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The ''Kanimbla'' class was a class of amphibious transport ships (designated Landing Platform Amphibious) operated by the Royal Australian Navy (RAN). Two ships (originally built as ''Newport''-class tank landing ships for the United States Navy) were purchased by Australia in 1994 and modified. Problems during the handover process and the need to repair previously unidentified defects meant the ships did not enter operational service until the end of the decade. Between them, the two ships have deployed to the Solomon Islands in 2000–01, Vanuatu in 2001, and participated in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the Australian response to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the Australian deployment to East Timor following the 2006 political crisis, and Operation Quickstep off Fiji. After a large number of defects were found in both ships during late 2010, the vessels were docked. It was decided that was beyond economic repair, and she was decommissioned in May 2011. was to be repaired and returned to service, but the estimated cost and time to do this, plus the successful acquisition of the British landing ship dock as an interim capability replacement, prompted the government to decommission ''Kanimbla'' in November 2011. Both ships were sold in 2013 and broken up for scrap. ==Acquisition== In the early 1990s, the RAN initiated a procurement project to replace with a dedicated training and helicopter support ship. Meeting the vague specifications of the project required a purpose-built vessel at an approximate cost of A$500 million.〔 The high cost of the project led to its cancellation by the Minister for Defence in 1993, with the instructions to find a cheaper alternative. At around the same time, the United States Navy (USN) began plans to decommission fifteen of their twenty ''Newport''-class tank landing ships, offering them for purchase by various countries.〔 In 1994, the RAN elected to purchase two ''Newport''s: US Ships and for the combined price of A$61 million (US$40 million), with the intention of converting each into a combined pocket helicopter carrier and amphibious warfare transport.〔 ''Saginaw'' was to decommission in the US and be immediately recommissioned into the RAN as , and be sailed to Australia by a RAN crew, while ''Fairfax County'' was to travel to Australia with a USN crew before decommissioning and recommissioning as . Prior to ''Saginaw''s decommissioning, a RAN crew was sent to Norfolk, Virginia for training aboard the vessel.〔 ''Saginaw'' was decommissioned on 28 June 1994, but instead of being immediately recommissioned as HMAS ''Kanimbla'', it was announced at the decommissioning ceremony that the United States Congress had decided not to release the ships into foreign service.〔''Put in our place'' (1994). pp. 43–44〕 This last-minute move was part of a sale blockage for the fifteen surplus ''Newport''s to nine nations, and was caused by the United States Senate Committee on Armed Services in an attempt to pressure US President Bill Clinton on the perceived running-down of the USN's amphibious warfare capability, as well as the concerns of one Senator over human rights in Morocco (one of the other nations slated to acquire a ship).〔〔''Put in our place'' (1994). pg. 44〕 The sale to Australia was not approved until the start of August and ''Saginaw'' commissioned as HMAS ''Kanimbla'' on 29 August 1994.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=HMAS Kanimbla (II) )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kanimbla-class landing platform amphibious」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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