Survey ship Anushandhan joins naval fleet

[idune]

Survey ship Anushandhan joins naval fleet

Staff Correspondent

BNS Anushandhan, a modern hydrographic survey ship purchased from the British navy, joined Bangladesh’s naval fleet on Friday, said an ISPR press release.
Previously owned by the British navy under the name of HMS Roebuck, the BNS Anushandhan is capable of carrying out surveys of international standard in any place in the world.
The long-awaited dedicated hydrographic survey vessel, the first of its kind in the country, will ‘increase the credibility of the hydrographic activities of Bangladesh’, added the press release.
The ship was formally handed over to the Bangladesh Navy at Ports-mouth on May 28 and started its voyage from England to Bangladesh on June 4.
The BNS Anushandhan, in its 47-day voyage, sailed around 9,000 nautical miles, making stopovers at Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Sri Lanka before reaching Chittagong.
The ship will be of considerable help to maintain the marine environment and navigability of the rivers, delimitate the maritime boundary and preserve the coastal area by collecting the necessary information and statistical data, and will also play a significant role in research activities and extraction of marine resources.

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[idune]

History of BNS Anushandhan (ex RN HMS Roebuck) and capability :

HMS Roebuck (H130) is a coastal survey vessel of the Royal Navy (RN). She was commissioned in 1986, and was the last traditional survey ship to join the fleet. Although nominally used for surveying along the United Kingdom continental shelf, with the downsizing of the survey fleet, Roebuck has been enhanced to enable her to operate overseas. She is fitted with a full suite of hydrographic sensors, and a Survey Motor Boat for inshore work. In addition, as with the other vessels of the survey squadron, she can also operate as a support ship for mine warfare vessels. Roebuck was due to be decommissioned in 2003 following the entry into service of the Echo class. However, the decision has since been taken to keep the ship in service until 2014.

Roebuck was the first RN ship into Umm Qasr following the second Gulf War. The work she carried out prior to, and during, the war proved invaluable, allowing coalition ships to operate closer to shore than previously thought possible, and reducing helicopter flying time by ten minutes per sortie during the landings. Roebuck completed a Ship Life Extension Period (refit) towards the end of 2005, and then deployed to the Mediterranean, returning to the UK in April 2006. Roebuck then deployed to East Africa in June 2006, returning on Monday 21st August.

Upon arrival in August, the crew had barely a few hours notice before the ship was placed on display at HMNB Devonport Navy Days 2006 as the representative of the Hydrographic Squadron after HMS Enterprise (H88) could not attend.

Name: HMS Roebuck
Operator: Royal Navy/Bangladesh Navy July 2010
Launched: 14 November 1985
Commissioned: 3 October 1986
Fate: Active in service as of 2008
General characteristics
Displacement: 1,477 tonnes
Length: 64 m
Beam: 13 m
Height: 4 m
Propulsion: 4 × Mirrlees Blackstone ES8 supercharged diesel engines, driving twin Controllable Pitch Propellers via two gearboxes
Speed: 15 knots
Complement: 52
Armament: 20 mm BMARC gun
Miniguns
GPMGs

 

[idune]

BNS Anushandhan in action in her previous RN role:

 

[idune]

 

[TOPGUN]

Congrats a nice looking ship

 

[akash57]

Thanks for the posts ! Interesting videos too