HMS Scott Begins Revamp In Cornwall

The Royal Navy's largest survey ship has begun a revamp after returning from a 9-month deployment in the Atlantic.

HMS Scott spent three months continuously at sea during her deployment and is now undergoing maintenance work at A&P Shipyard in Falmouth, Cornwall.

The 13,500-tonne vessel is used to gather information from the oceans to provide assistance to Navy operations and sailors around the world.

HMS Scott spent most of her 9-month deployment in the South Atlantic, including the infamous waters between South America and Antarctica – Drake’s Passage – and the Falklands Islands.

As a result, the ship's 130-metre hull needs some cleaning and maintenance, among other work. 

The ship entered the dry dock in Cornwall during high tide at 2am on Friday. The operation took a total of six hours to complete.

“Entering dry dock is complex for any ship and with this entry being in the middle of the night it was especially important that everyone was focused on the task and that we didn't make any mistakes," said Navigating Officer, Lieutenant Charlotte Eddy.

Once out of the water, the engineering team have a rare opportunity to assess, maintain and clean the usually submerged sections of the hull.

The ship’s maintenance will be carried out by HMS Scott’s company, a special team from the Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment and Support organisation and engineers from A&P Falmouth.

Cover image: HMS Scott in the dry dock at A&P Shipyard in Falmouth (Picture: Royal Navy).