Royal Navy survey vessel HMS Echo.
Echo was launched at Appledore in Devon in 2002, and was designed to carry out a wide range of survey work, including support to submarine and amphibious operations, through the collection of oceanographic and bathymetric (analysis of the ocean, its salinity and sound profile) data.
Her survey motor boat, Pathfinder, is capable of operating independently, supporting a small group of surveyors who can live and work ashore to carry out surveys.
Echo, which is based in Devonport, was the first Royal Navy ship to use azimuth thrusters, where the propellers are part of a swivelling pod, allowing for precise manouevring.
Capable of collecting an array of military hydrographic and oceanographic data, due to her multi-role capability Echo is also equipped to support mine warfare and amphibious operations.
To ensure she can operate in any environment she possesses a impressive array of weapons for force protection. Echo also carries a small detachment of Royal Marines.
Echo left Devonport in the first week of 2011 on a two-year deployment to the Red Sea, the Gulf, the Indian Ocean, the Middle and Far East and returned to home waters at Devonport in August 2012. After spending two months in Falmouth for a revamp, the specialist survey ship spent the final weeks of last year putting would-be navigators through their paces in the waters off the south-west of England.