- HMS Lofoten (K07)
HMS "Lofoten" was a vessel of the
Royal Navy . Initially built as one of a large number of LSTs in1945 , she was named after the Norwegian islands that were raided duringOperation Claymore in1941 . She saw little service before being laid up in reserve.During the
Suez crisis she was used to land the transport for45 Commando which was part of the first ever, operational helicopter assault. In1964 , she was converted into a dedicated helicopter training ship; this involved converting the deck in front of the superstructure into a landing platform. There was no hangar and minimal support facilities - the ship was essentially a platform for practising landings at sea, and a deck to transport helicopters on. In1967 , the "Lofoten" was replaced in this role by the purpose built RFA "Engadine"."Lofoten" was again laid up in
1969 to be used as an accommodation ship and as a support vessel being docked alongside nuclear submarines undergoing refits at Rosyth Royal Dockyard (at least from 1981 onwards), before finally being sold for scrapping in1993 . At that time, another LST; HMS "Stalker", was also used as a support vessel for nuclear submarine refits at Rosyth, being undertaken in the second of the two nuclear qualified docks.
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