RFA Sir Galahad (1987)

history

Commissioned:	September 6, 1984
Keel laying:	July 12, 1985
Launch:	December 13, 1986
Commissioning:	November 25, 1987
Decommissioning:	July 20, 2006
Fate:	Sold to Brazil
Home port:	Marchwood
Data
Displacement:	8751 tons
Length:	141 m
Width:	19.5 m
Draft:	4.5 m
Drive:	2 Mirrles diesel turbines with 4900 kW each , 1 bow thruster with 300 kW
Top speed:	17 knots
Range:	8,500 miles at 15 knots
Crew:	49
Armament:	Two Oerlikon 20mm cannons and two 7.62mm machine guns
Helicopter:	1 Sea King or Sea Lynx + landing option for a CH-47 Chinook

The 1987 RFA Sir Galahad (L3005) was a landing ship of the Royal Navy . The first Sir Galahad from 1966 was sunk in 1982 during the Falklands War and replaced by this new building with an identical name and identification number. They were named after the knight Galahad , a member of the round table in the Arthurian legend .

The ship now serves as Garcia D'Avila in the Brazilian Navy .

history

In 1984 the Royal Navy decided to procure a replacement for the Sir Galahad, sunk in the Falklands War , and ordered another logistical landing ship from Swan Hunter , based on the basic design of the ships of the Round Table class , but with a significantly higher tonnage. In memory of the previous ship, it was decided to give the new building the same name and identification number.

In 1991, supported Sir Galahad in the Second Gulf War, the liberation of Kuwait during the British Operation Granby . The ship was also used during the Iraq war in 2003. On March 28, 2003, she was the first Allied ship to call at the Iraqi port of Umm Qasr with soldiers and relief supplies.

Originally it was planned to retire the oldest four ships of the Round Table class by 2005, followed by the RFA Sir Bedivere (L3004), which was completely overhauled in 1994, in 2011 and the Sir Galahad in 2015. The Royal Navy decided, however, to only assign one of the ships in the medium term operate and the choice fell on the Sir Bedivere . On July 20, 2006, the Sir Galahad in Portsmouth was decommissioned. The successor to the ships of the round table class are the dock landing ships of the bay class .

The Sir Galahad was sold after her retirement in Brazil and on 4 December 2007 as Garcia D'Avila made at the Brazilian Navy in service.