IT’S been a spring of firsts for the good ship Quorn, the first small ship to receive the RN’s hi-tech electronic navigation charts and the first vessel to receive the freedom of Melton.

In the space of five weeks, engineers fitted three WECDIS (Warfare ElectroniC Display and Information System) terminals to the Hunt-class warship, blazing a trail for the rest of minehunting and patrol ship fleet.

WECDIS has been on RN ships for a couple of years; HMS Westminster served as the benchmark vessel for the rest of the Navy and RFA.

The aim is for electronic charts to replace the scores of Admiralty charts stored in tables on the bridge or chart room in most Senior Service vessels.

In Quorn, two terminals sit on the bridge, allowing the team to see the ship’s present position, course, speed and distance to the next waypoint. A third terminal can be found in the navigator’s cabin allowing him/her to plan or edit routes and ‘ping’ that information electronically to the bridge.

Hi-tech software also allows extra information to be incorporated in the digital chart, such as real-time tide data, or overlaid on the screen, such as Quorn’s radar picture.

Quorn successfully passed WECDIS trials with a team from the Flag Officer Sea Training off Plymouth, which means she can set the standard for the remaining Hunt and Sandown-class vessels and the fishery protection fleet.

“This alleviates the need to carry hundreds of paper charts – and spend hours applying corrections to them and checking them,” said a delighted Lt Cdr Mark Taylor, Quorn’s CO.

“But it also allows us to fuse the tactical situation – be that minehunting or pursuing a fishing vessel – with the ship’s geographical position, and other external factors such as other shipping and tidal conditions.”

See May’s Navy News for pictures from the ceremony in Melton.