Galicia class landing platform dock
Encyclopedia
The Galicia class is a class of two 13,900 t landing platform dock ships, belonging to the Spanish Navy
Spanish Navy
The Spanish Navy is the maritime branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, one of the oldest active naval forces in the world. The Armada is responsible for notable achievements in world history such as the discovery of Americas, the first world circumnavigation, and the discovery of a maritime path...
. Built in Ferrol, their mission is to carry amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare
Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...
by transporting the bulk of the Infantería de Marina
Infanteria de Marina
The Spanish Navy Marines is a corps within the Spanish Navy responsible for providing amphibious warfare from the sea utilizing naval platforms and resources...
.
These ships have both a large helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
deck and a floodable dock for large landing craft. Their origin is a joint initiative with the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
and Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
for developing a common class of LPD that would fulfill the needs of both countries to replace older ships and thus, the Galicia class is similar to the Royal Netherlands Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
's Rotterdam-class Rotterdam (L800)
HNLMS Rotterdam (L800)
The Rotterdam class is a Landing Platform Dock or LPD amphibious warfare ship of the Royal Netherlands Navy. It is equipped with a large helicopter deck for helicopter operations and a dock for large landing craft....
and Johan de Witt (L801). 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
Naval Station Rota, Spain
Naval Station Rota is a Spanish naval base commanded by a Spanish Vice Admiral and fully funded by the United States of America. Located in Rota, Spain, and near the Spanish town of El Puerto de Santa María, NavSta Rota is the largest American military community in Spain and houses US Navy...
in Spain.