Devonport has said farewell to its senior Hydrographer with the retirement of Capt Mike Barritt after 34 years service.

As captain Hydrography and Meteorology – or simply Captain H – Capt Barritt was in overall charge of the Royal Navy’s survey vessels, based at Plymouth.

He also held the title of Hydrographer of the Royal Navy, and his duties included advising the Navy Board and assisting the Chief Executive of the UK Hydrographic Office on matters of hydrography – the science of surveying the seas and determining locations of reference points, depths of water and so on.

Capt Barritt joined the Royal Navy in 1969, aiming to become a Warfare Officer in the Submarine Service, but he was won over by the Hydrographic specialisation when he was appointed to HMS Hydra in 1972.

During his career, Capt Barritt has been in charge of more than 20 major sea-bed surveys, mainly in Atlantic and UK coastal waters, and has taken part in many more in regions including the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.

Among the more unusual finds on his surveys have been the wreck of a Victorian Trinity House light vessel in the North Sea, and the wrecks of German submarines which had been scuttled during World War II.

Capt Barritt commanded three survey vessels – HM ships Echo, Bulldog and Hecate – and spent two years in the United States as the military assistant to NATO’s Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic.

Capt Barritt said: “Wherever you work with surveys it feels like exploration.

“This final appointment has been a splendid culmination to my career, both to command the squadron and also take on the mantle of Hydrographer of the Navy, reinforcing the essential links between the uniformed Hydrographic and Meteorology personnel afloat and their professional civilian counterparts at the UK Hydrographic Office.”

Capt Barritt has been succeeded by Capt David Lye.

The British Hydrographic Service was formally established in 1795, and although by no means the first – the French had such a department by 1720, and the Danes also predated the British by more than a decade – the worldwide pre-eminence of the Royal Navy in the 19th century meant that Admiralty charts became the global standard for all ships, whether warships or merchantmen.

The surveying arm of the Royal Navy acquired top-level recognition early in the 19th century, when Hydrographer of the Navy, Thomas Hurd, persuaded the Admiralty that their charts should go on general sale, and that surveys at sea would best be carried out by Royal Navy ships.