RFA Sir Bedivere (L3004)
history | |
---|---|
Commissioned: | |
Keel laying: | October 1965 |
Launch: | July 20, 1966 |
Commissioning: | May 18, 1967 |
Decommissioning: | February 18, 2008 |
Home port: | Marchwood |
Data | |
Displacement: | 6700 tons |
Length: | 137.5 m |
Width: | 17.7 m |
Draft: | 3.9 m |
Drive: | 2 × V12 diesel engines Stork Wartsila SW280 |
Top speed: | 17 knots |
Range: | 9200 miles at 15 knots |
Crew: | 49 |
Armament: | Four Oerlikon 20mm cannons and four 7.62mm machine guns |
Helicopter: | 1 Sea King or Sea Lynx + landing option for a CH-47 Chinook |
The RFA Sir Bedivere (L3004) was a landing ship of the Royal Navy . She was one of six ships of the round table class (German round table class). It was named after Sir Bedivere , a knight of the round table in the Arthurian legend .
history
The Sir Bedivere entered service with the British Army in 1967, like all DropShips back then . In 1970 they were placed under the Royal Fleet Auxiliary . Her first war mission was the Falklands War in 1982. Together with other DropShips she was sent to the Falkland Islands to support the British reconquest. It was slightly damaged on May 24, 1982 when an Argentine bomb detonated a few meters from the ship. In 1990 she was sent to the Persian Gulf as part of the British Naval Association and was involved in the landing of British units during the Second Gulf War .
In order to increase the capacity of the Sir Bedivere , she was subjected to extensive modernization from 1994 to 1998, with the hull being lengthened by twelve meters and the diesel engines renewed. In 2000, it operated together with the aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious off the coast of Sierra Leone and coordinated the landing of British troops. At the beginning of 2003 she was seconded to the Persian Gulf and acted there during the Iraq war as a command ship for the anti-mine ships of the British and US Navy . She also served as a support ship for the Royal Marines .
Since August 2006, the Sir Bedivere was the last active ship of the round table class . Her five sister ships were the new dock landing ship of the Bay class replaced. Due to her good condition, the Sir Bedivere was originally supposed to remain in service until 2011. In 2007, however, it was decided to take them out of service prematurely because they were not used. On February 18, 2008, she was decommissioned in Marchwood .