''Persistence'' (209) is the third ship of the ''Endurance''-class landing platform dock of the

Republic of Singapore Navy The Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) is the naval service branch of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) responsible for defending the country against any sea-borne threats, and the protection of its sea lines of communications, that would com ...

Development

The navy's intention to purchase the ''Endurance-''class was revealed by former Defence Minister Dr. Tony Tan during his visit to

Tuas Naval Base Tuas Naval Base (TNB) is the second naval base of the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN). Located at the western tip of Singapore, it occupies 0.28 km² (0.11 sq mi) of land. It was officially opened on 2 September 1994 by then Prime ...

on 3 August 1996. These ships were to replace the five ex-

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

(USN) ''County''-class LSTs, which were acquired by

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in the 1970s.

ST Marine Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, doing business as ST Engineering, is a Singaporean multinational technology and engineering group in the aerospace, smart city as well as defence and public security sectors. Headquartered in Singapore, ...

was awarded the government contract to design and build the four ships – a significant milestone for the local defence and shipbuilding industries given the scale and extensiveness of the programme.

Construction and career

She was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...

in 1998 and launched on 18 March 1999. She was commissioned on 7 April 2001 with the hull number 209. RSS ''Persistence'' on 4 January 2005 joined RSS ''Endurance'' to

Aceh Aceh ( ), officially the Aceh Province ( ace, Nanggroë Acèh; id, Provinsi Aceh) is the westernmost province of Indonesia. It is located on the northernmost of Sumatra island, with Banda Aceh being its capital and largest city. Granted a s ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

to deliver emergency supplies and medical personnel to aid in the relief efforts after a tsunami. ''Persistence'' also featured later in support of the efforts finding

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Indonesia AirAsia from Surabaya, Java, Indonesia, to Singapore. On 28 December 2014, the Airbus A320 flying the route crashed into the Java Sea, killing ...

. On 12 February 2009, Minister of Defence

Teo Chee Hean Teo Chee Hean ( zh, s=张志贤, poj=Tiuⁿ Chì-hiân, p=Zhāng Zhìxián; born 27 December 1954) is a Singaporean politician and former two-star rear-admiral who has been serving as Senior Minister of Singapore since 2019 and Coordinating Mi ...

announced that ''Persistence'' would join other naval forces off the coast of

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constitut ...

for three months in 2009. Comprising an LST with two Super Puma helicopters on board, the Singapore Armed Forces Task Group has been conducting daily helicopter surveillance flights and sector patrols to deter and disrupt piracy activities. The ship worked with the multinational

Combined Task Force 151 Combined Task Force 151 (CTF-151) is a multinational naval task force, set up in 2009 as a response to piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the eastern coast of Somalia. Its mission is to disrupt piracy and armed robbery at sea and to enga ...

to protect shipping in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Chan ...

CARAT 2010

RSS ''Vigilance'', RSS ''Steadfast'', RSS ''Persistence'', MV ''Avatar'', USNS ''Amelia Earhart'', USS ''Russell'', USS ''Chung-Hoon'' and USCGC ''Mellon'' participated in '' CARAT 2010''.

Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501

In December 2014, ''Persistence'' was deployed in the search for Airasia Flight QZ8501 after it crashed into the Java Sea on 28 December 2014; along with the RSN ships ''

Supreme Supreme may refer to: Entertainment * Supreme (character), a comic book superhero * ''Supreme'' (film), a 2016 Telugu film * Supreme (producer), hip-hop record producer * "Supreme" (song), a 2000 song by Robbie Williams * The Supremes, Motown ...

'', '' Valour'', and ''

Kallang Kallang is a planning area and residential town located in the Central Region of Singapore. Development of the town is centered around the Kallang River, the longest river in Singapore. Kallang Planning Area is bounded by Toa Payoh in the n ...

'', MV ''Swift Rescue'', and two

Lockheed C-130H Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally desig ...

Gallery

File:US Navy 090516-N-0743B-016 Sailors aboard the guided-missile cruiser USS Gettysburg assist crewmembers from the Republic of Singapore Navy amphibious ship RSS Persistence (LPDM 209) onto Gettysburg.jpg, Sailors of USS ''Gettysburg'' assist crew members of RSS ''Persistence'' in the

on 17 May 2009.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Persistence (209) Endurance-class landing platform docks Ships built in Singapore 1999 ships