Albion Class Landing Platform Docks (LPDs)

Officially designated as LPD(R)s (Landing Platform Dock Replacements) the Albion Class amphibious assault ships are long overdue replacements for the Fearless Class. Together with helicopter assault carrier HMS Ocean and the four Bay Class Landing Ships they will form the core of the Royal Navy's modernized amphibious force. The primary role of these vessels will be to support Royal Marine Commandos on amphibious operations by transporting, deploying and recovering troops and equipment, by sea and by air. The ships will also provide a platform for the planning, command, control and communications of amphibious operations and will serve as the afloat command platform for the Commander Amphibious Task Group (COMATG), which includes operational command of both the naval task group and the land forces while embarked.

[Programme History] [Specification & Features] [Pictures]

Under the notorious 1981 Defence Review HMS Fearless (L10) and her sistership HMS Intrepid (L11) were to have been withdrawn from service without replacement. However, they proved vital in the Falklands Conflict the following year and won a reprieve. In 1991 the government announced that they intended to replace the aging vessels and a project definition study was undertaken between November 1991 and the beginning of 1993. A second study occurred between May 1993 and Spring 1994 and in the same year invitations to tender were issued to three shipbuilders- Vickers Shipbuilding & Engineering Ltd (Barrow-in-Furness), Yarrow Shipbuilders (Scotstoun) and Vosper Thornycroft (Southampton). Yarrow and Vosper Thornycroft lacked the facilities to construct the hulls themselves and were unable make sub-contracting arrangements and so could not respond. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) received a bid for VSEL in July 1995, but regarded the price of £589 million as too high. Subsequent negotiations arrived at a more affordable £429 million. The actual order finally came on July 18th 1996 when the Secretary of State for Defence, Michael Portillo, announced: "The Royal Marines' ability to mount amphibious operations is critically dependent on the landing platform docks, currently HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid. Both vessels have given long and distinguished service, including in the Falklands campaign, but will soon be approaching the end of their operational lives. I am pleased, therefore, to be able to announce that I am today placing a contract with GEC Marine to design and build two replacement ships at the Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness. The new LPDs will be called HMS Albion HMS Bulwark". These names have long histories with the Royal Navy and were last used for two Centaur Class Light Fleet Carriers that had been converted to 'commando carriers' in the 1960s.

In order to build the two vessels, GEC Marine (which later became BAE Systems Marine) had to modify its shipyard at Barrow-in-Furness. The last traditional (or 'dynamic') launch down the slipway had occurred at Barrow in 1988. Subsequent ships and submarines were constructed in the Devonshire Dock Hall (DDH) and then lowered into the water by a 24000-tonne capacity shiplift. When VSEL won the order for the RFA Wave Knight and for Albion and Bulwark, it became clear that the size of the ship-lift and the bridge over the dock system would make these vessels too big to construct in the Devonshire Dock Hall and so a new 270m x 100m 'superberth' was built facing Walney Channel.

Once the design was completed using the CAD (Computer Aided Design) package, steel cutting for both ships commenced on November 17th 1997. As with the Wave Class Tankers, Albion and Bulwark were built following a modular construction process: individual sub-units are constructed and then combined into larger blocks in the Devonshire Dock Hall before being transported to the superberth where they are assembled prior to launch. This technique allowed hull sections to be fabricated using advanced outfitting techniques whereby as much of the painting, outfitting and systems pre-testing as possible was carried out with unobstructed access before compartments were closed up. Units were inverted as necessary, to minimize awkward overhead welding and facilitate painting.

The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) undertaken in 1998 confirmed the new Labour Government's commitment to strengthening the Royal Navy's Amphibious force through the entry of Albion and Bulwark - "The introduction of HMS OCEAN, our new helicopter carrier, and HMS BULWARK and HMS ALBION, the two new amphibious landing ships under construction, will give our rapid reaction forces important extra flexibility".

Unit fabrication began in February 1998 in and Albion was symbolically "laid down" on 23rd May 1998 in a joint ceremony that included the keel laying of RFA Wave Knight. Performing the ceremony, Admiral of the Fleet, Sir Henry Leach said: "I am pleased to see the rapid progress made by these vessels, which will take UK maritime power into the next millennium. The speed and flexibility that they will provide is clearly matched by the speed and flexibility of their radical building process". The individual units were built in the steel fabrication shop and then assembled into seven large block modules. Blocks one to five, which would form Albion's hull, were constructed in the Devonshire Dock Hall. Once completed they were moved by multi-wheeled transporters onto the superberth facing Walney Channel. The blocks, weighing up to 2400 tons, represented the bulkiest loads ever carried on a British public highway. Space in the Devonshire Dock Hall was limited, so blocks six and seven were assembled on the superberth. Work then continued installing equipment, fixtures and fittings, and welding or fastening pipe joints, installing cabling and pre-testing systems in the lead-up to the launch.

In October 2000, as the construction of Albion continued, preparations began for her launch. The slipway was assembled, triggers were positioned, poppets were constructed forward and aft and 1150 tons of carefully laid chain was attached to Albion to arrest her once she entered Walney Channel after the 15mph journey down the slipway. Albion took to the water at 10.20 am on March 9th 2001, the largest ship launched at Barrow since HMS Invincible in 1978, cheered on by more than 1,500 shipyard workers, their families and local school children. Princess Anne, who launched the vessel, was accompanied by her husband Commodore Timothy Laurence and Naval VIPs included Controller of the Navy, Rear Admiral Nigel Guild. After entering the water, Albion was towed into Bucchleugh Dock for outfitting, system installation and commissioning.

Bulwark was laid down on January 27th 2000 and following the launch of RFA Wave Knight in September 2000, the assembly began on the superbeth alongside Albion. By the time of Albion's launch in March 2001 Bulwark was structurally complete.

Originally Albion was expected to enter service in March 2002 and Bulwark a year later, but delays of 12 and 9 months caused the official In-Service Dates (ISDs) to slip to March 2003 and December 2003.

The Ministry of Defence became increasingly anxious to avoid a gap occurring in the Navy's amphibious capabilities between the retirement of Fearless and Albion's entry into service. Two events in particular provided cause for concern. Firstly, in November 2000 Fearless experienced an engine room fire whilst en-route to Sierra Leone. While the damage was repaired, the incident served as a reminder that despite her heavy workload, Fearless was almost forty years old and on her last legs. Secondly, following the terrorist attacks on the United States in September 2001, the Ministry of Defence faced the prospect of a lengthy 'war against terror'. Fearless herself was stationed in the Indian Ocean in October 2001, with a contingent of Royal Marine Commandos embarked for potential use in Afghanistan. With this in mind Albion's entry into service was revised so that she would be handed over on August 9th 2002, enabling her to enter operational service in January 2003 - some seven weeks earlier than originally planned. To meet this revised schedule, 180 key personnel working on Bulwark were switched by BAE to Albion instead.

A further milestone in the project was reached on November 15th 2001 with the launch of HMS Bulwark. The ceremony was performed by Lady Victoria Walker, wife of General Sir Michael Walker (the Chief of the Defence Staff). The event marked the last traditional launch at Barrow for the foreseeable future as the Type 45 Destroyers will be lowered into the water using a shiplift.

Under original plans it was envisaged that Fearless would remain operational until Albion entered service. However, rather than spend the £2 million needed to keep her running, it was decided she would decommission on her return from Operation Veritas in March 2002.

In May 1998 a contract was placed with BAeSEMA to design and build ten LCUs (Landing Craft Utilities). BAeSEAMA then sub-contracted the construction of the craft to Alisa-Troon on the Clyde in a £20 million deal. It was intended that the first two craft would be completed ahead of the others, so they could be tried and tested before construction of the other eight, due for delivery in 2003, commenced. As planned Alsia Troon delivered the first two in 1999 but the company then went into liquidation. In November 2000 BAe SYSTEMS Marine won the contract to build the remaining eight vessels at their Govan shipyard. Meanwhile, the first two completed LCUs were taken to the Amphibious Trials and Training Unit Royal Marines (ATTURM) at Instow, in North Devon for evaluation. Part of their assessment will include interface trials with Albion while she is fitting out.

On August 6th 2001 an order worth £9 million was placed with FBM Babcock Marine Ltd for the construction of twelve LCVP Mk5 (Landing Craft Vehicle and Personnel). The craft will be built at Rosyth Dockyard. An early batch of the vessels has already proved highly successful during operations around the world from the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean. Of the twelve new vessels constructed, eight will serve with Albion and Bulwark and the remaining four will be used for training and as trials craft. A further four of these craft were ordered from Babcock in September 2001.

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Number 1 Deck and above on the LPD(R) – the ship’s superstructure – includes the Command and Control areas with some accommodation.  Number 2 Deck is predominantly accommodation for the Ship’s Company and Embarked Military Forces with some office space and the galley. The Vehicle Deck  is on 3 and 4 Decks forward. The floodable amphibious dock extends from 3 to 6 Deck aft.  Stores, offices and ballast tanks are located to either side of the Vehicle Deck and the Dock.  Number 5 Deck and below forward of the well dock consists primarily of machinery spaces and stores. 

Albion and Bulwark are both twice as big as Fearless and Intrepid. Other key improvements include:

• Electric propulsion which reduces the number of marine engineering personnel by nearly two-thirds (compared with Fearless), to around  60. Overall ship’s company numbers are reduced through new technology and automation from 550 to 325 ­ – a reduction of around 40 per cent.
• Troop accommodation is connected to embarkation stations by assault routes wide enough for Commandos carrying full Arctic kit and weapons. Dedicated assembly areas are connected by assault trunks to landing craft points and the flight deck. Together these changes double the speed of troop disembarkation.
• New roll-on roll-off “drive through” LCU Mk10 landing craft that can carry a Challenger 2 tank. The Ro-Ro design means the LCUs do not have to manoeuvre to re-enter the dock and this dramatically speeds vehicle disembarkation.
• The floodable amphibious dock can accommodate four LCU Mk10s. The dock is fully enclosed.
• Munitions and stores are moved around from magazines and stores areas to the landing craft using a system of overhead rails and gantries, significantly speeding the work of stores disembarkation.
• Vehicles can embark from the dockside over a Ro-Ro side ramp on the starboard side, considerably speeding the loading and unloading processes in port. There is a ramp from the vehicle deck to the flight deck to enable vehicles to be transported as helicopter underslung loads.
• The ship takes advantage of “stealthy” design measures to reduce its radar signature

Although Fearless and Intrepid were both based at Portsmouth throughout their service lives, Albion and Bulwark will operate from Devonport alongside HMS Ocean.

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Above: Following her launch, HMS Bulwark was towed into Bucchleugh Dock for outfitting and system installation. HMS Albion is on the right. (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: HMS Bulwark in Walney Channel shortly after launch. (Picture © Crown Copyright).

Above: Shipyard workers watch as HMS Bulwark enters the water (Picture © Crown Copyright).

Above: The bow section of HMS Bulwark (L15) is transported to the slipway. (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: The sections of HMS Bulwark (L15) are assembled on the slipway. (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: The bow section of HMS Bulwark (L15) is transported to the slipway. (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: HMS Albion enters the water on March 9th 2001 having been launched by Princess Anne. She was the largest warship launched at Barrow since HMS Invincible in 1978. (Picture © Crown Copyright).

Above: The construction of HMS Albion (right) nears completion as her launch date approaches. The assembly of HMS Bulwark (left) began following the launch of RFA Wave Knight in September 2000. (Picture © BAe Systems) .

Above: RFA Wave Knight (left) and HMS Albion (right) under construction at Barrow-in-Furness (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: RFA Wave Knight (left) and HMS Albion (right) under construction at Barrow-in-Furness. (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: The hull blocks of HMS Albion are assembled on the superberth at Barrow-in-Furness (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: The hull blocks of HMS Albion are moved into place on the superberth at Barrow-in-Furness. (Picture © BAe Systems).

Above: A computer impression showing the flight deck of an Albion Class LPD.

Above: A computer impression of an Albion Class LPD, with landing craft using the stern dock. (Picture © BAE Systems).

Above: A computer impression of an Albion Class LPD, with landing craft using the stern dock and side davits. (Picture © BAE Systems).

Above: An artists impression of an Albion Class LPD in action: an LCVP is being lowered into the water while a larger LCU emerges from the stern dock. Two Merlin helicopters are shown operating from the flight deck. (Picture © Crown Copyright).

Above: A computer impression of an Albion Class LPD at speed. (Picture © Crown Copyright).

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