The Echo class was a class

Ship class

A ship class is a group of ships of a similar design. This is distinct from a ship-type, which might reflect a similarity of tonnage or intended use. For example, the is a nuclear aircraft carrier of the Nimitz class....

 of inshore survey vessel built for the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

 in 1958–1959. The class was designed to operate in close waters such as harbour approaches, shipping lanes, river

River

A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

s and estuaries

Estuary

An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....

. Together, the ships of this class formed the Royal Navy's Inshore Survey Squadron.

The class consisted of three ships, and were of composite (wood on metal frames) construction. They were based on the same basic hull as the Ham class minesweeper

Ham class minesweeper

The Ham class was a class of inshore minesweepers , known as the Type 1, of the British Royal Navy. The class was designed to operate in the shallow water of rivers and estuaries. It took its name from the fact that all the ship names were British place names ending in -"ham"...

 and the Ley class minehunter

Ley class minehunter

The Ley class was a class of inshore minehunter built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1950s. They had pennant numbers in the series M2001. Eleven ships were built in the early 1950s, most of which were subsequently disarmed and used as training vessels, RNXS tenders, URNU vessels etc.Unlike...

. They had a large superstructure with an open bridge on top. The engines were uprated to 1,400 bhp

Horsepower

Horsepower is the name of several units of measurement of power. The most common definitions equal between 735.5 and 750 watts.Horsepower was originally defined to compare the output of steam engines with the power of draft horses in continuous operation. The unit was widely adopted to measure the...

 and a large superstructure was fitted. They were crewed by 5 officers and 34 ratings, with accommodation on board for 4 officers and 18 rates.

In the late 1960s, two Ham-class minesweepers, HMS Powderham

HMS Powderham

HMS Powderham was one of 93 ships of the of inshore minesweepers.Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Powderham in Devon....

 and Yaxham

HMS Yaxham

HMS Yaxham was one of 93 ships of the of inshore minesweepers.Their names were all chosen from villages ending in -ham. The minesweeper was named after Yaxham in Norfolk....

 were rebuilt as inshore survey vessels very similar to the Echos, although they could be identified by having an enclosed wheelhouse and a tripod mast. They were renamed HMS Waterwitch and Woodlark

HMS Woodlark

Several Royal Navy ships have been named HMS Woodlark :*HMS Woodlark was a Plover class wooden screw gunvessel which served from 1871–1887*HMS Woodlark was a Woodcock class river gunboat which served from 1897–1928...

, respectively.

All ships were sold out of service in 1985.

Ships

, built by J. Samuel White

J. Samuel White

J. Samuel White was a British shipbuilding firm based in Cowes, taking its name from John Samuel White . It came to prominence during the Victorian era...

, Cowes

Cowes

Cowes is an English seaport town and civil parish on the Isle of Wight. Cowes is located on the west bank of the estuary of the River Medina facing the smaller town of East Cowes on the east Bank...

, commissioned 12 September 1958, for sale, 1985, built by W. M. Blackmore & Sons, Bideford

Bideford

Bideford is a small port town on the estuary of the River Torridge in north Devon, south-west England. It is also the main town of the Torridge local government district.-History:...

, commissioned 1959, for sale, 1985, built by William Weatherhead & Sons, Cockenzie, commissioned 1959, for sale, 1985

See also

• Echo class, the Royal Navy's latest survey vessels, launched in 2002.