RRS Shackleton
| Career (UK) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | RRS Shackleton |
| Namesake: | Ernest Shackleton |
| Operator: | Falkland Islands Dependency Survey / British Antarctic Survey / NERC |
| Builder: | Solvesborgs Varv A/B at Sölvesborg, Sweden |
| Yard number: | 41[1] |
| Launched: | 11 November 1954[2] |
| Completed: | February 1955[2] |
| Acquired: | 1955 |
| In service: | 1955 |
| Out of service: | 1992 |
| Refit: | 1971 |
| Career (Panama) | 60px |
| Name: | MV Sea Profiler |
| Operator: | Gardline Surveys Ltd, Great Yarmouth |
| Acquired: | 1992 |
| Identification: |
IMO Number: 5321576 |
| Status: | in service |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Passenger/cargo |
| Type: | Royal Research Ship/seismic survey vessel |
| Tonnage: |
GT 1082 T |
| Length: | 65.78 metres (215.8 ft) |
| Beam: | 11.08 metres (36.4 ft) |
| Draught: | 4.66 metres (15.3 ft) |
| Ice class: | Lloyds 100 A1 |
| Propulsion: |
Main Engine MAN G6V40/60 99 BHP |
| Speed: | 9.7 knots (Max) / 7.8 knots (Average)[3] |
| Endurance: | 28 Days |
| Complement: | 31 berths |
| Notes: | [4] |
RRS Shackleton was a Royal Research Ship operating in the Antarctic from 1955 to 1992. She is now a seismic survey vessel, MV Sea Profiler.
Contents
History
Built in 1954 by Solvesborgs Varv A/B at Sölvesborg, Sweden, she was launched as MV Arendal (III)[5] for work in the Baltic. She was purchased in 1955 by the Falkland Islands Dependency Survey (British Antarctic Survey from 1962). After conversion to carry more passengers, she was renamed Shackleton and sailed to the Antarctic for the 1955/56 season.[6]
In 1957 Shackleton struck an iceberg off the South Orkney Islands and was nearly lost.[7] At Deception Island in 1966 the Shackleton met and provisioned Bill Tilman's SV Mischief, the first private expedition to visit a British Antarctic base.[8] Shackleton joined the rescue of Deception Island base members when the volcano erupted in December 1967 and again in February 1969.[9]
In 1968 Shackleton became RRS Shackleton and was rebuilt in 1971. In 1976, while carrying Lord Shackleton (son of the Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton) tasked by the British Government to carry out an economic survey of the Falkland Islands, RRS Shackleton was fired on by the Argentine destroyer ARA Almirante Storni in a precursor to the Falklands Conflict.[10]
After the British Antarctic Survey, she served the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as an oceanographic research ship and visited Antarctica on five further occasions, before being withdrawn from NERC service in 1983.[11]
Shackleton was renamed Geotek Beta in 1983, and Profiler in 1984. She was ‘retired’ from the South Atlantic in 1992 and reconfigured for her current role as a soils and high resolution seismic survey vessel, operated by Gardline Shipping Limited. They renamed her Sea Profiler in 1992.[12]
Sources
Fuchs, Vivian (1982). Of Ice and Men. Oswestry: Anthony Nelson. ISBN 0904614069.
References
- ↑ "Sea Profiler". xVAS. http://www.xvas.it/SPECIAL/VTship.php?imo=5321576&mode=CK. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Search results for "5321576"". Miramar Ship Index. http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz/ship/list?search_op=OR&IDNo=5321576. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ↑ "MV Sea Profiler". Marine Traffic.com. http://www.marinetraffic.com/AIS/shipdetails.aspx?mmsi=351133000&language=_EN. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ↑ "MV Sea Profiler". Gardline Marine Sciences. http://www.gardlinemarinesciences.com/vessel_sea_profiler.asp. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ↑ "Fleet over the years". Arendals Dampskibsselskab. http://www.ads.no/fleet_old.html. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ↑ Fuchs (1982) page 142
- ↑ Fuchs (1982) pages 188-90
- ↑ Fuchs (1982) page 287
- ↑ Fuchs (1982) pages 291-92
- ↑ History of the Falkland Islands#Growing links with Argentina
- ↑ "50 years of ships in British Antarctic research". Falkland Islands Philatelic Bureau. http://www.falklands.gov.fk/site/pb/bat/definitives93.htm. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
- ↑ "28 Aug - One of those weeks...". British Antarctic Survey. http://www.bas.ac.uk/living_and_working/diaries/rrs_ernest_shackleton/northsea2005/10/index.php. Retrieved 23 May 2009.
External links
Pictures at Cool Antarctica
