Amphibious warfare ships of Australia The Royal Australian Navy and Australian Army have operated 24 amphibious warfare ship s . These ships have been used to transport Army units and supplies during exercises and operational deployments . World War II and Cold War ships . The Australian military ' s first amphibious warfare ships were the three Landing Ships Infantry ( LSI ) : HMAS " Kanimbla " , HMAS " Manoora " , and HMAS " Westralia " . These three ships had been built as civilian motor vessels and were converted to armed merchant cruisers at the outbreak of war in 1939 . They were converted again to LSIs in 1943 and took part in United States and Australian amphibious assault s in the South West Pacific Area . The ships had a capacity of about 1 , 200 troops , which were landed from boats carried by the LSIs . Following the war , the three LSIs remained in service as transports until 1949 when they were returned to their owners . The RAN borrowed six Landing Ships Tank ( LSTs ) from the Royal Navy between 1946 and 1955 . The LSTs were used as general purpose vessels and did not specialise in amphibious operations . After the LSTs were disposed of Australia was left without any amphibious warfare ships . To rectify this situation the Army purchased four " LSM - 1 " class Landing Ship Medium from the United States Navy in 1959 . These ships were operated by the 32nd Small Ship Squadron , Royal Australian Engineers and supported Army exercises and operations . All four of the ships saw active service during the Vietnam War where they carried supplies between Australia and South Vietnam and between South Vietnamese ports . All four ships were decommissioned in September 1971 when the 32nd Small Ship Squadron was disbanded . Current ships . The LSMs were replaced by eight " Balikpapan " class landing craft heavy which began to enter service in 1971 . The first ship in the class , HMAS " Balikpapan " was briefly operated by the Army ' s Water Transport force but was later transferred to the Navy and all subsequent ships in the class were transferred to the Navy while they were under construction . Two ships , HMAS " Buna " and HMAS " Salamaua " , were transferred to the Papua New Guinea Defence Force in 1974 . Three of the remaining craft have or will be decommissioned in December 2012 , with the remainder to leave service during 2014 . These ships have proven to be very successful and have supported Australian Army exercises and operations throughout South East Asia . The Australian Defence Force ' s ( ADF ' s ) amphibious warfare capabilities were significantly expanded in 1982 when the landing ship heavy HMAS " Tobruk " was commissioned . This ship was the first amphibious vessel purpose built for the RAN and was based on the British Round Table class landing ship logistics design . She has supported ADF operations around the world . The ADF ' s amphibious warfare capabilities were further expanded in 1994 when two Newport class tank landing ship s were purchased from the USN . These ships were greatly modified and finally entered service in the late 1990s as the " Kanimbla " class landing platform amphibious . They have supported ADF operations in Afghanistan , Iraq , the Solomon Islands and East Timor . In addition to the seagoing ships , the RAN and Army also currently operate a number of smaller amphibious craft which are carried by " Tobruk " and the " Kanimbla " class ships . The RAN has four Landing Craft , Vehicle , Personnel ( LCVP ) which can carry a Land Rover sized vehicle or 36 personnel . The Army operates a small fleet of LCM - 8 mechanised landing craft and LARC - V amphibious cargo vehicles . Future ships . HMAS " Tobruk " and one of the LPAs will be replaced by two " Canberra " class LHDs between 2012 and 2014 . These ships will be the largest warships ever operated by the Royal Australian Navy , and will each be able to carry an infantry battalion and up to 24 Army and Navy helicopters . It is planned to replace the other LPA with a sealift ship . Both LPAs were taken out of service in September 2010 due to concerns about their seaworthiness . On 1 February 2011 the Minister for Defence announced that repairing " Manoora " would not be cost effective given that the ship was scheduled to retired at the end of 2012 and that she would instead be decommissioned . He also stated that " Kanimbla " would be repaired but was not expected to return to operational service until mid - 2012 . In December 2010 a team from the RAN traveled to Britain to inspect the Bay class landing ship dock RFA " Largs Bay " , which is scheduled to be placed in reserve in April 2011 , and Australian Defence Minister Stephen Smith stated in January 2011 that Australia was considering purchasing the ship . On 6 April 2011 Smith announced that Australia would buy " Largs Bay " and that the ship was expected to enter service with the RAN in 2012 . In May 2011 the Australian Government chartered the civilian icebreaker " Aurora Australis " for two months to provide an amphibious capability while " Tobruk " was undergoing maintenance . In December 2011 the government announced that it would purchase a commercial vessel to provide the RAN with a third ship for humanitarian and disaster relief tasks alongside " Choules " and " Tobruk " . A project is also underway to replace the LCHs and the Army and Navy ' s small amphibious craft . These new craft will be capable of operating from the well decks in the Canberra class ships .