HMS Enterprise is 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.
HMS Enterprise is equipped with a wide variety of top of the
range survey equipment.
Her integrated survey system includes:
Konigsberg multi-beam echo sounder / single-beam echo
sounder / side-scan sonar / undulating oceanographic
profiler / doppler current log / magnetometer / sub-bottom
profiler / bottom sampling equipment
In addition her top of the range survey motor boat, SMB
Spitfire, is capable of operating independently from the
ship, supporting a small group of surveyors who can live and
work ashore to carry out large-scale or beach surveys.
One of her other primary roles is as a floating base for a
mine-countermeasures squadron, embarking a command team and
providing stores, fuel and expertise to a flotilla of MCM
vessels from other NATO nations.
Enterprise's crew consists of 72 personnel, with 48 on board
at any one time, working a cycle of 70 days on, 30 days off.
The ship can accommodate 81 personnel if necessary. The ship
is operationally available 330 days a year. In support of
this high availability, all accommodation and recreational
facilities are designed for an unusual (in a warship) degree
of comfort. All personnel share double cabins with private
facilities, except the captain and executive officer who
both have single cabins.
Echo and Enterprise are the first Royal Navy ships to be
fitted with azimuth thrusters, where the propellers are part
of a swivelling pod, allowing for precise manoeuvring. 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.
Operational history:
HMS Enterprise's first operational overseas deployment was
to the Mediterranean in October 2004.
Since then she has worked in the Gulf of Aden and Somali
Basin through West Africa to the Republic of South Africa
and off Iraq. She also conducted a collaborative
hydrographic survey with the Saudi military.
She participated in a NATO exercise and conducted
oceanographic and hydrographic surveys.
In 2007 Enterprise deployed for 19 months to West Africa,
South Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf. While
in the Persian Gulf she worked off the coast of Iraq in
support of the UK and Iraqi governments.
Enterprise deployed in June 2009 for two years on an
extended deployment to West Africa spending three months
there before travelling through the Mediterranean to begin
operations east of Suez later in the year.
On 10 June 2011, Enterprise returned to Devonport, having
covered over 50,000 miles (80,000 km) during the deployment.
Enterprise set out in September 2013 for a routine
nine-month deployment to update maritime charts of the
Middle East. Nothing is certain at sea however and this
deployment soon morphed and resulted in 34 months away.
In June 2015 Enterprise replaced HMS Bulwark in the mission
to rescue migrants crossing the Mediterranean from Libya to
Italy. By December 2015, Enterprise had been responsible for
rescuing more than 2600 migrants. By December 2016, this
number had risen to over 9000 before Enterprise was finally
relieved by Echo. In recognition her contribution to the
European Union's Operation Sophia and her lifesaving work,
the ship was nominated for a Millies award in the "overseas
hero - unit" category and awarded the Firmin Sword of Peace,
an award given to units of the UK Armed Forces who have gone
above and beyond their normal role.
On 9 January 2017 it was announced Enterprise had deployed
to the South Atlantic to perform patrol tasks normally
carried out by the Falkland Islands patrol vessel, HMS
Clyde, while Clyde underwent 3 months of maintenance in
South Africa. Aside from patrol duties, Enterprise was also
tasked with updating charts of the region used by seafarers
during her deployment. Enterprise returned to Devonport on
18 April 2017 having steamed 150,000 miles (240,000 km) and
visited 20 countries over a period of nearly three years.
Upon her return to the UK Enterprise underwent a short refit
in Falmouth prior to returning to operations.
Sailing from Devonport on 29 June 2017, HMS Enterprise
deployed in her secondary role as an mine counter measures
command ship assuming the role of flagship of NATO Mine
Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2), primarily operating in
the Mediterranean.
Current Commander of SNMCMG-2 is Commander Justin HAINS,
Royal Navy. |
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| Ship's & technical data: |
Builder:
Appledore Shipbuilders, Bideford, North Devon, UK
Ordered: June 19, 2000
Launched: May 2, 2002
Commissioned: October 17, 2003
Homeport: HMNB Devonport, Plymouth, Devon
Motto: SPES ASPERA LEVAT (hope lightens difficulties)
Displacement: 3740 tons
Lenght: 90,6 meters (297 feet 3 inches)
Beam: 16,8 m (55 ft 1 in)
Draft: 5,5 m (18 ft 1 in)
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h)
Range: 9300 NM (17200 km) at 12 knots (22 km/h)
Crew: 72
Propulsion:
Diesel-electric
3 x Diesel generators (4.8 MW)
2 x azimuth-thrusters (2 x 1.7 MW / 2280 hp)
1 x bow-thruster (0.4 MW / 536 hp)
Armament (defensive):
2 x
Oerlikon
20/85mm KAA GAM-BO1 guns
2 x
M134 / 7.62mm six-barreled machine guns
(minigun) |
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| images |
Oerlikon GAM-B01 20mm gun
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| Royal Navy images |
Oerlikon GAM-B01 20mm cannon
Oerlikon GAM-B01 20mm cannon
M134 7.62mm six-barreled machine gun (minigun)
A three dimensional echo sounding representation of a newly
discovered canyon under the Red Sea by survey vessel HMS
Enterprise. A Royal Navy survey ship has produced a series
of stunning images of a Grand Canyon-style ocean floor
hidden deep under the Red Sea. HMS Enterprise used her
state-of-the-art surveying equipment to reveal the natural
wonder during her nine-month mission to improve
understanding of the waters east of Suez. Discovering the
250 metre deep canyon after leaving the Egyptian port of
Safaga the ship used her sophisticated EM1002 Multibeam echo
sounder to create the 3D images, allowing the ocean floor to
be seen for the first time. Commanding Officer of HMS
Enterprise, Commander Derek Rae, said: “These features could
be the result of ancient rivers scouring through the rock
strata before the Red Sea flooded millennia ago. “Some may
be far younger - and still in the process of being created
by underwater currents driven by the winds and tidal streams
as they flow through this area of the Red Sea, carving their
way through the soft sediment and being diverted by harder
bed rock. Or there is always the possibility that they are a
combination of the two. “It is, however, almost certain to
say that this is the closest that humans will ever get to
gaze upon these truly impressive sights hundreds of metres
beneath the surface.” The echo sounder, which is fitted to
Enterprise’s hull, produces the images from the echoes
returning from the sound pulses it sends out. This is a
highly accurate way to measure the sea bed to determine if
the depth of water is safe for navigation and shipping. This
was the first time HMS Enterprise has visited Safaga, which
lies on the western shore of the Red Sea -approximately 250
miles south of Suez. Safaga is the headquarters of the
Egyptian Navy’s Red Sea Command and the ship’s company
attended both formal and sporting events to ensure the
regional links were kept strong. - February 2013
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ITS Alghero (M5556)
Gaeta class
Minehunter - Italian Navy |
ESPS Segura (M31)
Segura class
Minehunter - Spanish Navy |
Builder:
Intermarine Shipbuilding, Sarzana, Italy
Commissioned:
1993
Displacement:
697 tons
Lenght:
52,5 meters
Beam:
9,6 meters
Draft:
2,9 meters
Crew:
47
Homeport:
? |
Builder:
Bazan Shipbuilding, Cartagena, Spain
Commissioned:
1999
Displacement:
585 tons
Lenght:
54 meters
Beam:
10,7 meters
Draft:
2,3 meters
Crew:
41
Homeport:
Cartagena |
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| Standing NATO Mine
Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG-2) |
Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures
Group 2 is a NATO Immediate Reaction Force.
From its activation on 27 May 1999 to September 2001, it was
Standing Mine Countermeasures Force in the Mediterranean
(MCMFORMED).
From 3 September 2001 to 1 January 2005 it was known as the
Mine Countermeasures Force South (MCMFORSOUTH).
SNMCMG-2 normally comprises up to 8 mine hunters or mine
sweepers and a support ship from NATO nations.
SNMCMG-2 operates as an integral unit whether participating
in exercises or conducting real world operational missions.
It is employed primarily in the Mediterranean area but, as
required, will be available anywhere NATO requires it to
deploy. Command of the force rotates among contributing
nations.
SNMCMG-2 is a component of the NATO Response Force (NRF).
Operationally, SNMCMG2 reports to the Allied Maritime
Command (MARCOM), which is one of the three component
commands of Allied Command Operations.
Current Commander of SNMCMG-2 is Commander Justin HAINS,
Royal Navy.
As of April 2018, the fleet
consists of:
HMS Enterprise (H88) - Flagship
ITS Alghero (M5556)
ESPS Segura (M31)
Former participating units came from Greece and Turkey.
2018 port visits:
Constanta, Romania
Burgas, Bulgaria
Patras and Corfu, Greece
Bar, Montenegro
Split, Croatia
Trieste, Italy
Koper, Slovenia
sources & resources: Royal Navy,
NATO MARCOM, wikipedia |
| special thank's to HMS
Enterprise ! |
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