[8] Stirling Castle is one of two new commercial vessels acquired for the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 2023, the other being RFA Proteus, a multi-role ocean surveillance ship to protect seabed infrastructure and communications.

[10][11] These vessels will fill a gap left as a result of the retirement of the Royal Navy's Sandown-class minehunters, all of which are scheduled to leave service by 2025.

[6] Designed by Rolls-Royce[7][13] and built by Vard Brăila, Romania[5] the primary capabilities of the Island Crown were to support subsea and offshore oil, gas, and renewable energy operations.

Projects for which the Island Crown was deployed includes supporting and accommodating workers on the construction of the East Anglia Array offshore wind farm near the United Kingdom.

[19] However, from January to March 2024 Stirling Castle was reported to have undertaken additional operational sea training in preparation for work with the Mine and Threat Exploitation Group at the Clyde naval base.

[24] While the crane defect was reported to have been repaired by October, a serious manpower shortage in the RFA meant that the ship remained effectively inactive.