The two Fearless class ships, HMS Fearless and HMS Intrepid, were the first purpose built amphibious warfare vessels in the Royal Navy. Designed as Landing Platform Docks, they were designed to transport and land troops by sea either using LCUs or helicopters. As constructed, the ships have an internal dock that is accessed via the stern - while in port, vehicles can simply drive up the stern ramp and into the internal vehicle decks. At sea, the ships could partially sink themselves at the stern, flooding the internal dock and allowing landing craft to come right up to the edge of the vehicle deck.

Each ship carried four LCUs in the stern dock, with four more smaller landing craft on davits on the superstructure. They provided accommodation for up to 400 troops (though if no vehicles were carried, up to 700 could be accommodated using the vehicle decks and corridors).

Intrepid was put into extended reserve in 1991, effectively removing her from active service. While in this state, she was used as a source of spares to maintain Fearless. Intrepid was finally withdrawn from service in August 1999. Fearless was kept in service, and continued to be deployed in concert with HMS Ocean until the end of 2002, when she too was withdrawn from service, ready for the Albion class to enter the fleet.