The ships provide sea transportation for personnel and equipment for
Singapore Armed Forces' 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 6th USN
International Naval Review in
New York City, passing through both
Panama and
Suez canals. The ships actively participate in various multilateral exercises annually.
Resolution successfully fired a
Mistral surface-to-air missile during Exercise Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training in 2000, an annual joint naval exercise between the USN and RSN.
Endurance participated as both a compliant and non-compliant vessel for boarding teams during Exercise Sea Sabre in 2004 as part of the
Proliferation Security Initiative. The ships are active participants in multinational
peacekeeping efforts. As part of Singapore's contribution to the reconstruction efforts in
Iraq,
Endurance was sent to the
Persian Gulf in October 2003 for two months.
Resolution followed in November 2004 and
Endeavour in February 2006. The ships conducted logistical tasks, such as replenishing supplies for other naval vessels in the Persian Gulf, and conducted patrols to enforce maritime presence. They also served as a platform for helicopter missions and maritime boarding operations missions by teams from other coalition countries when they inspected ships leaving Iraq. The last deployment saw
Resolution taking on the expanded role of taking charge of coalition and Iraqi Navy ships to defend Iraq's oil platforms. On 1 September 2007,
Persistence became the fourth ship to be deployed to the Persian Gulf in support of the multinational reconstruction efforts in Iraq.
Resolution was subsequently tasked for RSN's fifth deployment to the Gulf on 30 August 2008. The ships were also involved in various humanitarian relief operations, such as the
tsunami-hit Indonesian province of Aceh in 2004. Within a few days of the disaster,
Endurance sailed to Aceh in Indonesia to deliver emergency supplies and medical personnel to aid in the relief efforts. She was then joined by
Persistence on 4 January 2005 and
Endeavour on 16 January.
Persistence also featured later in support of the efforts finding
Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501. On 12 February 2009, Minister of Defence
Teo Chee Hean announced that
Persistence would join other naval forces off the coast of
Somalia for three months in 2009. Comprising an LST with two Super Puma helicopters on board, the Singapore Armed Forces Task Group conducted daily helicopter surveillance flights and sector patrols to deter and disrupt piracy activities. The ship worked with the multinational
Combined Task Force 151 to protect shipping in the
Gulf of Aden. Since then, two additional SAF task groups have been deployed to the Gulf of Aden,
Endurance from June to October 2010 and
Endeavour from August 2011. In December 2014,
Persistence was deployed in the search for
Airasia Flight QZ8501 after it crashed into the Java Sea on 28 December 2014; along with the RSN ships
Supreme,
Valour, and
Kallang, MV
Swift Rescue, and two
Lockheed C-130H Hercules. ==Export==