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HMS Scott at the British Antarctic Territory, 2010
History
UK
Name	HMS Scott
Operator	Royal Navy
Ordered	20 January 1995
Builder	Appledore Shipbuilders, Bideford (Subcontracted from BAeSEMA)
Launched	13 October 1996
Commissioned	30 June 1997
Homeport	HMNB Devonport, Plymouth
Identification	list error: <br /> list (help) Pennant number: H131 International callsign: GCUP MMSI number: 233844000 IMO number: 9127289
Status	in active service
Badge	File:HMS Scott crest.jpg
General characteristics
Class and type	Scott-class ocean survey vessel
Displacement	13,500 t (13,300 long tons; 14,900 short tons)
Length	131.1 m (430 ft)
Beam	21.5 m (71 ft)
Draught	8.3 m (27 ft)
Propulsion	2 × Krupp MaK 9M32 9-cylinder diesel engines Single shaft with controllable pitch propeller Retractable bow thruster
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Complement	78
Sensors and processing systems	Kelvin Hughes ARPA 1626, I-band navigation radar Sonar Array Sounding System (SASS) Proton Magnetometer Sonar 2090 ocean environment sensor SASS IV multibeam depth-sounder

HMS Scott is an ocean survey vessel of the Royal Navy, and the only vessel of her class. She is the third Royal Navy ship to carry the name, and the second to be named after the Antarctic explorer, Robert Falcon Scott. She was ordered to replace the survey ship HMS Hecla.

Construction

The ship was ordered from BAeSEMA in 1995 to replace the ageing HMS Hecla. She was built at the Appledore Shipbuilders in North Devon and launched on 13 October 1996 by Mrs Carolyn Portillo, wife of Michael Portillo, the then-Secretary of State for Defence. She was commissioned on 20 June 1997. Not only is she the largest vessel in the Royal Navy's Hydrographic Squadron, and the fifth largest in the entire fleet, but she is also the largest survey vessel in Western Europe.

Role

Scott is the Royal Navy's only ocean survey vessel. She can remain at sea for up to 300 days a year, thanks to her novel crew rotation system. Her complement of 78 is divided into three sections: two sections are required to keep the ship operational, with the third on shore on leave or in training. When the ship returns to port, one crew section on board is replaced by the section on shore. The ship can then deploy again almost immediately. As with all of the Royal Navy's large survey vessels, Scott has an auxiliary role in support of mine countermeasure vessels.

History

In February 2005 Scott surveyed the seabed around the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake, which varies in depth between 1,000 m (3,300 ft) and 5,000 m (16,000 ft). The survey, conducted using a high-resolution, multi-beam sonar system, revealed that the earthquake had made a huge impact on the topography of the seabed.

In September 2006, Scott was granted the Freedom of the City of Swansea. From August 2008 until June 2009 she was refitted in Portsmouth.

On 26 October 2009 and again on 25 November 2010 the ship deployed to the South Atlantic and Antarctic to cover for the non-availability of the Royal Navy icebreaker HMS Endurance. In February 2010, Scott hosted artist Rowan Huntley for a month in Antarctica, in a new artist-in-residence programme for the Royal Navy inaugurated by the Friends of the Scott Polar Research Institute (SPRI).

In June 2010, the ship visited Cardiff to mark the centenary of Robert Falcon Scott's departure from Cardiff on 15 June 1910 for the South Pole, at the start of the Terra Nova Expedition. In February 2011, Scott hosted Dafila Scott, Scott's granddaughter, in Antarctica for a month as the Friends of the SPRI's second artist-in-residence.

The ship returned to Devonport in April 2011. With the task of Antarctic patrol taken over by HMS Protector in that year, Scott left Devonport in September to resume deep-water surveying, initially in the Atlantic. From November 2013 to June 2014 her most extensive refit to date took place, in Devonport. This included coating the hull with Hempasil X3 non-toxic anti-fouling paint, which is expected to increase her fuel efficiency.

Affiliations

• 42 Engineer Group (Geographic), Royal Engineers
• City and County of Swansea
• Plymouth Child Development Centre (Scott Hospital, Plymouth)
• TS Scott - Maidstone Sea Cadets
• The Captain Scott Society
• The Worshipful Company of Water Conservators

References

1. ^ Jane's Fighting Ships, 2004-2005. Jane's Information Group Limited. p. 815. ISBN 0-7106-2623-1.
2. "HMS Scott at DigitalSeas.com". Retrieved 2011-06-20.
3. "HMS Scott at armedforces.co.uk". Retrieved 2008-12-20.
4. ^ "HMS Scott". Royal Navy. Retrieved 2008-11-15.
5. "HMS Scott". Royal Navy. Retrieved 2013-03-23.
6. ^ "HMS Scott accepts Freedom of the City - City and County of Swansea website". Retrieved 2008-11-15.
7. ^ "HMS Scott: The Journey to the Ends of the Earth". Royal Navy. 28 Oct 09. Retrieved 2009-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. "Scott takes Pole position again". Navy News. Retrieved 2011-02-11.
9. "HMS Scott deploys to Antarctic". Royal Navy. 29 Oct 09. Retrieved 2009-11-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. "Artist's month at threatened pole". BBC News. 6 February 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
11. "HMS Scott docks in Cardiff Bay". BBC News. 10 June 2010. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
12. "Antarctica: Scott's granddaughter retraces his journey". BBC News. 3 February 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
13. ^ "Antarctic survey vessel HMS Scott leaves Devonport base". BBC News. 13 September 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2014.
14. Nimmo, Joe (24 June 2011). "HMS Protector is welcomed into the fleet". The News (Portsmouth). Retrieved 6 August 2014.
15. "Great Scott! New refit includes a slick "green" hull for Plymouth-based Royal Navy survey ship". Plymouth Herald. 21 June 2014. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
16. ^ "HMS Scott Affiliations". Royal Navy. Retrieved 2013-03-23.

External links

• Royal Navy HMS Scott (royalnavy.mod.uk)

v t e Commissioned ships of the Royal Navy
Aircraft carriers	Queen Elizabeth class Queen Elizabeth Prince of Wales
Submarines	Vanguard class Vanguard Victorious Vigilant Vengeance Trafalgar class Triumph Astute class Astute Ambush Artful Audacious Anson
Destroyers	Type 45 Daring Dauntless Diamond Dragon Defender Duncan
Frigates	Type 23 Argyll Lancaster Iron Duke Westminster Richmond Somerset Sutherland Kent Portland St Albans
Amphibious warfare ships	Albion-class LPD Albion Bulwark
Mine counter measures vessels	Sandown class Penzance Pembroke Bangor Hunt class Ledbury Cattistock Brocklesby Middleton Chiddingfold Hurworth
Patrol vessels	Ice patrol vessel Protector River class Severn Tyne Mersey Forth Medway Trent Tamar Spey Archer class Archer Biter Smiter Blazer Puncher Charger Ranger Trumpeter Express Example Explorer Exploit Tracker Raider Pursuer Dasher Cutlass class Cutlass Dagger
Survey vessels	Ocean survey vessel Scott Survey launch Magpie
Miscellaneous	Ship of the line Victory (flagship of the First Sea Lord)

• Survey vessels of the Royal Navy
• Ships built in Devon
• 1996 ships