RFA Honour
RFA History
RFA Ships
Historical RFA
RFA Honour
RFA History
RFA Ships
RFA Operations since 1905
RFA Operations
RFA ships have been involved in naval operations, humanitarian and life saving actions in both peace and war since the Service’s formation in 1905.
Details of the operations or actions where RFA’s were involved are listed below.
This list is far from complete and as further research identifies additional operations, humanitarian and life saving actions these will be added with as much back ground details as can be ascertained: –
1940 Operation Puma
Planned Operations Against the Atlantic Islands in WW2 Early in WW2 Adolf Hitler conceived plans known as Operation Felix to seize Gibraltar and the Azores, Canary and Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic, but fortunately was dissuaded from this by…
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1945 – Operation Tiderace
Flag Officer Force ‘N’ (Rear Admiral C.S. Holland, CB) sailed from Trincomalee for Singapore on 31 August 1945 in H.M.S. SUSSEX, with the destroyer VIGILANT in company. Rear Admiral Holland, on behalf of the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia,…
View more1945 – Operation Jurist
On 15 August, 1945 Vice Admiral Harold T.C. Walker, CB, Vice Admiral Commanding Third Battle Squadron, was ordered to carry out Operation JURIST, D Day being fixed as 21 August 1945 In accordance with these orders, the following forces sailed…
View more1940 – Operation Lucid
The Fall of France in July 1940 and the real possibility of a German invasion of Britain – with a German codenamed of Operation Sealion – resulted in a British plan, first mooted in the summer of 1940 and codenamed…
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1940 – Operation Bonnet
Operation Bonnet was the British code name for a Royal Navy convoy from Alexandria to Malta. The convoy, MF2, which consisted of two merchant ships together with RFA PLUMLEAF (1) sailed on 29 August 1940 with the direct and indirect…
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1971 – Operation Lymelight
Operation Lymelight ran from the 2nd to 8th August 1971 in the English Chanel off Dorset and was the code name for a live BBC TV Programme involving Fleet Exercises with HMS ARK ROYAL and two other RN warships together…
View more1983 – Operation Offcut
Operation Offcut was the British code name for Royal Navy support in a multi national force in the Lebanon following a massacre of Palestinian refugees. The Operation was to protect its peacekeepers (the BRITFORLEB deployment) and nationals in that country.…
View more1941 – Operation Excess
Operation Excess was a series of British supply convoys to Malta, Alexandria and Greece in January 1941. The operation encountered the first presence of Luftwaffe anti-shipping aircraft in the Mediterranean Sea. All the convoyed freighters reached their destinations. However, the…
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1945 – Operation Stacey
Operation Stacey was the code name for a Royal Navy force (Force 62) to carry out photographic reconnaissance of Penang and the Kra Isthmus between latitudes 7 degrees North and 10 degrees North, and Northern Sumatra in February and March…
View more1941 – Operation Substance
Operation Substance was a British naval operation in July 1941 during the Second World War to escort convoy GM 1, the first of the series from Gibraltar to Malta. The convoy defended by Force H was attacked by Italian submarines,…
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1940 Operation Puma
Planned Operations Against the Atlantic Islands in WW2 Early in WW2 Adolf Hitler conceived plans known as Operation Felix to seize Gibraltar and the Azores, Canary and Cape Verde Islands…
View more1945 – Operation Tiderace
Flag Officer Force ‘N’ (Rear Admiral C.S. Holland, CB) sailed from Trincomalee for Singapore on 31 August 1945 in H.M.S. SUSSEX, with the destroyer VIGILANT in company. Rear Admiral Holland,…
View more1945 – Operation Jurist
On 15 August, 1945 Vice Admiral Harold T.C. Walker, CB, Vice Admiral Commanding Third Battle Squadron, was ordered to carry out Operation JURIST, D Day being fixed as 21 August…
View more1940 – Operation Lucid
The Fall of France in July 1940 and the real possibility of a German invasion of Britain – with a German codenamed of Operation Sealion – resulted in a British…
View more1940 – Operation Bonnet
Operation Bonnet was the British code name for a Royal Navy convoy from Alexandria to Malta. The convoy, MF2, which consisted of two merchant ships together with RFA PLUMLEAF (1)…
View more1971 – Operation Lymelight
Operation Lymelight ran from the 2nd to 8th August 1971 in the English Chanel off Dorset and was the code name for a live BBC TV Programme involving Fleet Exercises…
View more1983 – Operation Offcut
Operation Offcut was the British code name for Royal Navy support in a multi national force in the Lebanon following a massacre of Palestinian refugees. The Operation was to protect…
View more1941 – Operation Excess
Operation Excess was a series of British supply convoys to Malta, Alexandria and Greece in January 1941. The operation encountered the first presence of Luftwaffe anti-shipping aircraft in the Mediterranean…
View more1945 – Operation Stacey
Operation Stacey was the code name for a Royal Navy force (Force 62) to carry out photographic reconnaissance of Penang and the Kra Isthmus between latitudes 7 degrees North and…
View more1941 – Operation Substance
Operation Substance was a British naval operation in July 1941 during the Second World War to escort convoy GM 1, the first of the series from Gibraltar to Malta. The…
View more