SURVEY VESSELS

OCEAN SURVEY VESSELS
 

This ship was ordered in January 1995 and entered service in June 1997.

She is equipped with an integrated navigation suite for surveying operations, together with a Sonar Array Sounding System (SASS) and data processing equipment which will permit mapping of the ocean floor worldwide. She also has gravimeters, a towed proton magnetometer and the Sonar 2090 ocean environment sensor.

The ship is planned to remain at sea for 300 days per year with a crew of 42, 20 personnel being rotated from shore to allow leave and recreation.
 

ECHO CLASS SURVEY VESSELS

An order placed with Vosper Thorneycroft in 2000 for two new Hydrographic Vessels resulted in a 'through life contract' covering support for 25 years. The ships will work with the fleet worldwide, supporting mine warfare and amphibious tasks besides carrying out specialist hydrographic activities. As with HMS Scott, the ships are planned to work over 300 days per year at sea.

The Royal Navy's Surveying Service has been operating throughout the world since the formation of the Hydrographic Department in 1795 and the information from oceanographic surveys is used for producing Admiralty charts and nautical publications which have a world-wide sale and are used by ships of many nations.

The Surveying Flotilla consists of ocean-going ships, coastal vessels and inshore craft. In addition to surveying in overseas areas, many of the flotilla are constantly engaged in updating the charts covering the waters around the United Kingdom.

To carry out these wide-ranging tasks the latest surveying techniques are employed, including digitised echo sounders, side scan sonar, automated plotting and recording of position, depth, gravity and magnetic parameters. Satellite and inertial navigation systems are used when out of range of shore-based position fixing systems.