RFA Green Rover (A268)

RFA "Green Rover" (A268) was a fleet support tanker of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Green Rover was built by Swan Hunter, Hebburn-on-Tyne, UK. She is a single hulled tanker and carries a mixture of fuel oil, aviation fuel, lubricating oil and fresh water. She was in service with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary from 1969 till 1992.

Green Rover was decommissioned in 1992 from the Royal Navy and sold to the Indonesian Navy. There she took on the name of KRI ARUN and in addition to providing tanker duties, also became the flagship of the Training Commander in the Indonesian fleet. She is still in service as of 2006.

The primary role of Green Rover was to replenish Royal Navy warships with fuel oil, aviation fuel, lubricants, fresh water and a limited amount of dry cargo and refrigerated stores whilst underway.

The transferring of fuel and stores requires the warship and the RFA ship to steam along side-by-side while the cargo is passed from one ship to the other via hoses and lines rigged between them.

These ships are able to replenish two warships simultaneously, one on each side. They are also fitted with a large flight deck which is served by a stores lift. This is used when helicopters are employed as flying cranes, ferrying supplies from ship to ship by air, and is used to speed up the replenishment process or in cases when a ship needs supplies but not fuel.

Although not big enough to support a large task group, these ships are ideal for supporting individual warships or small groups on deployment.