The ''Echo'' class was a class of multi-purpose
hydrographic survey ships in commission with the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. The ships were primarily tasked with conducting survey work in support of submarine and amphibious operations, however, the class also has a secondary role in
mine countermeasures. The two vessels of the class were the most recent additions to the Royal Navy's
Hydrographic Squadron. Each ship displaced approximately 3,700 tonnes, and was equipped with a state of the art suite of equipment. The lead ship of the class, HMS ''Echo'', was retired in 2022 and her sister ship in 2023.
Design
''Echo'' and ''Enterprise'' were the first Royal Navy ships to be fitted with
azimuth thruster
An azimuth thruster is a configuration of marine propellers placed in pods that can be rotated to any horizontal angle (azimuth), making a rudder redundant. These give ships better maneuverability than a fixed propeller and rudder system.
Type ...
s. Both azimuth thrusters and the bow thruster can be controlled through the integrated navigation system by a joystick providing high manoeuvrability. Complete control and monitoring for power generation and propulsion, together with all auxiliary plant systems, tank gauging and damage control functions is provided through the integrated platform management system (IPMS), accessible through workstations around the ship. The range of equipment carried includes the following:
* Multi beam echo sounder
* Single beam echo sounder
* Survey Planning and Processing Systems
* Side-scan sonar
* Oceanographic Probe and sensors
* Undulating Oceanographic Profiler
* Doppler Current Log
* Sub-bottom Profiler
* Bottom Sampling Equipment
*
Survey motor boat fitted with multi-beam sonar and sidescan sonar
The vessels were armed. They carried a GAM-B01 20 mm cannon (a naval version of the
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models empl ...
), two
minigun
The M134 Minigun is an American 7.62×51mm NATO six-barrel rotary machine gun with a high rate of fire (2,000 to 6,000 rounds per minute). It features a Gatling-style rotating barrel assembly with an external power source, normally an elect ...
s and four
General Purpose Machine Guns.
Role
The vessels were designed to conduct survey tasks in support of submarines or amphibious operations. They provided almost real-time tailored environmental information, and also have a secondary role as a mine countermeasure tasking authority platform, for which they were capable of embarking a dedicated mine counter measures command team, and supporting other
mine warfare vessels.
Manning
The two ships followed the same type of crew rotation pattern as , in that two-thirds of their crew was needed to keep the ship operational, with the remaining one-third ashore. This allowed each ship to be available for deployment for up to 330 days a year.
The ship's crew consisted of 72 personnel, with 48 on board at any one time, working a cycle of 75 days on, 30 days off. The ships were able to accommodate 81 personnel if necessary. In support of this high availability, all accommodation and recreational facilities were designed for an unusual (in a warship) degree of comfort. All personnel shared double cabins with private facilities, except the captain and executive officer who both had single cabins.
Ships in the class
, -
,
, 19 October 2001
Notes
References
External links
*
{{Echo class Survey ship
Mine warfare vessels of the United Kingdom
Auxiliary research ship classes
Ship classes of the Royal Navy