Defence Royal Navy: Adaptable officers gain valuable insight on RFA Tidespring deployment ahead of HMS Medway duties By Freddie Webb Published 6th Aug 2024, 07:39 BST Comment Watch more of our videos on Shots! and live on Freeview channel 276 Visit Shots! now Two Royal Navy officers due to work on a Portsmouth-based warship said they gained valuable experience while on deployment on a different vessel. Sub Lieutenants Adam Whitelaw and Kieran Kitsell spent a month on board the RFA Tidespring tanker for specialist fleet time training. The pair said this allowed them to know more about the important role that the Royal Fleet Auxilliary play in fuelling and maintaining warships while on deployment.
The officers are now due to undergo operations on HMS Medway. Sub Lt Whitelaw said: “My time onboard gave me a massive appreciation to the roles that the RFA undertake in defence tasking and how close ties between all arms of the Naval Service is vital for operational output. Thankfully, we were able to integrate quickly as the bridge equipment onboard was already familiar to us, operating the same radars and types of software.
This commonality allowed us to complete vital serials before progressing onto the next stage of our career.” Sub Lieutenants Adam Whitelaw and Kieran Kitsell spent a month on board RFA Tidespring, ahead of their deployment on the Portsmouth-based warship HMS Medway. | Royal Navy Sign up to our daily newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The News, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more.
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Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad RFA Tidespring on deployment. | AS1 Amber Mayall RAF Read More Boss’ “rare night out” turns to horror as he is hauled before court for parking fraud Sign up for FREE Portsmouth News newsletters RFA Tidespring was operating in UK waters at the time, with the officers spending 33 days on board and 29 of them at sea. They sailed more than 5,000 nautical miles in the Atlantic and North Sea - carrying out multiple replenishments-at-sea operations with Type 23 frigate HMS Richmond, a US maritime patrol aircraft and other aircraft from the Netherlands and Portugal.
Anti-submarine training was also carried out alongside the US and Norwegian Navy. Sub Lts Whitelaw and Kitsell spent more than 200 hours on Tidespring’s bridge, giving them crucial insight into the RFA’s ability to safely replenish stores, equipment and fuel in close formation in rough conditions. “Putting into practice the skills learnt at Britannia Royal Naval College and the Maritime Warfare School at HMS Collingwood on national tasking was thoroughly enjoyable, made all the better by the welcoming nature and efforts made by the crew to train us,” Sub Lt Whitelaw said.
Sub Lt Kitsell added: “Throughout this trip alone I have seen first-hand how the Royal Fleet Auxiliary performs a vital role in enhancing our Navy’s capabilities in order to conduct vital tasking,” he said. Albeit there are some differences between the way the RFA and RN operate, many key principles remain unchanged. For example, from a Warfare perspective, conducting operational tasking whilst remaining navigationally safe is of the utmost importance.
“In particular, I have found it extremely useful taking scenarios I had learned in the simulator and seeing them replicated in real life. It is always extremely satisfying seeing something you have trained for all of a sudden fall into place as you practice it for real out on the open ocean. Being attached to Tidespring has proved to be an incredible learning experience.
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