FORCETALLY
Loading the evidence…
Preparing your view.
Preparing your view.
Amphibious assault shipsActive as of 2022Profile in progress
Bay-class landing ship dock
HMAS Choules is a bay-class landing ship dock. It was built by Swan Hunter , Wallsend , Tyne and Wear , England.
Technical data
True scale
Sourced dimensions beside a 1.75 m human reference.
Largs Bay
Largs Bay
18 December 2000
Swan Hunter , Wallsend , Tyne and Wear , England
28 January 2002
18 July 2003
28 November 2006
April 2011
IMO number : 9240756 MMSI number : 232653000 Callsign : GCIA Pennant number : L3006
Decommissioned under SDSR , sold to Australia
6 April 2011
13 December 2011
Fleet Base East
"Face Difficulty With Zeal"
Active as of 2022
Bay-class landing ship dock
16,160 t (15,905 long tons ) full load (RFA) 16,190 t (15,934 long tons) (RAN)
579.4 ft (176.6 m)
86.6 ft (26.4 m)
19 ft (5.8 m)
2 × Wärtsilä 8L26 generators, 6,000 hp (4.5 MW) 2 × Wärtsilä 12V26 generators, 9,000 hp (6.7 MW) 2 × propulsion pods 1 × bow thruster
18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
8,000 nmi (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph)
1 LCU Mark 10 , 1 LCM-8 , or 2 LCVPs ( Royal Marines version or RAN version ) 2 Mexeflote powered rafts
1,150 linear metres of vehicles (up to 24 Challenger 2 tanks, 32 M1A1 Abrams tanks, or 150 light trucks) Cargo capacity of 200 tons ammunition or 24 TEU containers
356 standard or 700 overload
RFA: 60-70 core, increased for operational deployments RAN - 158 fully crewed
RAN service : EID ICCS integrated communications control system CEAFAR-S multi-function radar
RFA service Fit to receive: Phalanx CIWS 30 mm DS30B cannon RAN service : 1 Phalanx CIWS AN/SLQ-25 Nixie
Blackhawk and Seahawk helicopters frequently embarked; flight deck can operate helicopters up to Chinook size
No permanent hangar; temporary hangar can be fitted.
The Bay-class ships have a full load displacement of 16,160 tonnes (15,900 long tons) in RFA service; this increased slightly to 16,190 tonnes (15,930 long tons) after modifications for RAN service.
Largs Bay / Choules is 579.4 feet (176.6 m) long, with a beam of 86.6 feet (26.4 m), and a draught of 19 feet (5.8 m).
Propulsion power is provided by two Wärtsilä 8L26 generators, providing 6,000 horsepower (4.5 MW), and two Wärtsilä 12V26 generators, providing 9,000 horsepower (6.7 MW).
Maximum speed is 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph), and the Bay-class ships can achieve a range of 8,000 nautical miles (15,000 km; 9,200 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).
Largs Bay was fitted for but not with a Phalanx CIWS and a 30mm DS30B cannon when required for self defence.
The cargo capacity is equivalent of 200 tons of ammunition, or 24 twenty-foot equivalent unit containers.
During normal conditions, a Bay-class ship can carry 356 soldiers, but this can be almost doubled to 700 in overload conditions.
Two 30-ton cranes are fitted between the superstructure and the flight deck.
Four months after entering service, an engine room fire resulted in steering and propulsion issues, requiring Largs Bay to be towed to Plymouth for repairs. In late November 2007, Largs Bay embarked 815 Naval Air Squadron 215 Flight and left home waters for the Caribbean to conduct counter-drug operations. She visited eleven islands including Barbados , Curaçao , Grand Turk , Martinique , Trinidad and also the USA. Three days after leaving Barbados Largs Bay ' s patrolling helicopter spotted a small fishing vessel stopped in the water and detained her after a pursuit; 575 kilograms (1,268 lb) of cocaine were recovered, with an estimated £20 million European street value. She participated in Navy Days while in port at Curaçao, where several hundred people toured her.
In early 2010, Largs Bay was deployed to the Arctic Circle. Following the 2010 Haiti earthquake , the ship was pulled from exercises and sailed on 3 February to deliver a load of relief supplies to Haiti. On 18 February 2010, she arrived at Port-au-Prince and unloaded 430 tonnes (470 tons) of supplies plus 165 tonnes (182 tons) of rations, while engineers from the ship began work on restoring electricity ashore. On 30 March 2010, she returned home. Largs Bay ' s actions were recognised in December 2011 with the awarding of the Firmin Sword of Peace .
For a short time from July 2013, Choules was anchored offshore of the Manus Regional Processing Centre in Papua New Guinea to provide temporary accommodation for Department of Immigration and other personnel, due to a lack of accommodation at the centre. In April 2015, the ship transported 46 Vietnamese asylum seekers back to Vũng Tàu , after their vessel was intercepted at sea on 20 March by Australian border protection units and their claims were rejected after interviews at sea lasting less than 40 minutes.
Choules was deployed to Vanuatu on 30 September 2017 to aid in the rescue of 11,000 people from a volcanic eruption of Monaro Voui.
Reference text from Wikipedia contributors, used under CC BY-SA 4.0.
HMAS Choules equipment records. Variants, orders and quantities are shown as reported in each inventory source; coverage is incomplete.
AustraliaNavy exact named equipment holdings: Choules (ex-UK Bay) (capacity 2 med hel; 32 MBT; 350 troops). Active, operational-reserve and training units excluding equipment in store; November 2025 IISS assessment. Named service only; no parent-force or national total inferred. Source role: PRINCIPAL AMPHIBIOUS SHIPS / LSD. Original estimates, ranges, reporting names, reserve, lease and employment scopes retained; nested included counts are not added. Missile-system quantities mean launchers, not rounds. No readiness, crew, carried weapon, payload, factory-production or future order count inherited.