RFA Sir Bedivere (L3004)
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| History | |
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  United Kingdom
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| Name: | RFA Sir Bedivere |
| Namesake: | Bedivere |
| Builder: | Hawthorn Leslie |
| Laid down: | October 1966 |
| Launched: | 20 July 1966 |
| Commissioned: | 18 May 1967 |
| Decommissioned: | 18 February 2008 |
| Homeport: | Marchwood, Hampshire |
| Fate: | Sold to Brazil |
 Brazil
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| Name: | NDCC Almirante Saboia |
| Namesake: | Henrique Saboia |
| Commissioned: | 21 May 2009 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Round Table-class landing ship logistics |
| Displacement: | 6,700 tonnes full load |
| Length: | 137 m (449 ft 6 in) |
| Beam: | 20 m (65 ft 7 in) |
| Draught: | 3.98 m (13 ft 1 in) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Range: | 8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement: | 49 |
| Armament: |
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| Aviation facilities: | helicopters on aft platform, no hangar |
RFA Sir Bedivere (L3004) was a Landing Ship Logistic of the Round Table class. She saw service in the Falklands War, the Persian Gulf and Sierra Leone. In 2009, she was commissioned into the Brazilian Navy, and renamed NDCC Almirante Saboia (G-25)
The ship was originally built for army service, and was taken over by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in 1970. She was commissioned in 1967 and saw extensive service in many of Britain's naval operations since. Her home port was Marchwood, Hampshire, which is a major military port.
Sir Bedivere first saw combat in the Falklands War of 1982, when along with all of the Royal Navy's other amphibious ships, she was sent to recapture the Falkland Islands from an Argentine occupation force. At the start of the war, the ship was at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, but started back to Marchwood immediately. After loading at Marchwood, she left for Ascension Island. The ship suffered slight damage on 24 May whilst lying in San Carlos Water, when an Argentine Skyhawk dropped a bomb that glanced off the ship.
On 16 November 1982, she returned from the Falklands with the bodies of 64 members of the British Forces (52 soldiers, 11 Royal Marines, and a Chinese laundryman) whose families had wanted their remains returned.
The ship deployed to the Persian Gulf in 1991 in support of Operation Granby.
In 1994, the ship was modernised in a service life extension programme to give it an extra 15 years. The ship was lengthened by 12 metres, had its superstructure altered to a more modern design, the engines were replaced, and the ship's bow thrusters were changed for more powerful models.
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Wikipedia