In December last year the Navantia shipyard at Appledore held the ceremony for the commencement of ‘cutting steel’ as they started work on the construction of the bow section of the first Fleet Solid Support Ship. At 216 metres long – the length of two Premier League football pitches – these new ships will provide munitions, spares, food and other essential stores to naval vessels and enable the Royal Navy can remain at sea for prolonged periods. 

Navantia currently employs 200 people in Appledore and of those are 20 new apprentices who were recruited this year in partnership with Petroc College. The bow sections will be constructed on a barge measuring some 100 metres long x 30 wide. This will be moored in the shipyard (apparently a tight fit with just centimetres of space either side) and when completed the barge, with the bow section onboard, will be towed to Navantia Belfast to join other component parts and the whole vessel will be ‘stitched’ together. 

The ‘cutting steel’ ceremony was attended by the whole Appledore workforce, senior managers from Navantia Spain plus guests including Luke Pollard MP (Minister for Defence Readiness and Industry) and Commodore Sam Shattock of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) who announced that the new vessel will be named RFA Resurgence.

On their way to Appledore Commodore Shattock and two other senior officers from the RFA, all of course in full dress uniform, stopped at Riverbank car park, Bideford. They walked along Landivisiau Walk to make a quick visit to SS Freshspring. Built in 1946 she is the oldest surviving historic RFA ship and possibly the only historic RFA ship to survive, all others having been scrapped. 

By luck it was a Wednesday and the maintenance crew were on board busy painting, repairing generators and oiling valves. They were surprised to see this trio of naval officers resplendent in their uniforms admiring the ship but recovering quickly invited them aboard. Within a few minutes one was in the wheelhouse, another in the crews’ quarters and the other in the engine room getting a detailed inspection of the historic vessel and update on the progress of renovation work. They were having such a good time that they were nearly late getting to the steel cutting ceremony!  

This visit has forged important links between Freshspring and the modern RFA and reinforced the links of heritage and modern shipbuilding on the Torridge. 

The River Torridge Heritage Group is a partnership of local heritage organisations led by Way of the Wharves https://barthh.org/