A NAVY-support ship was welcomed back to Portland following a successful deployment to the Gulf.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ship Lyme Bay docked at Portland Port to offload equipment and stores before heading to Falmouth for planned maintenance, system upgrades and refurbishment.

At Portland to welcome the ship home was RFA Head of Service, Commodore David Eagles, who said: “It is a huge honour to welcome RFA Lyme Bay home after a very successful deployment to the Gulf. I am so very proud of all that her ship’s company has delivered in support of UK operations in the region and wish them all a safe return to their loved ones. The ship herself now heads into well-deserved maintenance and upgrade and I look forward to her re-joining the Fleet in her core amphibious role next year.”

RFA Lyme Bay is a Bay-class landing ship dock (LSDA), built to support global amphibious operations involving Royal Marines and designed to carry and offload troops and their equipment; up to 400 personnel, plus 150 trucks or 24 tanks at once. However, for this tasking RFA Lyme Bay has instead proved to be a very useful ‘mother ship’ for not just RN Minehunters operating in the Middle East, but also those of our allies and partners.

Since leaving Portland in March 2021, RFA Lyme Bay has steamed more than 26,000 miles (the equivalent of more than a circumnavigation of the world). Participating in and supporting numerous Allied exercises whilst deployed, the ship has also visited Crete, Limassol, Dubai, Bahrain, Muscat, Salalah, Aqaba and Gibraltar along the way.

RFA Lyme Bay has not only acted as command ship and hub for the UK’s Bahrain-based minehunters, but also served as a floating base for specialist dive teams and helicopters moving personnel and supplies around the region and as a ‘petrol station’ and supermarket for the mine countermeasure units.

As an LSDA, RFA Lyme Bays ability to hold enough fuel to fill up multiple ships at a time, as well as approximately 200 tonnes of provisions means that minehunters, which typically have a somewhat limited range and endurance due to their size, can remain on operations for extended periods.

RFA Lyme Bay’s Commanding Officer, Captain Angus Bissell RFA, said “It has been a privilege to command RFA Lyme Bay during her deployment to Op Kipion. I have an excellent ship’s company who rose to the challenges of the region, particular highlights being Lyme’s role in the development of autonomous vehicles and future mine hunting capability and latterly as part of CTF 153 a new task group under Combined Maritime Forces providing maritime security in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.”