Falmouth naval officer Commander Adam Coles has been on deployment to the Baltic in his ship HMS Echo, operating with a Lithuanian naval vessel having strong links with this port.

Adam, who lives in Falmouth with his wife and two children, is in command of the Royal Navy hydrographic survey vessel HMS Echo which has been in the Baltic Sea working closely alongside the Lithuanian Navy on operations to hunt for historic ordnance.

Echo, a ship well known in Falmouth waters was joined by former British Hunt-class minehunter HMS Dulverton which now belongs to the Lithuanian Naval Force as LNS Kursis.

Echo and the mine counter measure vessel worked together on Historical Ordnance Disposal Operations (HODOPS) off the coast of Lithuania. It gave the ships the chance to test their ability to locate and detect munitions lying on the seabed from pre-World War One to the Soviet Era. Along with fellow Echo-class ship HMS Enterprise, she carries out work in UK waters and abroad, often working with NATO allies.

The operations also gave Echo and Kursis the chance to carry out Officer of the Watch manoeuvres, showing the skills of both ships’ companies. During this time, they were joined by Lithuanian Air Force search and rescue helicopter 42, a Eurocopter AS365 Dauphin aircraft.

Lieutenant Philip Boak, Operations Officer said: “It was great to be working side-by-side with such a skilled and professional navy. It was also a real opportunity to put Echo’s hydrographic equipment to good use.” Incidentally, Philip is writing an article on the railway history of Falmouth Docks in his spare time.

Equipped with a hi-tech sonar suite, HMS Echo is used for a variety of operations from gathering oceanography data to supporting submarine operations.

Falmouth Packet:

Commander Adam Coles (left) takes over command of HMS Echo from Commander Matthew Warren. Picture: Royal Navy

A&P Falmouth, on behalf of Thales Naval, worked on a substantial regeneration project in 2009 involving two ex-Royal Navy vessels HMS Cottesmore and HMS Dulverton that were sold to the Lithuanian Navy. The project involved converting both vessels back to full mine hunting capability for use by the Lithuanian Navy – an 18-month, multi-million pound project for A&P Falmouth.

The regeneration involved a full upgrade of the ships’ command and control and weapons systems, the installation of new engines, chilled water and the installation of a new mine hunting system using remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROV).

Adam, 39, the son of Peter and Marilyn Coles of Penryn, was educated at Penryn Comprehensive and Truro College, and joined Britannia Royal Naval College as a Sub Lieutenant in May 2001.

He has served in HM ships Somerset, Dumbarton Castle, Argyll and Ocean. Appointed to HMS Argyll in 2003 as an Officer of the Watch he undertook several towed array patrols in the North Atlantic, culminating with a six-month deployment Arabian Gulf in support of Operation Telic.

After sub specialising in military Hydrographic Surveying, Meteorology and Oceanography in 2005, Adam completed an initial period as an Aviation Forecaster at RNAS Yeovilton before returning to sea as the Navigating Officer of HMS Echo in 2007. Adam navigated Echo from the UK to the Far East and enjoyed 12 months undertaking Military Data Gathering (MDG) in the South China Sea.

An exchange appointment with the Royal New Zealand Navy followed in 2009 where he embarked in both HMNZS Resolution and HMNZS Canterbury to conduct commercial and military hydrographic surveys across New Zealand and the South Pacific. A career highlight was leading a Rapid Environment Assessment and Harbour Survey to reopen the commercially strategic Port of Lyttleton after the disastrous Christchurch earthquake in 2011.

Leaving New Zealand in the summer of 2011, Adam returned to the UK to attend the HM Advanced Survey course where he gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Hydrography from the University of Plymouth. Appointed to HMS Scott in early 2012 as the Operations Officer, Adam undertook several challenging periods of MDG in the North Atlantic and Gulf of Oman.

Promoted to Lieutenant Commander in October 2013 and appointed to command HMS Gleaner shortly after, Adam spent 2 years conducting MDG around the shores of the British Isles in support of UK resilience. In April 2016 Adam returned to HMS Scott as Executive Officer and with it the familiar waters of the North Atlantic.

A short notice appointment to HMS Ocean as First Lieutenant followed in September 2017 as the ship was tasked to support Operation Ruman, the UK’s government response to a series of devastating hurricanes in the Caribbean. On return from sea in January 2018, Adam took up the appointment of Officer in Charge of Flag Officer Sea Training Hydrography and Meteorology responsible for the delivery of Hydrographic and Meteorology training in the Royal Navy.

Adam is a graduate of the Advanced Command and Staff Course and was promoted to Commander in June 2019. He took Command of HMS Echo in summer 2020.