RFA Engadine (K08)
|
Career | |
---|---|
Ordered: | 18 August 1964 |
Laid down: | 9 August 1965 |
Launched: | 15 September 1966 |
Commissioned: | 15 December 1967 |
Decommissioned: | 1989 |
Fate: | Scrapped in India |
Struck: | |
General Characteristics | |
Displacement: | 9,000 tons |
Length: | 179 m |
Beam: | 17 m |
Draught: | 7 m |
Propulsion: | |
Speed: | 16 knots |
Range: | |
Complement: | 81 RN 131 training |
Armament: | |
Aircraft: | Four Westland Wessex helicopters or two Westland Sea King helicopters or two Westland Wasp helicopters |
Motto: |
RFA Engadine (K08) was a helicopter support ship of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The need for Engadine was seen in the mid-1960s as more and more helicopters were deployed from Royal Navy aircraft carriers and surface combatants. The ship was ordered in August 1964 and commissioned in December 1967.
Engadine was homeported in Portland for its whole career. The most notable events in that twenty five year span were the 1976 crisis in Lebanon, where Engadine was deployed as part of contingency planning to evacuate British citizens, the Silver Jubilee fleet review in 1977 when Engadine followed HMY Britannia, the Falklands War during which Engadine operated as a repair ship. The newer RFA Argus had come into service by the late 1980s, and Engadine was becoming obsolete, so the ship was decommissioned in 1989. After a short period of further service in private hands, it was broken up in India in 1996.