Portland, Scott and USVs
Scene on the Sound, Friday July 31 2026
Plenty of activity on and around the Sound this week, but not much that has been newsworthy on the naval front. HMS Ships Portland and Scott are still around and, probably, conducting a mix of trials and training in the local areas.
Two of the Offshore Patrol vessels, HM Ships Tyne & Severn, have been in and out, as has RFA Proteus. There have been no foreign warship movements in the last week.
Ashore, work continues on the eastern arm of the West Hoe harbour, where workmen have been repointing the walls, both inside and out. This work is expected to last for “several more weeks”.
The news for the residents of Rivage, now almost fully encased in plastic sheeting, is not so good. The Beagle was told that the repair contract (cladding and fire safety work) is planned to last for 52 weeks and is budgeted at £2million
There is now a thriving community of USVs – Unmanned Surface Vehicles – on and around Plymouth Sound. Plymouth is the National Centre for Marine Autonomy and many of the USVs are based in the old Royal Marine area in Turnchapel.
The King's Harbour Master has designated areas locally for uncrewed and remote/autonomous trials as seen in this chartlet:
One of the largest USVs is the ACUA Ocean’s Pioneer-class USV. She is a 14m long, 28 tonne displacement catamaran with a SWATH hull. There is lots of scope for acronyms in a new area of technology – although SWATH has been around for some time and means Small Waterplane Area Twin Hull – so each side of the deck is supported on a submerged, cylindrical hull.
(Editor: not too many acronyms, please Captain)
The Pioneer is the UK’s first remotely operated and unmanned vessel certified under the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency) workboat code.
The Captain hopes to visit ACUA shortly and will be writing more about the subject of USVs in the near future.
Finally, the NACRA 15 World Championships have been run from the Mountbatten Watersports Centre during the last week and finish on Saturday 1st August . There are 48 entries from 12 countries – Australia, Belgium, China, France, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Switzerland, UK and USA. From the extended periods that these small catamarans have been seen racing out beyond the breakwater, it can be assumed that there has been some very good sailing.
Yours aye.
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