RFA Lyme Bay (L3007) is a Bay class

Bay class landing ship dock (auxiliary)

The Bay class is a ship class of four Dock landing ships built for the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary during the 2000s. Based on the Dutch-Spanish Royal Schelde Enforcer design and intended as a replacement for the Round Table class logistics ships, two ships each were ordered from Swan Hunter and...

 auxiliary

Auxiliaries

An auxiliary force is a group affiliated with, but not part of, a military or police organization. In some cases, auxiliaries are armed forces operating in the same manner as regular soldiers...

 landing ship dock (LSD(A)) of the British Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary is a civilian-manned fleet owned by the British Ministry of Defence. The RFA enables ships of the United Kingdom Royal Navy to maintain operations around the world. Its primary role is to supply the Royal Navy with fuel, ammunition and supplies, normally by replenishment...

 (RFA). Ordered from Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...

 in 2000, the ship was launched in 2005. However, cost overruns and delays saw the shipbuilder removed from the project, and the incomplete ship was towed to Govan for finishing by BAE Systems Naval Ships

BAE Systems Naval Ships

BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions was a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems, based at two shipyards on the River Clyde in Glasgow and BAE Systems' Filton offices...

. Lyme Bay entered service in late 2007; the last ship of the class to join the RFA.

Design and construction

The Bay class was designed as a replacement for the Round Table class logistics ships operated by the RFA. The new design was based on the Royal Schelde Enforcer design; a joint project between the Dutch and Spanish resulting in the Rotterdam class and Galicia class

Galicia class landing platform dock

The Galicia class is a class of two 13,900 t landing platform dock ships, belonging to the Spanish Navy. Built in Ferrol, their mission is to carry amphibious warfare by transporting the bulk of the Infantería de Marina....

 amphibious warfare ships. The main difference with the British ships is the lack of a helicopter hangar. The ships were originally designated "Auxiliary Landing Ship Logistics" or ALSL, but this was changed in 2002 to "Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary)" or LSD(A), better reflecting their operational role. Four ships were ordered; two from Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...

, and two from BAE Systems Naval Ships

BAE Systems Naval Ships

BAE Systems Surface Fleet Solutions was a wholly owned subsidiary of BAE Systems, based at two shipyards on the River Clyde in Glasgow and BAE Systems' Filton offices...

.

The Bay class ships have a full load displacement of 16160 tonnes (15,904.7 LT). Each is 579.4 feet (176.6 m) long, with a beam of 86.6 feet (26.4 m), and a draught of 19 feet (5.8 m). Propulsion power is provided by two Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...

 8L26 generators, providing 6000 hp, and two Wärtsilä 12V26 generators, providing 9000 hp. These are used to drive two steerable azimuth thrusters

Azimuth thruster

An azimuth thruster is a configuration of ship propellers placed in pods that can be rotated in any horizontal direction, making a rudder unnecessary...

, with a bow thruster supplementing. Maximum speed is 18 knots (9.8 m/s), and the Bay class ships can achieve a range of 8000 nautical miles (14,816 km) at 15 knots (8.2 m/s). Lyme Bay is armed with two 30 mm DS30B cannons, four Mk.44 miniguns

Minigun

The Minigun is a 7.62 mm, multi-barrel heavy machine gun with a high rate of fire , employing Gatling-style rotating barrels with an external power source...

, six 7.62mm L7 GPMG

FN MAG

The FN MAG is a Belgian 7.62 mm general-purpose machine gun, designed in the early 1950s at Fabrique Nationale by Ernest Vervier. It has been used by more than 80 countries, and it has been made under licence in countries such as Argentina, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the...

s, and two Phalanx CIWS

Phalanx CIWS

The Phalanx CIWS is an anti-ship missile defense system. It is a close-in weapon system and was designed and manufactured by the General Dynamics Corporation, Pomona Division...

. The standard ship's company consists of 60 officers and sailors.

As a sealift

Sealift

Sealift is a term used predominantly in military logistics and refers to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, vehicles, military personnel, and supplies...

 ship, Lyme Bay is capable of carrying up to 24 Challenger 2 tanks or 150 light trucks in 1,150 linear metres of space. The cargo capacity is equivalent of 200 tons of ammunition, or 24 Twenty-foot equivalent unit

Twenty-foot equivalent unit

The twenty-foot equivalent unit is an inexact unit of cargo capacity often used to describe the capacity of container ships and container terminals...

 containers. During normal conditions, a Bay class ship can carry 356 soldiers, but this can be almost doubled to 700 in overload conditions. No helicopters are carried onboard, but the twin-spot flight deck is capable of handling helicopters up to the size of Chinooks, as well as Merlin helicopters and Osprey tiltrotor

Tiltrotor

A tiltrotor is an aircraft which uses a pair or more of powered rotors mounted on rotating shafts or nacelles at the end of a fixed wing for lift and propulsion, and combines the vertical lift capability of a helicopter with the speed and range of a conventional fixed-wing aircraft...

 aircraft. The well dock can carry one LCU Mark 10 or two LCVPs, and two Mexeflote

Mexeflote

The Mexeflote is a landing raft used by the British Royal Logistic Corps to move goods and vehicles between ship and shore. It was first used by British military in the 1960s, and remains in use at present...

s can be suspended from the ship's flanks. Two 30-ton cranes are fitted between the superstructure and the flight deck.

Lyme Bay and sister ship were ordered from Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...

 on 18 December 2000. Lyme Bay was laid down at Swan Hunter's shipyard at Wallsend

Wallsend

Wallsend is an area in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. Wallsend derives its name as the location of the end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 42,842.-Romans:...

, Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear

Tyne and Wear is a metropolitan county in north east England around the mouths of the Rivers Tyne and Wear. It came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972...

 on 22 November 2002. The ship was launched on 3 September 2005. The Bay class construction project saw major delays and cost overruns, particularly in the Swan Hunter half of the project. Shortly after Largs Bay was handed over to the RFA, Swan Hunter was stripped from the project, with BAE taking full responsibility for the class on 13 June 2006. Lyme Bay was towed to BAE's shipyard in Gowan

Gowan

Gowan can refer to:Sport:*Gowan Rugby, Ancient Mouri form of non contact rugbyPeople:* Peter Gowan, academic* Lawrence Gowan, a Canadian musician who used the stage name Gowan* Hunter Gowan, Irish Protestant politician and militiaman...

 for completion, departing on 16 July and arriving on the River Clyde

River Clyde

The River Clyde is a major river in Scotland. It is the ninth longest river in the United Kingdom, and the third longest in Scotland. Flowing through the major city of Glasgow, it was an important river for shipbuilding and trade in the British Empire....

on 22 July. The ship was the last to be built on the River Tyne, and the only warship built by Swan Hunter but not completed. BAE completed construction, and Lyme Bay was dedicated on 26 November 2007; the last ship of the class to enter RFA service.