RFA ''Sir Percivale'' (L3036) was a Round Table class landing ship logistics (LSL) vessel belonging to the

Royal Fleet Auxiliary The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) is a naval auxiliary fleet owned by the UK's Ministry of Defence. It provides logistical and operational support to the Royal Navy and Royal Marines. The RFA ensures the Royal Navy is supplied and supported b ...

of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. ''Sir Percivale'' took part in the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territori ...

and the 1991

Gulf War The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...

Background

She originally entered

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gur ...

service in 1968, managed for the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government a ...

British India Steam Navigation Company British India Steam Navigation Company ("BI") was formed in 1856 as the Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company. History The ''Calcutta and Burmah Steam Navigation Company'' had been formed out of Mackinnon, Mackenzie & Co, a trading part ...

, but was taken over by the

along with the other members of the class in 1970.

Operational history

Falklands War

The first twelve years of the ship's life were quiet, with some time spent in the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

, until the

broke out in April 1982. Along with all the Navy's other amphibious assault shipping, ''Sir Percivale'' went south to participate in the recapture of the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubou ...

. At this time, all the RFA were manned by Hong Kong Chinese civilian crew. She pioneered the supply runs to

Teal Inlet Teal Inlet (), once named Evelyn Station, is a settlement on East Falkland, in the Falkland Islands, on the south shore of Salvador Water. It is overshadowed by Jack's Mountain. The settlement played a minor part in the Falklands War, when Br ...

and was the first British ship to re-enter

Stanley Harbour Stanley Harbour is a large inlet on the east coast of East Falkland island. A strait called "the Narrows" leads into Port William. It serves the town of the same name – Stanley – as a harbour. Stanley has sprawled along the south shore o ...

. Unlike the ''

Sir Galahad Sir Galahad (), sometimes referred to as Galeas () or Galath (), among other versions of his name, is a knight of King Arthur's Round Table and one of the three achievers of the Holy Grail in Arthurian legend. He is the illegitimate son of Si ...

'', ''

Sir Tristram Sir Tristram (IRE) (7 April 1971 – 21 May 1997) was an Irish-bred Thoroughbred racehorse who stood at stud in New Zealand, where he sired an extraordinary 45 Group One winners, including three Melbourne Cup winners. His progeny earned him 1 ...

'' and ''

Sir Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), also written as Launcelot and other variants (such as early German ''Lanzelet'', early French ''Lanselos'', early Welsh ''Lanslod Lak'', Italian ''Lancillotto'', Spanish ''Lanzarote del Lago' ...

'', the ship emerged unscathed from the conflict.

1991-1999

The ship served in the

in 1991 and twice deployed to the Adriatic to support British operations in the

Balkans The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

. In 1996 ''Sir Percivale'' took part in combined exercises with Jordan, followed by Green Wader 96, the first exercise of the then newly formed Amphibious Squadron of the Joint Rapid Deployment Force. In 1997, the ship took part in the large Ocean Wave 97 deployment to the far east and was present for the handover of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

to the Chinese. Following this ceremony, ''Sir Percivale'' escorted the ships of the former Hong Kong Squadron (3

Peacock class patrol vessel The ''Peacock'' class is a class of patrol corvette built for the Royal Navy. Five were constructed, and by 1997 all had been sold to the Irish Naval Service or the Philippine Navy. Original use The five ships of this class were originally p ...

) to their new owners in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. During other parts of Ocean Wave, the ship took Royal Marines to

Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi alphabet, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely sur ...

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 ...

and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

for various exercises. 1998 saw further exercises as ''Sir Percivale'' took part in practice amphibious assaults in Norway, France and Spain.

2000-2004

In 2000, ''Sir Percivale'' was deployed to

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierra ...

to support British forces training the army of that country. In September 2000, the ship was alongside in

Freetown Freetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, educational an ...

when British forces who had been taken hostage were rescued in a raid by the Parachute Regiment and the SAS ("

Operation Barras Operation Barras was a British Army operation that took place in Sierra Leone on 10 September 2000, during the late stages of Sierra Leone Civil War, the nation's civil war. The operation aimed to release five British soldiers of the Royal Ir ...

"). Since then the ship has been deployed during operations connected with Afghanistan in 2001 and

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

in 2003. The ship was to have a SLEP overhaul, but an equivalent overhaul of ''Sir Bedivere'' proved so costly that plans were abandoned and new ships were procured instead. ''Sir Percivale'' was decommissioned on 17 August 2004 and was laid up alongside at Marchwood Military Port, Southampton. The ship was sold to Leavesley International and scrapping commenced in Canada Dock, Liverpool on 16 December 2009.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sir Percivale (L3036) Percivale (L3036) 1967 ships Falklands War naval ships of the United Kingdom 1997 in Hong Kong Ships built on the River Tyne