RFA Sir Tristram (L3505)

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Career

Ordered:
Laid down:	February 1966
Launched:	December 12, 1966
Commissioned:	September 14, 1967
Decommissioned:	16 December 2005
Fate:
Struck:
General characteristics
Displacement:	6,407 tonnes
Length:	135.8 m
Beam:	17.7 m
Draught:	3.9 m
Propulsion:	Two ten-cylinder turbocharged Mirrlees National ALSSDM10 diesels plus one 400 hp (298 kW) bow thruster
Speed:	15 knots (28 km/h)
Range:
Complement:	51
Armament:	Four Oerlikon 20 mm guns Four 7.62 mm machine guns
Aircraft:	Aft flight deck: one spot for Westland Sea King or Westland Lynx; vehicle deck: one spot for CH-47 Chinook, Sea King or Lynx
Motto:

RFA Sir Tristram (L3505) is a Landing Ship Logistics of the Round Table class. It was launched in 1966, and accepted into British Army service in 1967. As with others of its class, it was taken over by the Royal Navy in 1970. The ship saw service in the Falklands War, and was badly damaged at Fitzroy on June 8, alongside the RFA Sir Galahad, when the decks were strafed and two crew were killed. A large bomb also smashed through the deck, but luckily failed to explode immediately, allowing the surviving crew to be evacuated. Following the explosion, Sir Tristram was abandoned. After the war the hulk was refloated and towed to Stanley, where it 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, Tristram reentered 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's long career finally came to an end on 17 December 2005 when it was decommissioned.