HMS Echo is the first of two multi-role hydrographic

Hydrography

Hydrography is the measurement of the depths, the tides and currents of a body of water and establishment of the sea, river or lake bed topography and morphology. Normally and historically for the purpose of charting a body of water for the safe navigation of shipping...

 survey ships commissioned by the 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...

. With her sister ship, , they form the Echo class of survey vessels. She was built by Appledore Shipbuilders

Appledore Shipbuilders

-History:The Appledore Yard was founded in 1855 on the estuary of the River Torridge. The Richmond Dry Dock was built in 1856 by William Yeo and named after Richmond Bay in Prince Edward Island, where the Yeo family's shipping fleet was based....

 in Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 in 2002 and is the ninth Royal Navy vessel to carry the name.

Design

Echo and Enterprise are the first Royal Navy ships to be fitted with azimuth thruster

Azimuth thruster

An azimuth thruster is a configuration of ship propellers placed in pods that can be rotated in any horizontal direction, making a rudder unnecessary...

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.

Role

Echo and her sister ship are designed to conduct survey operations in support of submarines or amphibious operations. She can provide almost real-time tailored environmental information, and also has a secondary role as a Mine Countermeasure Tasking Authority platform, for which she is capable of embarking a dedicated Mine Counter Measures command team.

Manning

Echo operates a lean-manned three-watch rotation system. The total ship's company is 72, with two-thirds of the ship's company on board at any one time. The work cycle of 75 days on followed by 30 days off allows her sailors to take sufficient leave while the ship can remain away from her base port for extended periods, potentially for years at a time.

Operational history

Echo was launched on 2 March 2002 and was named on 4 March by Lady Haddacks, wife of Vice Admiral

Vice Admiral

Vice admiral is a senior naval rank of a three-star flag officer, which is equivalent to lieutenant general in the other uniformed services. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral...

 Sir Paul Haddacks. She was accepted into service on 4 October 2002 and formally commissioned on 7 March 2003.

Persian Gulf deployment 2004–2005

Echo deployed to the Persian Gulf to conduct survey operations in 2004, returning to the UK in April 2005.

Far East deployment 2008–2011

Exploiting her rotational manning system, Echo is currently deployed on a five-year mission to the Far East, conducting ocean survey and diplomatic visits.

In August 2008 she visited Hong Kong, where her Commanding Officer laid a wreath at the Stanley Military Cemetery. In October of the same year she visited Busan

Busan

Busan , formerly spelled Pusan is South Korea's second largest metropolis after Seoul, with a population of around 3.6 million. The Metropolitan area population is 4,399,515 as of 2010. It is the largest port city in South Korea and the fifth largest port in the world...

for the Republic of Korea International Fleet Review. Other visits have been conducted to Bangladesh, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei, and Indonesia.