As larger and more expensive Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASVs) continue to be developed to support mission payload requirements and blue water operations, and their roles supporting task group activities becomes closer to reality, consideration must be given to the ability of the vessel to recover from damage, to either continue its mission independently / supporting a larger task group or at very least ensure it does not become a burden. The ability to recover the vessel following an incident is a key part of Naval Survivability, be that due to equipment failure, accident or hostile action. Recovery could require fire-fighting, flood control, re-instatement of damaged systems or more typically a combination of these. The recovery of the vessel is a key part of meeting requirements for continued operation of a vessel following damage in theatre and as such is intrinsically linked to a robust and persistent capability. Historically recovery activities are heavily linked to personnel actions and have typically driven Naval vessel complements; what happens as we move towards autonomous vehicles? What is the requirement for recoverability of medium-large Autonomous Surface Vehicles and what are the goals we need to meet for vessel recovery? How does the comparative reduced cost, and higher number of these vessels, compared to today’s multifunction warships, shift the balance for recoverability within the design? This paper will explore the 6 recoverability pillars of Situational Awareness, Incident Management, Containment, Prosecution, Recovery and External Support, and consider the implication on each of these moving from the current crewed evolutions to uncrewed/autonomous operations. Do todays recoverability goals remain relevant and where might deviation and development be required? Within this the role of the operator for remotely operated ASVs recoverability will be discussed together with further considerations for full autonomous (e.g. “AI”) vessels.