MOT for HMS Echo

Soon the dreaded MOT is due, but this year it is to be tested by Formula 1 engineers.

As it’s Formula 1 engineers every component of your car is to be tested and checked and checked again.

The tests will encompass every mechanical component to how it is driven and operated whilst ensuring it remains the shiniest and cleanest car on any drive!

If you can imagine that then you are some way towards picturing HMS Echo’s Deployed Directed Continuation Training (DDCT) which it undertook off Bahrain in October with a Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST) team embarked.

HMS Echo deployed from the UK on 3 January and since passing through the Suez Canal it has been working constantly with its comprehensive survey equipment.

As HMS Echo and her sister ship HMS Enterprise work a very different operational cycle to other Royal Navy ships as they can remain deployed for years, they require deployed accreditation, assurance and training from external organisations to ensure that they remain ready at the highest level.

To maintain a world class navy that is ready to fight and win, all ships of the Royal Navy have a regular cycle of maintenance followed by training and examination by Flag Officer Sea Training (FOST).

Once a ship has successfully completed its sea training it is then ready to deploy on operations.

On completion of the operational tour which generally lasts for seven months, the ship and its ship’s company is able to recuperate back in the UK prior to the cycle starting again.

As HMS Echo remains deployed, October saw the requirement to undertake her and her ship’s company’s MOT.

Fifteen subject matter experts from the FOST organisation joined HMS Echo and her 60 crew when she was alongside in Bahrain for a five day Deployed Directed Continuation Training (DDCT) period.

From the moment the team arrived every element of the ship was under scrutiny and examination.

The ship was tested on its ability to conduct high end war fighting at action stations, to food hygiene in the galley, to general working and cleanliness routines.

The FOST team comprised a former commanding officer and supporting him were operation, navigating, engineer and logistic officers along with senior rate subject matter experts in the executive, gunnery, medical, logistics, communications, marine and weapon engineering disciplines.

Separate to these defined disciplines the Royal Navy prides itself on its ability for any member of the ship’s company to be able to deal with casualties, fires and floods.

FOST rigorously examines this area and during the DDCT the FOST team injected complex scenarios involving fires, floods, casualties, damage and loss of equipment to test the ships company, its equipment and procedures to ensure HMS Echo is fully operational.

If this wasn’t enough, navigation, ship handling and pilotage exercises further tested the ship’s company, propulsion and equipment.

As with any MOT, the safety and road worthiness of your car is measured in the report.

HMS Echo and her DDCT was little different and received a clean bill of heath with no areas requiring further examination enabling the deployment to proceed as planned.

For those reading who are familiar with the FOST organisation, the reports and feedback are far more than satisfactory and the feeling of achievement is huge for a team that has been working constantly on operations since January in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf and will continue to do so well into 2012.