Roebuck HMS

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Roebuck HMS

Post by shipstamps » Tue Sep 16, 2008 2:25 pm


HMS Roebuck is a Survey Ship, Pennant Number H130
She was built as coastal research vessel under yard No 447 by Brooke Marine, Lowestoft, G.B. for the Royal Navy.
21 May 1984 ordered. 14 November 1985 launched under the name HMS ROEBUCK (A130). Roebuck class.
Displacement 1.105 ton light, 1.477 ton full load. Dim. 63.89 x 13.00 x 4.00m. (draught). Powered by four Mirrlees ES-8 Mk diesels, 3.040 bhp., twin pitch propellers, speed 15 knots.
Range by a speed of 10 knots, 4.000 miles.
Armament 1 – 20mm Oerlikon GAM-BO1 AA, 4 – 7.62mm MG. Carried two survey launches BATCHELLOR DELIGHT and JOLLY PRIZE.
Crew 6 Officers and 40 enlisted men.
30 October 1986 in service. 
She was the last traditional survey ship to join the Royal Navy. Although first used for surveying along the United Kingdom continental shelf.  Due to downsizing the survey fleet, the HMS ROEBUCK, is now also used for survey work overseas.
When launched she had the traditional white hull as used by Royal navy surveying vessels and the pennant number A130, maybe it was changed to H130 when her hull was painted grey. 
11 May 1987 she visited Gibraltar for the first time. Prior to the Gulf War she carried out survey work in that area, and during the war, which was invaluable, for the coalition ships to operate much more inside the coastal waters, and reducing the helicopter flying time from this ships to shore by ten minutes per sortie during the landings.
When the Second Gulf War was finished she was the first Royal Navy ship entering Umm Qasr. 
She underwent a Ship Life Extension Period (refit) between 2004 -2005. When again in service she was deployed in the Mediterranean, and returned home in June 2006.
She was on display at HMND Devonport Navy Day’s 2006 as the representative of the Hydrographic Squadron.  
On 18th April 2008 HMS ROEBUCK led a NATO Minesweeping Squadron of 6 vessels from Great Britain, Belgium Latvia and Germany into Flaslane on the River Clyde. They sailed on 21 April to take part in the first Exercise Joint Warrior of 2008. This exercise also included vessels from the USA, Spain, Turkey, France and Portugal.
The next Exercise Joint Warrior is due to take place between 4 – 17 October 2008. 
At the end of July or beginning of August HMS ROEBUCK is due to depart from Devonport, in England, with three NATO minesweepers for a tour of the Mediterranean. She will not be back in UK waters until late November.
She will stay in service till 2014. 
Source: Combat Fleets of the World by Eric Wertheim. http://wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Roebuck_(H130)
 

Jersey 2008

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