Brian Aitkenhead's photostream  

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
She 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,[4] 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 sixth largest in the entire fleet, but she is also the largest survey vessel in Western Europe.
Scott is the Royal Navy's only ocean survey vessel.[5] She can remain at sea for up to 300 days a year, thanks to her novel crew rotation system. Her complement of 63 is divided into three sections: two sections are required to keep the ship operational, with the third on shore on leave or in training.[4] 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
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.[6] From August 2008 until June 2009 Scott was refitted in Portsmouth.[7]

On 26 October 2009[7] and again on 25 November 2010[8] Scott deployed to the South Atlantic and Antarctic to cover for the non-availability of the Royal Navy icebreaker HMS Endurance.[9]

The German Navy has eight Bremen Class frigates designed and built by Bremer Vulkan in the 1980s. The ship's primary role is for operation within the Nato and German task forces. The ship is designed primarily for anti-surface warfare missions with strong anti-air and anti-submarine warfare capability.

The first of class, Bremen (F207), was commissioned in 1982; Niedersachsen (F 208) in 1982; Rheinland-Pfalz (F 209) in 1983; Emden (F 210) in 1983; Koln (F 211) in 1984; Karlsruhe (F 212) in 1984; Augsburg (F213) in 1989 and Lubeck (F214) in 1990.
The German Navy has begun a common upgrade programme for the combat system on the eight Bremen Class (F122) and four Brandenburg frigates. A contract was awarded to Thales in September 2005 to provide a new open architecture system to replace the SATIR. The upgrade is underway and will be completed by 2011. IBM is supplying and installing the Link 16 capability enhancement and is also installing the EADS Defence Electronics multifunctional information distribution system (MIDS).

Missiles

The Bremen has two four-cell Boeing Harpoon missile launchers. Harpoon (RGM-84) is an anti-surface missile, with active radar seeker and range of 130km.

The ship's point defence system is based on the medium-range Nato Sea Sparrow and the short range RAM (rolling airframe) missile. The Sea Sparrow surface-to-air missile is launched from two mk29 eight-cell launchers mounted side by side at the fore of the ship, above and behind the Otobreda gun. The RAM (RIM-116A), supplied by Raytheon and RAM Systems GmbH, is installed at the aft of the ship above the helicopter deck.

Guns

The ship is equipped with a 76mm Oto Melara anti-air and anti-surface gun. The gun is capable of a firing rate up to 85 rounds a minute to a range of more than 15km. Two 20mm guns model Rh202 from Rheinmetal are installed port and starboard.

Torpedoes

The ship is equipped with two 324mm mk32 twin torpedo tubes and eight DM 4A1 or mk46 mod 2 torpedoes from ATK (AlliantTechsystems).

Helicopters

The ship accommodates two 4.5t class helicopters, the Sea Lynx mk88 from AgustaWestland. The helicopters are equipped with AQS-18D dipping sonar from L-3 Communications - Ocean Systems and two torpedoes type mk46 or type DM4. Handling tests on the helicopters have been successfully carried out up to wind force 8. The hangar provides space, facilities and equipment for the maintenance of two helicopters. The flight deck is large enough for landing a Sea King type helicopter.