EML ''Admiral Cowan'' (M313) is a ''Sandown''-class

minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destroys individual naval mines. Minesweepers, on the other hand, clear mined areas as a whole, without prior detection of mines. A vessel that combines both of these roles is known a ...

. Formerly HMS ''Sandown'', lead ship of her class of the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

, she is now an

Estonian Navy The Estonian Navy ( et, Merevägi) are the unified naval forces among the Estonian Defence Forces. With only six commissioned ships and displacement well under 10,000 tonnes, the Estonian navy is one of the smallest navies in the world. Its sh ...

ship. Renamed EML ''Admiral Cowan'', she is the flagship of the Estonian Navy and part of the Estonian Navy's mine sweeping flotilla. ''Admiral Cowan'' is the lead vessel of the Estonian Navy Mineships Division and also the first of the three modernised ''Sandown'' class minehunters received.

History

HMS ''Sandown'' was built by

Vosper Thornycroft VT Group is a privately held United States defense and services company, with its origins in a former British shipbuilding group, previously known as Vosper Thornycroft. The British part of VT Group was integrated into Babcock International in t ...

and was

laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one o ...

at their

Woolston, Southampton Woolston is a suburb of Southampton, Hampshire, located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen. It is bounded by the River Itchen, Sholing, Peartree Green, Itchen and Weston. The area has a strong maritime and aviation history. The former ...

shipyard on 2 February 1987 and was launched on 18 April 1988 by the Duchess of Gloucester, as the lead ship of the 12-ship class of ''Sandown'' class minehunters. ''Sandown'' entered service a year later on 9 June 1989. After commissioning, ''Sandown'' carried out an extensive programme of trials, and was not fully operational until December 1992, having suffered problems with her

sonar Sonar (sound navigation and ranging or sonic navigation and ranging) is a technique that uses sound propagation (usually underwater, as in submarine navigation) to navigate, measure distances (ranging), communicate with or detect objects on o ...

outfit. She participated in a number of operations in support of the British fleet, including operating as part of a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two N ...

-led operation between 12 June - 26 August 1999, along with the Hunt class

Mine countermeasure vessel A mine countermeasures vessel or MCMV is a type of naval ship designed for the location of and destruction of naval mines which combines the role of a minesweeper and minehunter A minehunter is a naval vessel that seeks, detects, and destr ...

and the

survey ship A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for underwater surveys, usually to collect data for mapping or planning underwater construction or mineral extraction. It is a type of research vessel, and may be designed for the pur ...

. The operation was intended to clear the

Adriatic The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to the ...

of bombs jettisoned during the Kosovo campaign. Together ''Sandown'' and ''Atherstone'' accounted for about 20% of the 93 bombs and missiles that were located and destroyed. On 16 January 2000 ''Sandown'' located the wreck of the sunken scallop dredger, the ''

Solway Harvester The ''Solway Harvester'' was a scallop dredger from Kirkcudbright, Scotland which sank off the coast of Douglas, Isle of Man in heavy seas on 11 January 2000 with the loss of all seven crew members. Following salvage, the damaged ship was taken ...

''. ''Sandown'' spent July 2002 on a Joint Maritime Course, after which she deployed to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on ...

to take part in the Argonaut 02 exercises, which lasted until Christmas. ''Sandown'' was also deployed as part of

Operation Telic Operation Telic (Op TELIC) was the codename under which all of the United Kingdom's military operations in Iraq were conducted between the start of the invasion of Iraq on 19 March 2003 and the withdrawal of the last remaining British forces on ...

, to clear mines in the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bo ...

, and sweep passages into

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...

i ports. The

decommissioned HMS ''Sandown'' and two of her sisters and in 2005 and, on 9 October 2006, sold the vessels to the

. After refitting in

Rosyth Rosyth ( gd, Ros Fhìobh, "headland of Fife") is a town on the Firth of Forth, south of the centre of Dunfermline. According to the census of 2011, the town has a population of 13,440. The new town was founded as a Garden city-style suburb ...

, ''Sandown'' was formally handed over to the

in April 2007. Her new name comes from Admiral Sir Walter Henry Cowan who led the British naval forces in the Baltic in their intervention in the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, providing naval support to Estonia during the

Estonian War of Independence The Estonian War of Independence ( et, Vabadussõda, literally "Freedom War"), also known as the Estonian Liberation War, was a defensive campaign of the Estonian Army and its allies, most notably the United Kingdom, against the Bolshevik westw ...

. Between July and December 2018, the ship went through a modernization programme at Babcock's Rosyth facilities. It was fitted with the Thales Sonar 2193 navigation system and Thales M-CUBE command and control system. Its composite hull and electrical systems received repairs and upgrades. Her sister ships and will also be modernized for a total cost of around 30 million euros.

Crest

The vessel's crest was presented by Queen Elizabeth II on 20 October 2006 in

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

. The crest is a red

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltatori ...

cross A cross is a geometrical figure consisting of two intersecting lines or bars, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of the Latin letter X, is termed a sa ...

on a silver shield and above, a red

fleur de lys The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

(lily). The shield is placed into a blue ring which is surrounded by a golden ship's

rope A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similar ...

. The ship's crest is based on Walter Cowan's family arms. The ship's motto in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

is: ''Ad Omnia Paratus'' - which in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

means: "Prepared for Anything". The crest was designed by

Priit Herodes Priit Herodes (born 14 January 1948) is an Estonian heraldist. From 2000 to 2006, Herodes was the chairman of the Estonian Heritage Society and is currently a member of their board. He has designed numerous hues and flags, including the emblems ...

Notes

References

* *

External links

Estonian NavyNavy News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Admiral Cowan (M313) Sandown-class minehunters of the Estonian Navy Ships built in Southampton 1988 ships Estonian Mineships Division Minehunters of Estonia

History

Crest

See also

Notes

References

External links