page_title: Republic of Singapore Navy
section_title: Amphibious transport docks
hierarchical_section_title: Republic of Singapore Navy / Current fleet / Amphibious transport docks
caption_attribution_description: English: RSS Persistence (209) in the Singapore Straits
context_page_description: The Republic of Singapore Navy is the naval branch of the Singapore Armed Forces, responsible for the defence of Singapore against sea-borne threats and protection of its sea lines of communications. Operating within the crowded littoral waters of the Singapore Strait, the RSN is widely regarded as one of the most highly sophisticated and well trained in the region. It conducts regular operations with the Royal Malaysian Navy and Indonesian Navy to combat piracy and terrorist threats. To provide air surveillance of the seaward approaches to Singapore, the RSN also jointly operates maritime patrol aircraft with its counterparts from the RSAF to ensure the security of one of the busiest sealanes in the world.
  Though numerically small in comparison to its much larger neighbours in terms of tonnage and manpower reserves, the RSN seeks to maintain a qualitative superiority over any adversary through the implementation of new technologies and fostering of alliances with extra-regional navies. It conducts regular bilateral exercises with the United States, China, India, Australia and New Zealand.
context_section_description: The Endurance class amphibious transport docks are the biggest class of ships in the RSN. They were designed and built locally by ST Marine to replace the old County class tank landing ships (LST). Each ship is fitted with a well dock that can accommodate four landing craft and a flight deck that can accommodate two medium lift helicopters. While the RSN describes the Endurance class as LSTs, they lack the beaching capability traditionally associated with LSTs, and their well docks and flight decks qualify the Endurance class more as amphibious transport docks.
  The ships provide sea transportation for personnel and equipment for SAF's overseas training, as well as a training platform for RSN's midshipmen. RSS Endurance became the first RSN ship to circumnavigate the globe when it participated in the 2000 International Naval Review in New York City. The ships are also actively involved in humanitarian and disaster relief operations, notably in East Timor, the Persian Gulf, the tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh and most recently, disappearance of Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501. The four ships form the 191 Squadron of the RSN.
caption: Landing ship tank RSS Persistence underway in the Singapore Strait
exif: {"Image Make": "Canon", "Image Model": "Canon EOS 20D", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "240", "Image YResolution": "240", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS3 Windows", "Image DateTime": "2007:06:27 15:49:55", "Image Artist": "James M Gose", "Image Tag 0x882A": "[-7, -7]", "Image ExifOffset": "244", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "726", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "4222", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/5000", "EXIF FNumber": "16/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "100", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2007:06:26 14:27:31", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2007:06:26 14:27:31", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "383991/31250", "EXIF ApertureValue": "209759/62500", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "-2/3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Average", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "200", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1200", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "800", "EXIF FocalPlaneXResolution": "233600/59", "EXIF FocalPlaneYResolution": "233600/59", "EXIF FocalPlaneResolutionUnit": "2", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard"}