HMSML ''Gleaner'' (H86) was the smallest commissioned vessel in the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by Kingdom of England, English and Kingdom of Scotland, Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were foug ...

, at the time of her decommissioning, with a length of just under 15 metres and a ship's company of just nine (two officers, one Senior Rating and six Junior Ratings). She was based in Devonport,

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

. The ship prefix "HMSML" stands for Her Majesty's Survey Motor Launch. ''Gleaner'' was withdrawn from service in February 2018. A replacement vessel, was commissioned in June 2018.

History

''Gleaner'' was the sixth ship to bear the name and was commissioned on 5 December 1983. With a top speed of , ''Gleaner'' was designed to conduct inshore surveys along the south coast of England, though she has since surveyed all around the coastline of Great Britain and visited various ports in Europe. As an advanced survey vessel, ''Gleaner'' possessed an array of sophisticated technology, including multibeam and sidescan

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 ...

to collect bathymetry and seabed texture data and compile an accurate and detailed picture of the seabed for later analysis. Her survey equipment also included an Applanix POS MV system for georeferencing and motion compensation, C-NAV

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...

, Kongsberg EM2040 Multibeam Echo Sounder and Kongsberg EA400 Singlebeam Echo Sounder. ''Gleaner'' also has the distinction of being one of a handful of Royal Navy ships to have visited landlocked Switzerland, having travelled up the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS) ...

in 1988. Earlier visits were by HMS ''Flintham'' and ''Dittisham'' in 1969, and HMS ''Sabre'' and ''Cutlass'' in 1979. She was also in attendance at the 2010 Portsmouth Navy Days. In 2016, ''Gleaner'' conducted an extensive survey of the

Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meanin ...

as part of the preparation work for the departure of in the spring of 2017. This work was necessary as the most recent survey was 60 years old. ''Gleaner'' entered Plymouth for the last time on 31 January 2018 before being decommissioned. ''Gleaner'' was replaced by , which was commissioned in June 2018.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gleaner H86 Survey vessels of the Royal Navy 1983 ships