The Albion-class landing platform dock is a class of amphibious warfare ship[5] in service with the Royal Navy.

Both ships were built by BAE Systems Marine at the former Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering yard in Barrow-in-Furness.

[8] As these ships were built in the 1960s, on 18 July 1996 the British Ministry of Defence awarded a £450 million contract for their replacements to Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL) in Barrow-in-Furness.

[10] They are larger and more capable than the Fearless class, and formed part of a modernization programme of the British amphibious fleet, which included the helicopter carrier HMS Ocean (until 2018), the Bay-class landing ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary and the Point-class sealift ships.

[12] It was confirmed that Albion would be the first of the two vessels to be placed at extended readiness, for a cost of £2.5 million, as Bulwark had recently finished a major refit.

[13] In 2024, it was reported that, due to manning problems in the Royal Navy and despite the pending completion of a major refit of HMS Bulwark, both vessels were now expected to remain in reserve.

[17] However, in November 2024, the recently elected Labour government indicated that they would in fact be retired early in order to save money.

It reduces the engine room crew by about 66 per cent compared with the preceding Fearless class of ships.

[11] The diesel electric system can propel the ships to a maximum speed of 18 knots and have a range of 8,000 miles (13,000 km).

[19] The latter has the capacity to hold thirty-one large trucks and thirty-six smaller vehicles[10] or six Challenger 2 tanks and thirty armoured personnel carriers.

When commissioned, the ships were fitted with two Kelvin Hughes Type 1007/8 I-band radars, for navigation and aircraft control.

[31] While remaining temporarily deployable if required, in July 2023 she entered reduced readiness (skeleton crew aboard for ship maintenance).

[35] Despite this recent refit (which had already cost £72.1 million),[36] in November 2024 it was indicated that HMS Bulwark, along with her sister ship, would in fact be taken out of service completely.