View source for Hecla-class survey vessel

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2014}}

{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=SAS Protea.jpg
|Ship caption= SAS ''Protea'' at [[Cape Town]] in 2011
}}
{{Infobox ship class overview
|Name=
|Builders=
|Operators={{Navy|United Kingdom}}{{navy|South Africa}}
|Class before=
|Class after=
|Subclasses=
|Cost=£1.25 million
|Built range=
|In service range=
|In commission range=UK: 1966-2001; South Africa: 1972-present
|Total ships building=
|Total ships planned=
|Total ships completed=5
|Total ships cancelled=
|Total ships active=1
|Total ships laid up=
|Total ships lost=
|Total ships retired=4
|Total ships preserved=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class=
|Ship type=Deep ocean hydrographic survey vessel
|Ship displacement= 2,800 tons (originally 2,733 tons)
|Ship length= {{Convert|260|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{Convert|50|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height= 
|Ship draught={{Convert|16|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*3 × Paxman Ventura 12YJCZ 12-cylinder turbo-charged diesel-electric engines for the 2,000 shaft horsepower main propulsion
*2 × Paxman 6YJXZ auxiliary engines
|Ship speed= {{Convert|14|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range= {{Convert|12000|nmi|km}}
|Ship endurance=
|Ship boats=*2 × {{Convert|31|ft|m|abbr=on}} surveying motor boats (SMB)
*1 × {{Convert|18|ft|m|abbr=on}} SMB
|Ship complement=Generally a Commander (X)(H) in command (though sometimes a Captain RN), with 12-15 officers and 104-106 ratings, 1 [[Navy, Army and Air Force Institutes|NAAFI]] canteen manager, 1 laundryman
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament= 
|Ship armour=
|Ship aircraft= 1 × [[Westland Wasp]] helicopter from [[829 Naval Air Squadron]]
|Ship aircraft facilities=*Hangar, aft
*Flight deck recognition letters were HD (Hydra), HE (Herald), HL (Hecla), HT (Hecate)
|Ship notes=1 × [[Land Rover]] (with garage, forward)
}}
|}
The '''''Hecla'' class''' formed the backbone of the [[Royal Navy]]'s ocean survey fleet from the mid-1960s.

==Design==
The hull design was based on that of the [[RRS Discovery (1962)|RRS ''Discovery'']] and the Hecla class were built to commercial standards costing £1.25 million each.  They carried two small survey craft, a launch, a [[Land Rover]] and a [[Westland Wasp|Wasp]] helicopter, for which there was a flight deck and hangar.  They were chiefly funded from the [[Polaris (UK nuclear programme)|Polaris Submarine Ballistic Nuclear Missile programme]], with their major task to carry out regular oceanographic observations essential for the Polaris submarines to hide in thermal layers.

===Special modifications===
Besides the strengthened hull for work in ice and the provision of air conditioning necessary for work in all climates, they had modifications particular for a scientific vessel: wet and dry laboratories; a survey chartroom and photographic darkroom; oceanographic winches for deep seawater analysis and coring; stabilisers and a bow thruster, which enabled the ship to maintain her position when stopped for scientific observations.
All 4 Royal Navy vessels were fitted with an Inertial Navigation System for mid-Ocean positioning. 'Drift' was corrected by taking satellite fixes from the Transit Doppler Sat Nav. 
Each vessel, due to their requirement to operate mid-Ocean, was equipped with a sick bay with a 2-bed ward and an operating theatre with X-Ray machine. Every vessel carried a Surgeon-Lieutenant and Leading Medical Assistant.
In the 80's and 90's, 'Hecla' and 'Hecate' were equipped to make Gravity Free Air Anomaly observations over the mid-Atlantic ridge for the US Department of Defence 'Nav Star' GPS constellation of satellites.

== Ships in class ==
{|class="wikitable"
|-
! Name
! [[Pennant number|Pennant No.]]
! Builder
! Laid down
! Launched
! Commissioned
! Status
|-
! colspan=7 | {{RN}}
|-
|{{HMS|Hecla|A133|6}}
|A133
|[[Yarrow Shipbuilders|Blythswood Shipbuilding]], [[Scotstoun]]
|6 May 1964
|21 December 1964
|9 September 1965
|Sold to private interests and renamed SV ''Bligh'', 1997
|-
|{{HMS|Hecate|A137|6}}
|A137
|rowspan=2|[[Yarrow Shipbuilders]], Scotstoun
|26 October 1964
|31 March 1965
|20 October 1965
|Broken up at [[Pipavav]], 1994
|-
|{{HMS|Hydra|A144|6}}
|A144
|14 May 1964
|14 July 1965
|4 May 1966
|Sold to [[Indonesian Navy]] in 1986 and renamed KRI ''Dewa Kembar''
|-
|{{HMS|Herald|H138|6}}
|A138
|[[Henry Robb|Robb Caledon]], [[Leith]]
|9 November 1972
|4 October 1973
|22 November 1974
|Sold to private interests and renamed SV ''Somerville'', 2001<br />Broken up at [[Alang Ship Breaking Yard|Alang]], 2004
|-
! colspan=7 | {{navy|South Africa}}
|-
|[[SAS Protea|SAS ''Protea'']]
|A324
|Yarrow Shipbuilders, Scotstoun
|20 July 1970
|14 July 1971
|23 May 1972
|Active in service
|}

==Service==
The first three ships, {{HMS|Hecla|A133|6}}, {{HMS|Hecate|A137|6}} and {{HMS|Hydra|A144|6}}, were ordered in the early 1960s to replace the aging survey ships {{HMS|Scott|J79|6}} and {{HMS|Shackleton|1953|6}}.

A fourth ship, {{HMS|Herald|H138|6}} was ordered in the early 1970s.  Apart from HMS ''Hecate'', they all saw service as [[hospital ship]]s in the [[Falklands War]], while ''Herald and Hecla'' also served in the [[Gulf War]] and the former as a temporary Antarctic Patrol Ship in 1991 and 1992.  ''Hecate'' saw service as the temporary Antarctic Patrol Ship in 1982 after being painted grey and fitted with [[AA gun]]s in Gibraltar.  ''Hecate'' was the first Royal Navy vessel to visit South America following the Falklands conflict. During the conflict, ''Hecla'', commanded by Captain Geoffrey Hope RN, with Lt. Cdr. Ward as XO, ferried Argentinian prisoners of war to Montevideo. Being the first vessel of the conflict to be in the glare of the world media, she gained a high public profile out of proportion to her ambulance ship role. ''Hydra'' was also outfitted as an ambulance ship whereas ''Herald'' was equipped as a casualty reception station on a par with [[SS Uganda (1952)|SS ''Uganda'']].

A fifth Hecla-class vessel, SAS ''Protea'' (A324) was ordered by the [[South African Navy]] and commissioned on 23 May 1972. As of 2017, ''Protea'' remains in service.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6653:fact-file-hecla-protea-class-hydrographic-vessel-&catid=79:fact-files&Itemid=159%3C/|title=Fact file: Hecla (Protea)-class hydrographic vessel |publisher=DefenceWeb.za|accessdate=2013-12-06}}</ref>

''Hydra'' was sold to [[Indonesia]] Navy in 1986 and renamed ''KRI Dewa Kembar-932.'' As of 2017, ''Dewa Kembar'' remains in service.

''Hecate'' decommissioned in 1990 and was broken up, while ''Herald'' was finally decommissioned in 2001, and was replaced the same year by {{HMS|Echo|H87|6}}.

''Hecla'' was [[paid off]] in 1997 and sold to an Irish private company, renamed MV Blythe, to be replaced by {{HMS|Scott|H131|6}}. In 1969, commanded by Captain David Haslam (who retired after 10 years as Hydrographer in 1985), she landed a party who hoisted the Union Flag on [[Rockall]], which significantly extended the UK's territory.

==Nomenclature==
The first three ships in the class were named for the three [[Paddle steamer|paddle-wheel]] [[Hydra-class sloop|''Hydra''-class]] sloops, two of which ({{HMS|Hydra|1838|2}} and {{HMS|Hecate|1839|2}}) were fitted out as survey ships from around 1860.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:HMS Hecla 1982 Gibraltar.jpg| HMS ''Hecla'' being converted to an ambulance ship in HM Naval Base Gibraltar.
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of survey vessels of the Royal Navy]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Hecla class survey ship}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hecla Class Survey Vessel}}
[[Category:Auxiliary research ship classes]]
[[Category:Hecla-class survey vessels| ]]
[[Category:Ship classes of the Royal Navy]]