The Royal Naval survey ship HMS Scott returns to Plymouth tomorrow morning (Wednesday) from deployment conducting survey work in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.
During three months HMS Scott was in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden supporting coalition maritime security operations and surveyed over 7,200 square miles of the sea floor; an area almost three times the size of Devon.
HMS Scott has not operated east of the Suez Canal in more than four years and marks a return to its normal operational pattern following two seasons acting as the UK’s ice patrol ship in the Antarctic.
The ship now spends a brief period in Plymouth to complete routine maintenance on systems and machinery before deploying once again to the North Atlantic.
HMS Scott’s deployment schedule is designed to allow year-round surveying by shifting the operating areas to avoid the winter storms of the Atlantic and the summer monsoons of the Indian Ocean.
HMS Scott is the Royal Navy’s deep-water ocean survey vessel and the fifth largest vessel in the Fleet, at 13,500 tons.
The size is due to a large sonar which can surveying the deepest oceans in continuous lines of up to 400 miles in length.
The ship’s crew is 78 and rotated, allowing them to take leave whilst maximising operational availability and effectiveness.
[mappress] Naval Today Staff, April 2, 2013; Image: Royal Navy