Lyme Bay was deployed for three years on a
Maritime Security Patrol in the
Persian Gulf, based in
Bahrain, acting in a support role of coalition and allied forces. In June 2012,
Lyme Bay sailed from Bahrain to return home to undergo a planned refit and regeneration period. In August 2013, she joined the COUGAR 13 task group. On 16 October 2013 she joined
Operation Atalanta, the EU's counter-piracy force off Somalia; she rejoined the COUGAR group in mid-November.
Lyme Bay has deployed for the COUGAR 14
Response Force Task Group exercise. Between June and December 2015 the ship was on Hurricane watch in the Caribbean and had a
Mexeflote and Combat Support Boat (CSB) with their crews from
17 Port & Maritime Regt RLC on board to provide the amphibious capability that had not been seen on APT (North) before. A team of Royal Marines and Royal Engineers were attached on board with a wide range of skill sets along with a Lynx HMA.8 from 234 Flight of
815 Naval Air Squadron for the duration. In September she spent six days off
Dominica providing humanitarian and disaster relief following
Tropical Storm Erika. This saw the Mexeflote transferring 10 vehicles ashore and 100 tonnes of water and aid, alongside were the HADR team to help the local population. Lyme Bay's assistance was also required by The Bahamas just a few weeks later after devastating effects from
Hurricane Joaquin.
Lyme Bay finished Atlantic Patrol Tasking (North) in December 2015.
Lyme Bay assisted with the search and recovery of
EgyptAir Flight 804 which crashed over the Mediterranean Sea on 19 May 2016. After 17 Port and Maritime Regt proving the true capabilities of the Mexeflote and LSD(A) Bay-class ships working in unison in 2015 during APT (North), both the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and 17 Port and Maritime Regt have secured a 3-year deployment with both LSD(A) and Mexeflote paired respectively. An extensive refit in Falmouth took place in 2017. Lyme Bay was returned to the fleet after the refit and sea trials were complete on 8 March 2018. April 2019 saw RFA Lyme Bay take part in Exercise Joint Warrior 19–1, off the coast of northwest Scotland. In May 2021,
Lyme Bay took over as command vessel of 9 Mine Countermeasures Squadron operating from in Bahrain.
Lyme Bay herself was earmarked to join
Argus as part of
Littoral Response Group (South), which was to deploy east of Suez in the latter part of 2023.
Lyme Bay and
Argus deployed in that role starting in October 2023 with
Lyme Bay embarking a company from
40 Commando and
Commando Raiding Craft (CRC) from
539 Raiding Squadron RM. It is envisaged that
Lyme Bay will be based at the
UK Joint Logistics Support Base in
Oman. It was subsequently indicated by the Government that she was to remain, for a time, in the Eastern Mediterranean with
Argus as part of a broader British regional presence given the outbreak of the
Gaza war. It was expected to carry aid materials from Cyprus to Gaza, but eventually delivered its aid to Egypt due to unaddressed safety concerns. In March 2024, maintenance of
Argus and
Lyme Bay was undertaken at the
Larsen & Toubro's
Kattupalli Shipyard in India. This was the first time that a Royal Navy ship had arrived in an Indian shipyard for maintenance. The ships, escorted by , had transited through the
Red Sea to reach India. In April 2024, LRG(S) participated in
Maritime Partnership Exercise with
Indian Navy's
Eastern Fleet in the
Indian Ocean. The exercise included stealth frigate . The tasks conducted in the exercise included tactical manoeuvres, boarding ops, surface engagement against simulated asymmetric threats, cross deck visits & cross deck helo ops. In July 2024, both
Lyme Bay and
Argus deployed to Australia for exercise "Predators Run" which included troops from
40 Commando Royal Marines, and also involved US and Australian forces. In late 2024,
Lyme Bay was reported in the Atlantic and paid a four-day visit to
Ghana which was to be followed by visits to
Nigeria,
Sierra Leone and
Senegal along with exercises with regional navies. In June 2025,
Lyme Bay began a contractor support maintenance period at the A&P Tyne shipyard. The ship was reported operational again in October 2025, participating in exercise "Arctic Tide" in Norway. However, as of late-2025
Lyme Bay was reportedly laid-up in
Gibraltar due to "budgetary restrictions". In early 2026, in response to the outbreak of the
2026 Iran War, reports suggested that
Lyme Bay was again being reactivated, possibly to provide support in the vicinity of the
British Sovereign Base Areas on Cyprus. It was subsequently indicated that the ship would be refit to serve in a mine countermeasures command role for Royal Navy autonomous systems. ==References==