired in 1979.
The Royal Fleet Auxiliary has previously operated three vessels named Reliant. Resourceful is a new RFA name, although RFA Resource served from 1966 to 1997.
Navantia UK was established in 2022 as the British subsidiary of Spanish shipbuilder Navantia. It acquired the Belfast, Appledore, Methil and Arnish shipyards in 2025 and employs more than 1,200 people. The company is prime contractor for the Fleet Solid Support programme and is investing more than £157m ($212.4m) in its UK facilities. Navantia is wholly owned by Spain’s state industrial holding company SEPI.