RFA Cardigan Bay (L3009)

RFA "Cardigan Bay" (L3009) is an amphibious assault vessel of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Launch

It was launched at BAE Systems Naval Ships shipyard in Govan, Glasgow on Saturday 9 April 2005.

It had been due to be launched the day before. There was a large invited crowd in the shipyard, and a few hundred people had gathered on the north shore of the River Clyde at Scotstoun. At around 15 minutes to the scheduled launch time four tugs, including "Warrior" and "Shannon", started moving into position for the launch. However the ship manager decided that because of high winds and low water it was not safe to launch the ship, and at around 20 minutes after the scheduled time he decided to call off the launch for that day. There was an unusual north wind, which could have retarded the tide coming up the Firth of Clyde. They did go ahead with the naming ceremony, launching red, white and blue balloons and confetti from high on the ship, but by 2.30pm she was still dry and all the crew off.

They decided to try to launch it again at the next daytime high tide the following day. There was still a wind, but from the east, the river did look significantly higher. Another crowd gathered on the north bank, but smaller than the day before. Four tugs, including "Warrior" and "Battler" took up position. A small boat with a large red flag with the word "LAUNCH" on it took position up-river. Just after 2 p.m. the ship slowly slid down the slipway into the river, then she was halted by a large pile of chains behind her. The four tugs surrounded her, ready to take her to the fitting-out basin.

Commissioning

The ship was commissioned on 6 March 2007 in Portland Harbour. Local Sea Cadets assisted, whilst some more from Kent provided an honour guard. Also present was the Commodore of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary. The band present for the commissioning was The Light Cavalry Band, a regular Army band stationed in Bovington, Dorset.

External links

* [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.582/changeNav/3533 Royal Navy on Bay class landing ship dock ships]
* [http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.7777/changeNav/3533# Royal Navy on the ship]
* [http://www.photographersdirect.com/buyers/stockphoto.asp?imageid=259721 Photograph of the ship under construction]