EML ''Ugandi'' is a commissioned by the

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 ...

in 2009. ''Ugandi'' is a former British

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 ...

vessel built by Woolston Yard of

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

-based shipbuilders

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 ...

. The ship is the third and final ''Sandown''-class vessel to join the naval force after its mine countermeasures vessel modernization programme. She is named after an ancient Estonian county

Ugandi Ugandi (Latin: ''Ungannia'' or ''Ugaunia''; lv, Ugaunija; Low German: ''Uggn'') was an independent county between the east coast of Lake Võrtsjärv and west coast of Lake Pskov, bordered by Vaiga, Mõhu, Nurmekund, Sakala, Tālava, and The ...

, between the east coast of Lake Võrtsjärv and west coast of Lake Pskov, bordered by

Vaiga Vaiga was a small landlocked ancient Estonian county in the eastern part of the territory of Estonia. It territory now belongs to the eastern part of Jõgeva County. See also *Livonian Crusade The Livonian crusade refers to the various mil ...

, Mõhu,

Nurmekund Nurmekund (Low German: ''Nurmegunde'') was a small independent country (ancient Estonian county) on the north coast of Lake Võrtsjärv in Central Estonia, bordered by Sakala, Alempois, Järvamaa, Mõhu, and Ugandi. Nurmekund had an area of ap ...

, Sakala, Latgale, and Pskov.

History

''Bridport'' was built by Woolston Yard of Southampton-based shipbuilders

as one of the 12 ship class of ''Sandown''-class minehunters. In July 2004, the UK Ministry of Defence announced that as part of the restructuring of the Navy, the two oldest and one other ''Sandown''-class minehunters would be retired by April 2005. ''Bridport'' was decommissioned and was then laid up awaiting a buyer or disposal. In September 2006,

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

signed a contract to acquire the three vessels. The former HMS ''Bridport'' was modernized and overhauled in Bay 1 of the Syncrolift at

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 ...

. The project was started ahead of schedule to deconflict the programme. On 22 January 2009, the Estonian Navy flag was hoisted on the ship and she was named ENS ''Ugandi'' during a ceremony at

Rosyth Dockyard Rosyth Dockyard is a large naval dockyard on the Firth of Forth at Rosyth, Fife, Scotland, owned by Babcock Marine, which formerly undertook refitting of Royal Navy surface vessels and submarines. Before its privatisation in the 1990s it was ...

. It reached Estonia on 24 February 2009, the Estonian Independence Day, under the command of Lieutenant Senior Grade Marek Mardo. Since 28 October 2012, the ship carries the coat of arms of

Otepää Otepää (formerly Nuustaku) is a town in Valga County, southern Estonia, it is the administrative centre of Otepää Parish. Otepää is a popular skiing resort, popularly known as the "winter capital" of Estonia (in contrast to the "summer c ...

. Between 2012-2013, the ship had three of its Perkins CV8 generators replaced with SDMO V300 generators. On 30 August 2013, Lieutenant Senior Grade Marek Mardo became the commander of the ship, replacing

Lieutenant Commander Lieutenant commander (also hyphenated lieutenant-commander and abbreviated Lt Cdr, LtCdr. or LCDR) is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander. The corresponding ran ...

Villu Klesmann, who had been its commander since 2009. On 17 December 2018, Lieutenant Senior Grade Martin Aeltermann replaced

Lieutenant Junior Grade Lieutenant junior grade is a junior commissioned officer rank used in a number of navies. United States Lieutenant (junior grade), commonly abbreviated as LTJG or, historically, Lt. (j.g.) (as well as variants of both abbreviations), i ...

Jaanus Pulk-Piatkowski as commander of the ship. The ship would go through a modernization programme the following year.

Characteristics

The vessel carries clearance divers and Remote Control Mine Disposal Systems. Unlike the previous , the vessel was built from

glass reinforced plastic Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clot ...

to reduce her magnetic signature. Other parts of the ship were constructed from non-ferrous metals for a similar reason. They are propelled by

Voith Schneider Propeller The Voith Schneider Propeller (VSP) is a specialized marine propulsion system (MPS) manufactured by the Voith Group based on a cyclorotor design. It is highly maneuverable, being able to change the direction of its thrust almost instantaneously ...

s and are very maneuverable due to two bow thrusters which gives an advantage when working with mines. She differs from the previous two ''Sandown''-class vessels delivered to the Estonian Navy, as she has been fitted with a

ZU-23-2 The ZU-23-2, also known as ZU-23, is a Soviet towed 23×152mm anti-aircraft twin-barreled autocannon. ZU stands for ''Zenitnaya Ustanovka'' (Russian: Зенитная Установка) – anti-aircraft mount. The GRAU index is 2A13. Developm ...

twin mount, 23mm cannon system and a Klein 5000 sidescan sonar. The ship's motto is 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 ...

: ''Semper Ante'' - 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: "Always In Front". The coat of arms 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 ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ugandi (M315) Sandown-class minehunters of the Estonian Navy Ships built in Southampton 1992 ships Estonian Mineships Division Minehunters of Estonia