RFA Sir Galahad (L3005) was a landing ship logistics

Landing Ship Logistics

The Landing Ship Logistic is a term used by the United Kingdom armed forces to describe the Round Table class landing ship used for support of amphibious warfare missions. These ships are operated by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary...

 (LSL) 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...

, currently in service with the Brazilian Navy

Brazilian Navy

The Brazilian Navy is a branch of the Brazilian Armed Forces responsible for conducting naval operations. It is the largest navy in Latin America...

 as the Garcia D'Avila.

History

RFA Sir Galahad was built by 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 entered service in 1988. She was named and given the identical pennant number

Pennant number

In the modern Royal Navy, and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth, ships are identified by pennant numbers...

 to the Sir Galahad

RFA Sir Galahad (1966)

RFA Sir Galahad was a Round Table class landing ship logistics vessel belonging to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. She was first managed for the British Army by the British-India Steam Navigation Company, before being transferred in 1970 to the RFA, part of the British fleet, .-Design and...

 sunk in the Falklands War

Falklands War

The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...

. Built with a combined landing craft and ferry with two flight decks for helicopters and bow and stern doors, there was capacity for around 400 troops and 3,440 tonnes of supplies.

She was deployed in 1991 for Operation Granby

Operation Granby

Operation Granby was the name given to the British military operations during the Gulf War. 53,462 troops were deployed during the conflict. The total cost of operations was £2.434 billion of which at least £2.049 billion was paid for by other nations such as Kuwait and Saudi Arabia; £200...

 and in 2003 for Operation Telic

Operation Telic

Operation TELIC was the codename under which all British military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the Invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on 22 May 2011...

 to transport supplies. In 2003 Sir Galahad transported humanitarian aid, docking in Umm Qasr Port

Umm Qasr Port

Umm Qasr Port is Iraq's only deep water port, part of the city of Umm Qasr.Iraq's second port in scale of size and goods shipped to the port of Basra, it is strategically important, located on the western edge of the al-Faw peninsula, where the mouth of the Shatt al Arab waterway enters the Persian...

 on 28 March, 2003, after being delayed while naval mine

Naval mine

A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, an enemy vessel...

s were cleared.

On 26 April, 2007, it was announced that she was to be purchased by Brazil

Brazil

Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...

. On 20 July, 2006, the ship sailed from Marchwood

Marchwood

Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water, next to the New Forest. The population of the village in the 2001 census was 5,586.-History:...

 to Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, to be decommissioned.

She was commissioned into the Brazilian Navy as Garcia D'Avila on 4 December, 2007.