ROYAL NAVY L3505 RFA Amphibious Landing Ship LSL - 040

 Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA): Amphibious Ship, L3505, 'Sir Tristam'

Round Table Class, LSL - Landing Ship Logistics,

Photographed at Southampton Docks, England, in August 1970

Please note: this picture is what we euphemistically call a 'record shot' - a photograph that has been rescued for historical reasons only. The quality you see here is what you get; this is not an artwork!

 RFA Sir Tristram (L3505)... was launched in 1966, and accepted into British Army service in 1967. As with others of her class, she was taken over by the Royal Navy in 1970. The ship saw service in the Falklands War of 1982, and was badly damaged at Fitzroy on 8 June, alongside the Sir Galahad, when the decks were strafed and two crew were killed. A large bomb also smashed through the deck, but failed to explode immediately, allowing the surviving crew to be evacuated. Following the explosion, Sir Tristram was abandoned. After the war the hulk was re-floated and towed to Stanley, where she was used as an accommodation ship until 1984. Sir Tristram was then returned to the United Kingdom on a heavy lift ship and extensively rebuilt.

Following the rebuild, Sir Tristram re-entered active service in 1985, and saw service in the Gulf War, and the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s. The ship supported relief operations for Hurricane Mitch off Central America. In 2000 the ship deployed to Sierra Leone in support of British operations there, followed by a cruise to the Baltic Sea in support of MCMVs. Early 2001 saw Sir Tristram return to Sierra Leone to take over from Sir Percivale as the ship supporting British forces ashore there. In 2003 the ship deployed as part of the largest British fleet for 20 years in support of the invasion of Iraq.

The ship was decommissioned on 17 December 2005 but will continue to be used for training purposes.

Information courtesy of Wikipedia

from our  British Royal Navy  photo series

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