.gif)
RFA Mounts Bay (L3008)
Encyclopedia
RFA Mounts Bay (L3008) is a Bay class 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 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...
. She is named after Mount's Bay
Mount's Bay
Mount's Bay is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head on the eastern side of the Land's End peninsula. Towards the middle of the bay is St Michael's Mount...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
.
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 classGalicia 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 propulson pods, 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). Mounts Bay is normally unarmed, but is fitted to receive two 30 mm DS30B cannons, two Mk.44 miniguns
M242 Bushmaster
The M242 Bushmaster is a 25 mm chain-fed autocannon. It is used extensively by the US armed forces, as well as by NATO's and some other nations' forces in ground combat vehicles and watercraft...
, 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 a 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, Mounts 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.
Mounts Bay and sister ship were ordered from BAE on 19 November 2001. Mounts Bay was laid down at BAE's shipyard at Govan
Govan
Govan is a district and former burgh now part of southwest City of Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the south bank of the River Clyde, opposite the mouth of the River Kelvin and the district of Partick....
, Scotland on 25 August 2002. She was launched on 9 April 2004, although it took seveal attempts to christen the ship, and she received damage after becoming entangled in chains and 25-ton weights during the actual launching. Footage from the launch ceremony was used in the opening sequence of the 2005 drama film On a Clear Day. Mounts Bay was dedicated on 13 July 2006, the first Bay class ship to enter service with the RFA.
Operational history
Mounts Bay took part in the 2006 Vela DeploymentCommander United Kingdom Maritime Forces
Commander United Kingdom Maritime Forces or COMUKMARFOR is a senior post in the Royal Navy. The post is the highest sea-going command in the Royal Navy and is part of the Fleet Battle Staff based in Portsmouth, part of Commander-in-Chief Fleet's staff...
. The deployment lasted from 11 September until 22 November 2006. In total approximately 3,000 British personnel and eleven ships of the Royal Navy and 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...
were involved. This deployment saw for the first time, an vessel, taking part in amphibious operations with a Bay class vessel. The deployment was divided into two phases, the first in local waters and the second in waters off the coast of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. For this deployment she was fitted with the Bowman communications system
Bowman (communications system)
Bowman is the name of the tactical communications system used by the British Armed Forces.The Bowman C4I system consists of a range of HF radio, VHF radio and UHF radio sets designed to provide secure integrated voice, data services to dismounted soldiers, individual vehicles and command HQs up to...
.
Mounts Bay demonstrated her lifting capability by transporting in excess of 130 vehicles, for the passage from the UK via Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
to Sierra Leone. After completing the Vela Deployment, she returned to the UK to load vehicles and equipment for Exercise Clockwork in northern Norway. She reached Sørreisa
Sørreisa
Sørreisa is a municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Sørreisa.- General information :...
on 9 December. Sørreisa is within the Arctic Circle
Arctic Circle
The Arctic Circle is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth. For Epoch 2011, it is the parallel of latitude that runs north of the Equator....
and is the furthest north any Bay class vessel has been so far. After discharging her cargo, Mounts Bay returned to the UK, successfully completing operations from the Equator to the Arctic Circle in the last three months of 2006.
She attended the Dover Maritime Careers Festival on 23-24 March 2007, mooring at the Dover Western Docks
Port of Dover
The Port of Dover is the cross-channel port situated in Dover, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just away, and one of Europe's largest passenger ports, with 14 million travellers, 2.1 million lorries, 2.8 million cars and motorcycles and 86,000 coaches passing...
. She was also in Fowey
Fowey
Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...
on 22 August 2008 for the regatta week. Mounts Bay was involved in Exercise Joint Warrior 2008
Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration
The Coalition Warrior Interoperability Demonstration began in 1994 as the Joint Warrior Interoperability Demonstration . Since 1994, the program has evolved into a coalition program and the name was changed in 2004 to reflect this new trend. U.S...
, along with , which acted as the Fleets Amphibious Flagship. and also took part in the two week exercise off Scotland.
She attended The Tall Ships' Races
The Tall Ships' Races
The Tall Ships' Races are races for sail training "tall ships" . The races are designed to encourage international friendship and training for young people in the art of sailing. The races are held annually in European waters and consists of two racing legs of several hundred nautical miles, and a...
event in Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
Northern Ireland between 14-17 August 2009 which was the finishing line for the competition.
In April 2011, she was deployed as part of the Response Force Task Group's COUGAR'11 deployment.