BNS ''Anushandhan'' is a survey vessel of the

Bangladesh Navy The Bangladesh Navy () is the naval warfare branch of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, responsible for the defence of Bangladesh's of maritime territorial area from any external threat, the security of sea ports and exclusive economic zones of Ban ...

. She previously served with the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

as the coastal survey vessel HMS ''Roebuck'' (H130) from 3 October 1986 to 15 April 2010. She was the last traditional survey ship to serve in the Royal Navy. In 2010, she was sold to the Bangladesh Navy. She was handed over to the Bangladesh Navy on 28 May 2010. On 1 June 2010 she sailed for

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. She is the first dedicated

hydrographic survey Hydrographic survey is the science of measurement and description of features which affect maritime navigation, marine construction, dredging, offshore wind farms, offshore oil exploration and drilling and related activities. Surveys may als ...

ship to serve with Bangladesh Navy.

Building

Brooke Marine Brooke Marine (also known as J.W. Brooke & Co. and Brooke Yachts) was a Lowestoft-based shipbuilding firm.Brooke ...

built the ship at

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

, launching her on 14 November 1985 and completing her in August 1986. She has twin

screws A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the screw head, head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety ...

, each powered by an eight-cylinder Mirrlees Blackstone

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after the German engineer Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which Combustion, ignition of diesel fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to Mechanics, mechanical Compr ...

Royal Navy service

Although nominally used for surveying along the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an islan ...

, with the downsizing of the survey fleet, ''Roebuck'' was enhanced to enable her to operate overseas. She was fitted with a full suite of hydrographic sensors, and a Survey Motor Boat for inshore work. In addition, as with the other vessels of the survey squadron, she could also operate as a support ship for mine warfare vessels. ''Roebuck'' was due to be decommissioned in 2003 following the entry into service of the . However, the decision was then taken to keep the ship in service until 2014, though this was later revised in December 2009 to a 2010 decommissioning. It was declared that the ship had been sold to the Bangladesh Navy for £5 million. Her last commanding officer was Lieutenant-Commander Richard Bird.

Iraq War

''Roebuck'' was the first RN ship into Umm Qasr Port following the second Gulf War. The work she carried out prior to, and during, the war proved invaluable, allowing

coalition A coalition is formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political, military, or economic spaces. Formation According to ''A G ...

ships to operate closer to shore than previously thought possible, and reducing helicopter flying time by ten minutes per sortie during the landings. ''Roebuck'' completed a Ship Life Extension Period (refit) towards the end of 2005, and then deployed to the Mediterranean, returning to the UK in April 2006. ''Roebuck'' then deployed to East Africa in June 2006, returning on Monday 21 August 2006. Upon arrival in August, the crew had barely a few hours' notice before the ship was placed on display at

HMNB Devonport His Majesty's Naval Base, Devonport (HMNB Devonport) is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy (the others being HMNB Clyde and HMNB Portsmouth) and is the sole nuclear repair and refuelling facility for the Roya ...

Navy Days 2006 as the representative of the Hydrographic Squadron after could not attend. During 2008 ''Roebuck'' acted as the Command Platform for the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

minehunting group SNMCMG1 (NATO Standing Naval Mine Countermeasures Group 1).

Decommissioning from Royal Navy Service

It was announced on 16 December 2009, that ''Roebuck'' would be decommissioned in 2010. She was decommissioned at HMNB Devonport on 15 April 2010. She was handed over to the Bangladesh Navy on 28 May and sailed on 1 June 2010.

Affiliations (UK)

Her affiliations according to her official website were:- The Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers, the town of

Didcot Didcot ( ) is a railway town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in South Oxfordshire, England, located south of Oxford, east of Wantage and north west of Reading, Berkshire, Reading. Historically part of Berkshire, the town is noted ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, TS Roebuck, the sea cadet unit based at Norton Manor Camp in

Taunton Taunton () is the county town of Somerset, England. It is a market town and has a Minster (church), minster church. Its population in 2011 was 64,621. Its thousand-year history includes a 10th-century priory, monastic foundation, owned by the ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, and 130 (Bournemouth) Squadron of the

Air Training Corps The Air Training Corps (ATC) is a British Youth organisations in the United Kingdom, volunteer youth organisation; aligned to, and fostering the knowledge and learning of military values, primarily focusing on military aviation. Part of the ...

Bangladesh Navy service

The ship reached

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

on 23 July 2010 under the command of the then Commander Nayeem Golam Muktadir. On her way to

, the ship visited ports of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

and

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. She was commissioned to the

on 29 December 2010. She played an important role to secure the maritime boundary verdict against

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

and

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by supplying accurate data.

Equipment

The ship is fitted with a full suite of hydrographic sensors. She also carries a survey motor boat for inshore work. In October 2011 she was fitted with shallow-water multibeam echo-sounder. Its four Mirrlees Blackstone ES8 supercharged diesel engines can drive twin controllable pitch propellers via two gearboxes.

Mission

The mission of this ship is to maintain the marine environment and navigability of the rivers, delimitate the maritime boundary and preserve the coastal area by collecting the necessary information and statistical data. She will also play a significant role in research activities and extraction of marine resources. She can also act as a support ship for mine warfare vessels.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anushandhan Ships of the Bangladesh Navy Survey vessels of the Royal Navy 1985 ships