Galicia-class Landing Platform Dock

The Galicia-class is a class of two 13,900 t landing platform dock ships, belonging to the Spanish Navy. Built by Navantia in Ferrol, their mission is to carry amphibious warfare by transporting the bulk of the Infantería de Marina.

These ships have both a large helicopter deck and a 885-square-metre (9,530 sq ft) well deck for large landing craft, plus a 1,000-square-metre (11,000 sq ft) garage for up to 33 main battle tanks.

The SPS Galicia (L51) was commissioned in 1998 and the SPS Castilla (L52) in 2000. The Galicia and the Castilla are based at the Rota naval base in Spain.

The class is the result of a joint project between Spain and the Netherlands for developing a common class of LPD that would fulfill the needs of both countries to replace older ships, which resulted in the Enforcer design. Thus, the Galicia-class is similar to the Rotterdam-class.

Specifications

 * Type: Landing Platform Dock
 * Service Period: 1998-Present
 * Characteristics:
 * Length: 545 feet (166.12 meters)
 * Beam: 82 feet (25 meters)
 * Draft: 19 feet (5.8 meters)
 * Displacement: 13,900 tons
 * Capacity: 600 fully equipped soldiers and 130 APCs or 33 MBTs
 * Crew: 185
 * Endurance: 6 weeks
 * Propulsion: 4 diesel Caterpillar 3612 (two in tandem per shaft) at 16.2 MW, 2 shafts
 * Range: 6,000 nautical miles (11,112 kilometers) at 12 knots (22.22 km/h)
 * Speed: Maximum: 20 knots (37.04 km/h); Sustained: 19 knots (35.19 km/h)
 * Sensor Suite:
 * DA08 air / surface search IRSCAN SATCOM, Link 1, JMCIS
 * Countermeasures:
 * 4 Sippican Hycor SRBOC MK36 launcher
 * AN/SLQ-25 Nixie torpedo decoy
 * Indra SLQ-380 Aldebarán
 * Armament:
 * 2 x Oerikon 20mm guns
 * Aircraft Carried: 3 x SH-3 Sea Kings or 6 x NH90 helicopters
 * Boats Carried: 4 LCM-1E and two RHIB

Unit Run

 * SPS Galicia (L51)
 * SPS Castilla (L52)