HMS Enterprise (A71)

The ninth HMS Enterprise (A 71) of the Royal Navy was an Echo-class inshore survey ship built by M.W. Blackmore & Sons of Bideford and commissioned in 1959.

History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Enterprise
Builder	M.W. Blackmore & Sons, Bideford
Commissioned	1959
Fate	Sold, 1985
General characteristics
Class and type	Echo-class survey ship
Displacement	120 long tons (122 t) standard 160 long tons (163 t) full
Length	100 ft (30 m) p/p 106 ft (32 m) o/a
Beam	22 ft (6.7 m)
Draught	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Propulsion	Paxman diesel engines, 1,400 bhp (1,044 kW), 2 shafts, 15 tons diesel fuel
Speed	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Range	4,500 nmi (8,300 km) at 12 kn (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	18
Armament	None

With her sister ships HMS Echo and HMS Egeria, Enterprise's career was spent in hydrographic surveys of the seas, sandbanks, and coastlines of the East Coast and Eastern English Channel. She was well-known around the harbours of Eastern England, and showed the flag on many official visits to Belgian, Dutch, and German ports on the North Sea coast, and as far up the Rhine as Cologne. After the American television series Star Trek became popular, Enterprise inevitably became known throughout the Navy as "the Starship." She was put up for disposal by sale in 1985.