RFA Lyme Bay

RFA Lyme Bay

At over 16,000 tonnes full load, the Bay Class are much larger, more capable, more flexible and have over twice the capacity of the old ‘Sir’ class ships they have replaced. Lyme Bay is designed to deploy troops together with all the necessary vehicles, stores and ammunition to form part of the second wave of an amphibious assault. She is capable of delivering a significant fighting force anywhere in the world. She can operate on the front line in close support of the Landing Platform Docks (LPDs) HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark and the Landing Platform Helicopter (LPH) HMS Ocean. She is also ideally suited to low-intensity operations such as peace-keeping support, particularly when host nation support cannot be arranged, and for humanitarian and disaster-relief missions. Transfers to and from the ship can be made by helicopter or via the floodable stern dock which can take a single Mk10 Landing Craft Unit or two Mk5 Landing Craft vehicles. Lyme Bay will provide logistic support to military operations, carrying a military force of 356 Royal Marines and up to 135 crew. In addition, she can accommodate up to 1200 linear metres of military vehicles and battle tanks in her vehicle deck, loading them either by landing craft or by her two Mexeflotes which are carried on either side. The flight deck can handle Merlin and Chinook helicopters and Lyme Bay has two 30-tonne deck cranes to provide independence for loading.