Operational History
The first-of-class Mounts Bay took part in Operation Vela, a major amphibious exercise off West Africa in 2006.
In mid-April 2007, Cardigan Bay sailed for "Operation Orion 07", a four-month deployment to the Mediterranean. From 2008 until the end of 2010, Cardigan Bay was used to accommodate and train personnel of the Iraqi Navy under the tutelage of Royal Navy and United States Navy personnel. During this time, the ship operated almost exclusively in the Persian Gulf.
In late November 2007, Largs Bay was deployed to the Caribbean for counter-drug operations. During the deployment, the ship made visited ports across the Caribbean islands and the United States mainland, and intercepted a 575-kilogram (1,270 lb) cocaine shipment. In late 2008, it was reported that Largs Bay was to replace HMS Northumberland for duties in the Falkland Islands. Northumberland was to have left for the Islands in December 2008, but was instead sent for pirate patrol off Somalia.
On 3 February 2010, Largs Bay headed off to Haiti with aid supplies for relief efforts after the earthquake. On 18 February 2010, she arrived at Port-au-Prince and commenced unloading of the supplies. On 30 March 2010, she returned home.
In December 2010, it was announced that a Bay class vessel, later identified as Largs Bay, would be decommissioned in April 2011 as part of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. On 17 March 2011, the Australian Department of Defence announced that the RAN would be bidding for Largs Bay; this was followed on 6 April by news that a £65 million (A$100 million) bid had been successful. She was commissioned into the RAN on 13 December 2011 as HMAS Choules, after receiving modifications for service in tropical conditions. A transformer failed when she was en route to a training area on 14 June 2012; she will be out of action for around six months whilst Siemens build a new transformer. Jane's reports that operator error was the most likely cause although her chief engineering officer had reported in February 2011 that she could not maintain top speed without transformers overheating.
In June 2011, Cardigan Bay headed to Yemen to aid with the potential evacuation of British citizens affected by the ongoing unrest in Yemen.
Read more about this topic: Bay Class Landing Ship
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